News and notes from Sunday at the 30th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway. Compiled by the National DRAGSTER staff.
SUNDAY (Previous: Friday | Saturday)
Last update: 4 p.m. (Click to latest)
It's raceday! (9:30 a.m.): Welcome to Sunday, final eliminations day in Atlanta. In about 90 minutes, we'll start the process of crowning champs in the four Full Throttle classes, beginning with Top Fuel at 11 a.m.
Right now we're in the midst of Top Sportsman racing and we'll continue to work our way through some of the Lucas Oil classes until pre-race activities begin at 10 a.m.
It's partly cloudy and there's a chsnce of afternoon showers, so we'll see ho wthe day progresses and keep you up to date on the latest developments,
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Cory Mac, meet Corey Mc: A day after close to a dozen NFL players, including Super Bowl champion Keyaron Fox of the Pittsburgh Steelers (and Georgia Tech), were at Atlanta Dragway, former Atlanta Falcon and current Buffalo Bill Corey McIntyre, another longtime drag racing fan, was on hand.
McIntyre posed for a photo on Saturday with “the other CoryMac,” Top Fuel driver Cory McClenathan.
Special awards: Bobby Lagana Jr.'s Tire Kingdom Top Fuel team was named the wnner of the Best Appearing Crew award while Best Appearing Car honors went to John Benoit's Top Sportsman '68 Camaro. Jay Payne's new FireIce Mustang Pro Mod car was named Best Engineered vehicle.
Ready to rock (11 a.m.): First round of Top Fuel, on deck: First pair, Bob Vandergriff Jr. vs. T.J. Zizzo!
Top Fuel round one: A few upsets and a few business-as-usual pairings. Pat Dakin stunned higher-qualified Antron Brown on a 4.002 to 4.000 holeshot and T.J. Zizzo used a career-best 3.90 to beat Georgia's own Bob Vandergriff Jr.
Larry Dixon, who had low e.t. of all four qualifying sessions, is quick again this round with a 3.87 against Steve Torrence, who smoked the tires then fireballed the engine in Dexter Tuttle's machine, but Doug Kalitta is surprisingly quicker with a 3.86.
Probably the biggest surprise is that for the first tme in 14 rounds this year, Shawn Langdon leaves the starting line second as Cory McClenathan got him at the Tree, .055 to .069.
Second-round pairings (lane choice in bold)
Dixon vs Zizzo
McClenathan vs. Tony Schumacher
Kalitta vs. Morgan Lucas
Brandon Bernstein vs. Dakin
Funny Car round one (12:10 p.m.): Atlanta fans are in for a treat in round two as both low qualifier AshleyForce Hood and her famous father, John Force, both won in round one and will face one another in round two in a rematch of their 2008 final round here, in which Ashley became the first woman to win an NHRA Funny Car Wally. She'll have lane choice.
Force teammate Robert Hight had the best e.t. of the round, 4.182. Force-powered Bob Tasca III was second-quick at 4.189 and Ashley third at 4.19.
Second-round pairings (lane choice in bold)
Force Hood vs. Force
Tasca vs. Tony Pedregon
Hight vs. Tim Wilkerson
Ron Capps vs. Jack Beckman
Pro Stock round one (12:35 p.m.): As Bob Frey said, "Oh baby!" Rickie Jones takes down points leader Mike Edwards on a holeshot, 6.698 to 6.641, thanks to a .001 light. Greg Stanfield also was .001 on the Tree to beat Jason Line. Low qualifier Allen Johnson has the round's second-quick time behind Edwards with a 6.644.
Second-round pairings (lane choice in bold)
Allen Johnson vs. Kurt Johnson
Jeg Coughlin vs. V. Gaines
Jones vs. Greg Anderson
Johnny Gray vs. Stanfield
Pro Stock Motorcycle round one (12:45 p.m.): Craig Treble takes down No. 6 qualifier Eddie Krawiec on a 7.02 to 7.02 holeshot while Karen Stoffer wins the all-female duel with Angie McBride, who breaks just off the line. Low e.t. of the round goes to low qualifier Hector Arana with a 6.956 in beating the only other rider he's ever beaten here, Wesley Wells.
