Friday Southern Snapshots
Friday, May 13, 2011
[Thursday] A press conference at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in downtown Atlanta drew media members to interview top NHRA Full Throttle racers. Buck Lanford of WAGA-TV Fox interviewed Funny Car's Robert Hight (above) and Jack Beckman (below right), and the WSB-TV ABC crew chatted with Greg Anderson (below left), representing the event sponsor, Summit Racing Equipment. |
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[11:30 a.m.] Georgia's House of Speed is open for business with the opening day of the 31st annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals. Sportsman qualifying is underway, and all of the classes will get two shots before we head into the Full Throttle classes later today at 3:45. It's a warm and muggy day in beautiful Commerce, Ga., with highs expected near 90 degrees. The weather will cool significantly over the next two days. |
[Noon] Comp kicked off its Southern Nationals with a first session at noon that included former event and world champ Vinny Barone, left, and reigning season champ Al Ackerman. |
| [12:15 p.m.] Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Steve Johnson, whose shop is in tornado-ravaged Alabama, is flying the colors of the East Georgia Red Cross on his Suzuki this weekend (right). NHRA has set up donation booths (below) and autograph sessions throughout the weekend to benefit the aid organization as it helps stricken individuals and towns in the southeast after April's tornado outbreak. The bikes will run today at 3:45 p.m. and again at about 6:15 p.m. |
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[2:30 p.m.] Full Throttle TV host Abby Tubbs was hanging out with Army-sponsored Top Fuel driver Tony Schumacher at the Army's Strength and Action display as part of a segment for an upcoming show. Tubbs, fresh off of out-leaving starting-line ace Spencer Massey, .021 to .045, at the Fram reaction-time simulator, took on Schumacher in a pull-up contest. (Below left) Under the watchful eye of Drill Instructor Grant, "the Sarge" was definitely "Army strong" with 12 pull-ups while Tubbs (below right) registered, well, a few less (about 12 actually). |
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[2:45 p.m.] The NAPA Auto Parts crew is performing in the backyard of their primary sponsor, and they'd love to give driver Ron Capps his first Atlanta win. Capps has three runner-ups at this event, two in Funny Car and the first of his career in Top Fuel in 1995. |
| [3:30 p.m.] Robin Broidy, right, producer of the upcoming Snake and Mongoose feature film is in Atlanta – like she was in Pomona and Las Vegas – gathering more background and contacts for the biopic on Don Prudhomme and Tom McEwen. With her is Jason Sakurai of Road House Marketing, which is handling product placement for the film. |
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[3:20 p.m.] Pat Musi's Stratus went out of control and impacted the guardwall during the first round of qualifying in the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series. Musi was transported to Northridge Medical Center for evaluation. |
[4 p.m.] Just as the first Pro Stock Motorcycle riders were pulling to the water box for their opening qualifying shots, the moisture that had been in the air this whole soggy day decided to turn into rain. Heavy raindrops from a passing dark cloud pelted Atlanta Dragway for about five minutes before the sunshine returned. The bike teams took refuge under the tower (above), and the Pro Stocker racers in line behind them whipped out their car covers (below). Twenty minutes later, we were racing again. |
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[4:45 p.m.] Screamin' Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson Pro Stock Motorcycle teammates Andrew Hines (left) and Eddie Krawiec posted identical 6.958 elapsed times on their opening shot, but Krawiec got the provisional No. 1 based on his superior speed, 192.77 mph to Hines' 191.76. The Harley team has won both of this season's races: Krawiec in Gainesville and Hines two weeks ago in Houston. |
Hometown hero Warren Johnson, who is being feted at this event as an NHRA legend and is participating in his 600th NHRA national event, is signing autographs throughout the race and will take part in Sunday's Track Walk. |
[5:10 p.m.] Mike Edwards, who won this race back to back in 2008 and 2009, grabbed the provisional pole in Pro Stock with a 6.641 from his Penhall/Interstate/K&N Pontiac in the first qualifying session. |
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[5:45 p.m.] Bob Tasca III is looking for his second No. 1 qualifying spot in Funny Car. He booted his Quick Lane/Motorcraft Shelby to a 4.137 to lead the first session. Tasca's only other previous pole was in 2009 in Gainesville, where he won his first of three Funny Car crowns. |
[6:30 p.m.] Grey's Anatomy television star Jesse Williams (Dr. Jackson Avery) is attending his first NHRA race and got a tour of the starting line for an NHRA Full Throttle experience between Top Fuelers during the first session with his fiancée, Aryn Drake-Lee. Williams, who was a guest at the Atlanta Hawks NBA playoff game last night, took snapshots for a souvenir and walked away suitably impressed. |
[6:40 p.m.] Red-hot Del Worsham maintained his field-leading status as the three-time 2011 winner with the early No. 1 spot in Top Fuel with a 3.829 from his Al-Anabi dragster. Worsham's run was nearly six-hundredths quicker than No. 2 qualifier Spencer Massey, who owns the 3.820 track record set in 2009. |
[7:30 p.m.] Hector Arana Sr. (above) and son Hector Jr. (below), who raced each another in round one in Houston two weeks ago, qualified 1-2 in the Pro Stock Motorcycle field until Eddie Krawiec regained the lead with a 6.933 to close the round. Hector Sr. (6.948) and Jr. (6.955) ended up second and third, respectively. |
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[8 p.m.] Jason Line, representing event sponsor Summit Racing Equipment with his Pontiac GXP, took over the No. 1 spot in Pro Stock with a 6.619 and held it until the final pass of the round, where first-session leader Mike Edwards took it back with a sizzling 6.605. Line has never qualified No. 1 at this event, but he has had three No. 2 qualifying performances, in 2004, 2005, and 2008. |
Warren Johnson's Chevy Cobalt is running a retro paint scheme reminiscent of his popular early 1980s Olds Starfire. W.J. is currently in the Pro Stock field in the No. 9 spot after posting a 6.658 best. Johnson has won this event fives times, most recently in 2003. Larry Morgan is on the 12-car bump at 6.678. |
| [8:50 P.M.] The qualifying lead in Funny Car changed hands four times in the second session before John Force took charge with a track record 4.072 that broke the two-year-old mark held by his daughter Ashley Force Hood at 4.073. Force has a great history at Atlanta Dragway, having reached the final round 14 times in 29 appearances with seven wins. Force also set a personal record by reaching the final round nine consecutive years here, 1992-2000. |
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Melanie Troxel's star-crossed season may have finally turned the corner. After missing the field at the season's first five races, she appears to be solidly in the Funny Car field after posting a 4.148, good for the seventh spot with the ProCare Rx Toyota. Troxel was runner-up at this event in Top Fuel in 2006. |
[9:15 p.m.] Brandon Bernstein, who won Top Fuel at this event in 2007 and was runner-up last year, put a 3.846 on the board to move to the No. 3 spot with the Copart entry. |
[9:35 p.m.] Track record holder Spencer Massey came close to matching his 3.820 track record with a 3.825 that nonetheless gives Don Schumacher Racing's new-look Valvoline NextGen dragster the No. 1 spot halfway through Top Fuel qualifying. |
Some Southern hospitality at Atlanta Dragway. Y'all come back tomorrow for another photo blog. |