Second-round pairings (lane choice in bold)
Arana vs. Steve Johnson
Matt Smith vs. Stoffer
David Hope vs. Michael Phillips
Andrew Hines vs. Treble
Top Fuel round two (1:15 p.m): With rain threatening an arrival early this afternoon, all of the Full Throttle teams are on a shortened, 65-minute turnaround schedule (as opposed to the normal 75 minutes). We're hotlapping 'em to beat the rain. Nitro ready to fire!
Pat Dakin couldn't get his car lit, so Brandon Bernstein got a solo pass to his thrid straight semifinals. Teammates Tony Schumacher and Cory McClenathan squared off in a titanic clash that's over early as Cory Mac smokes 'em at the hit; "the Sarge's" engine goes sour at the top end to the tune of a beatable 4.25. Another huge battle awaits Schumacher in the semi's as he'll face longtime nemesis Larry Dixon, whose 3.882 was low for the round in beating T.J. Zizzo. Doug Kalitta's 3,895 to beat Morgan Lucas was the next best pass.
Semifinal pairings (lane choice in bold)
Dixon vs. Schumacher
Kalitta vs. Bernstein
Funny Car round two (1:30 p.m.): Jack Beckman versus Ron Capps was a battle for second place in the points, which goes to Beckman, despite a tardy leave. Ashley then beats her father, 4.200 to 4.206, and leapfrogs Capps for third place. She's two points back of Beckman and they're all chasing John. Bob Tasca III runs 4.194 to earn lane choice over Force Hood and Hight is low for the round at 4.182.
Winning et.s. are close: 4.182, 4.194, 4.200, and 4.202.
Semifinal pairings (lane choice in bold)
Force Hood vs. Tasca
Hight vs. Beckman
Pro Stock round two (1:45 p.m.): The racing here is so close. Johnny Gray's great weekend continues with a .008-second win over Greg Stanfield and Rickie Jones pulls another huge upset holeshot win, beating Greg Anderson by .002 second. Jeg Coughlin's 6.662 is low for the round until Allen Johnson goes 6.600 to beat Kurt Johnson, sending him to the trailer as he did his dad in round one.
Semifinal pairings (lane choice in bold)
A. Johnson vs. Coughlin
Jones vs. Gray
Pro Stock Motorcycle round two (1:45 p.m.): David Hope ends Madison winner Michael Phillips' six-round win streak by .008-second and will have lane choice of Andrew Hines. Matt Smith wins despite an offpace 7.11 -- the bike wouldn't go into 3rd gear, he reports -- and will face Hector Arana, whose 6.964 is low for the round.
Semifinal pairings (lane choice in bold)
Arana vs. Smith
Hope vs. Hines
Top Fuel semifinals (2:35 p.m.): After a quick track scrape by the NHRA Safety Safari and some more rounds of other competition, we're back to Top Fuel to decide the finalists for the 30th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals. Rain has been threatening, and we're trying to beat it.
The Nos. 2 and 3 qualifiers, Doug Kalitta and Brandon Bernstein, battle, with Bernstein reaching his first final of the season -- his first since winning in Virginia at the end of last season -- with a 4.00. Kalitta, who had run back-to-back 3.8s, broke the tires loose a few hundred feet out.
Dixon and Schumacher meet for the fourth time this year, with Schumacher leading Dixon 2-1, including in the semi's two weeks agon in Madison. Dixon all the way with a 3.890 for lane choice after "the sarge" breaks traction downtrack.
Funny Car semifinals (2:45 p.m.): Ashley Force Hood reaches the final for the third straight year here, but needs a 4.241 to 4.232 holeshot to do it. Force Hood won here in 20008 and was runner-up to Jack Beckman last year. Teammate Robert Hight makes it an all-Force final as he beats Jack Beckman, 4.19 to 4.24. Ashley's win and Beckman's loss moves her into second place in points behind her dad. Hight moves past Capps into fourth place.
Pro Stock semifinals (2:50 p.m.): Johnny Gray has major problems on the line with a .426 light, allowing Jones, the longshot No. 15 qualifier, an easy run to the final. He'll face Jeg Coughlin, who beat low qualifier Allen Johnson on aholeshot, 6.657 to 6.655.
Pro Stock semifinals (2:55 p.m.): The holeshots keep on coming as Andrew Hines' Harley takes one from David Hope's Buell, 6.994 to 6.993. Drew will run against Hector Arana, whose 7.04 beat Matt Smith's transmission-troubled pass.
First winners crowned (3:40 p.m.): Prior to the Full Throttle finals, we crowned a slew of other winners.Michael Gullqvist became the first NHRA Wally winner from Sweden when he captured the Wally in the Get Screened America Pro Mod Series with a final-round victor over low qualifier Mike Janis. Former world champ Vinny Barone reached the winner's circle in Comp by defeating Al Ackerman while Slate Cummings, winner earlier this year in Super Stock in Houston, broke out in the final to hand the win to Todd Ewing. Anthony Fetch, the Stock championship runner-up last season, reached the winner's circle in that class by defeating Adam Davis, who broke out. Ray Miller collected Super Comp honors on Bubba Watts' final-round foul while Jeffrey Barker claimed Top Sportsman gold over Gilmer Hinshaw.
Full Throttle finals (4 p.m.): Andrew Hines, who beat Hector Arana in the final for the win in Houston, does it again here, 6.96 to 7.04 for his 20th career win. Jeg Coughlin collects Pro Stock career win No. 50 and the 64th of his career, denying Rickie Jones his first, 6.65 to 6.68. Robert Hight won his second straight in Funny Car by edging teammate Ashley Force Hood, 4.18 to 4.23. Larry Dixon made some history history in Top Fuel, his 52nd career win matching that accomplishments of former world champ Joe Amato. Dixon got the win on Brandon Bernstein's -.003 final-round foul.
SATURDAY
Busy day ahead (8:30 a.m.): Welcome to Saturday in Atlanta. It's already 70 degrees and headed up to a predicted 83, a few ticks below yesterday. We're also expecting a partly cloudy day which should help track temperatures that yesterday reached into the iffy 120-degree zone. There's a chance of thundershowers later in the day, but probably towards the end of action.
Comp qualifying is scheduled for 11 a.m. and the third round of Pro qualifying for 11:30; the final session begins at 2:15 local time.
There are several top cars not in the top 12s, so they'll have to battle their way into the field today. Stay tuned.
Pro Stock Motorcycle, session three (noon): Track temp at 111. Hector Arana and David Hope have the quickest passes of the round -- each running 6.953 -- to lead the session, and Hope actually closes the gap on the frontrunning duo of Matt Smith and Arana, who could not improve on their Friday passes of 6.940 and 6.941. Wesley Wells sits onthe bump spot at 7.174 with one session to go.
Pro Stock, session three (12:15 p.m.): The track temp is now 114. Mike Edwards can't take the low spot from Allen Johnson, but he does get the satisfaction of outrunning him -- albeit marginally -- 6.647 to 6.648 -- in the final pairing. Just before that, Jeg Coughlin and Johhny Gray ran 6.670 and 6.671, so the racing is close by the pair. Trouble-plagued Jason Line got into the field with a decent 6.674 that was actually the round's fifth-best pass. Warren Johnson is on the bump with a 6.69.
Top Fuel, session three (1 p.m.): It's been a smoky start as the fuel burners are finding the footing a little tough with the temp at 119 degrees. Terry Haddock makes his first pass of the weekend, a 4.22, to give us 16 cars. Dave Grubnic kabooms it big time on his pass, and we're down for cleanup.
And we're back. Tony Schumacher, who was 13th entering the day and thus needed an e.t. to get back into the show, gets one, and a good one with a 3.92 that shoots him up to fourth.Schumacher has never won this race, but has two runner-ups here. He's also never won in Topeka, but will get a chance to rectify that, too, next weekend.
Brandon Bernstein, who was 12th with a so-so 4.32, trumps Schumacher with a 3.913 that's the best run of the round and lifts him to third. Larry Dixon closes out the session by reasserting his dominance with a stunning 3.879. It doesn't improve on his Friday 3.822, but it's still a dagger to the other teams.
Pro Stock Motorcycle, session four (3:05 p.m.): With track temps nuding up near 130 degrees and the day still plenty hot, few expected much improvements from the bikes, but the Atlanta fans are treated instead to a slugfest. Andrew Hines takes away Matt Smith's pole with a 6.938, but barely has a chance to get his helmet off before David Hope takes the No. 1 spot with a 6.924. Hope's hopes for a pole are then quickly dashed by Hector Arana, who hammers out a 6.913 to go to the top of the field. Smith comes up last with a chance to get his top spot back, but can only muster a 6.98.
Pro Stock, session four (3:35 p.m.): After all of the improvements in the bike class, it's surprising to see no major improvements among those not yet in the Pro Stock show, as none are able to dent Warren Johnson's 6.696 bump.
Mike Edwards again has the best run of the session, a 6.641, but it's not good enough to get by Allen Johnson's field-leading 6.634 from yesterday.Ron Krisher was next fastest in the session with a 6.664 and Jeg Coughlin's 6.665 was third quick.
Top Fuel, session four (4 p.m.): Larry Dixon not only held on to the No. 1 position but did it in stlye, again making the session's quickest pass, this time a 3.913.Cory McClenathan, who will end up fourth, wa snext quickest in the session with a 3.95.
Funny Car, session four (4:50 p.m.): Ashley Force Hood likewise held onto her top spot as track and air temps proved too much for the teams to overcome.It's her first No. 1 of the year and the 10th of her young career. A lot of cars made it off the line clean but were unable to tackle the tricky midcourse. John Force's 4.22 was the best of the round.
FRIDAY
Here we go: Welcome to Friday Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Natonals. Under sunny skies we're in the middle of a morning full of Sportsman time trials and qualifying leading up to Comp qualifying at noon and 2:30 (the Alcohol classes are not competing at this event) followed by the first qualifying session for the Get Screened America Pro Mod Series and then Pro Stock Motorcycle to kick off the first Full Throttle session at 3:45 p.m.
It's 80 degrees, heading to a predicted high of 87. Yes, folks .. it's Hot-lanta.
Picking up the pace (3:30 p.m.): The First session of the Get Screened America Pro Mod cars have run with Mike Janis atop the pack at 5.91 and Jay Payne No. 2 at 5.97. Th etrack temp is a very warm 114, but we're getting scattered clouds, so it could cool some. Pro Stock Motorcycles are ready for session 1.
Pro Stock Motorcycle, session one (3:50 p.m.): The champ is still the champ as Hector Arana powers the Lucas Oil Buell to No. 1 with a 6.94. The guy whose title he took, Eddie Krawiec, is No. 2 with a 6.97. David Hope is the surprise No. 3 rider at 6.99 and Michael Phillips is fourth at 7.00 with top speed of the meet at 193.13. Craig Treble's 7.10 is the No. 12 spot.
Pro Stock, session one (4:20 p.m.): With the track temp up to 119 degrees andf the air hot and humid, we're not expecting record numbers from the factory hot rods and we don't get them. Allen Johnson's Dodge ends up No. 1 with a 6.674, just ahead of Johnny Gray's 6.676. Ron Krisher is No. 3 at 6.684 and Greg Anderson No. 4 at 6.695. Mike Edwards? Not even on the charts after a shutoff 7.09. Erica Enders' 6.721 is the No. 12 spot.
Rodger Brogdon completed his comeback from his Madison crash, but didn't make it down the track under power. Still, check out his comeback story here.
Funny Car session one (5:05 p.m.): Just as in Pro Stock Motorcycle, the champ shows his stuff as Robert Hight powers the Auto Club Mustang to the No. 1 spot with a 4.18. just ahead of the next best car, Ron Capps' NAPA Dodge, which clocked a 4.19. Del Worsham also ran 4.19 and the top four is rounded out by Bob Tasca III's 4.23.
Top Fuel session one (5:30 p.m.): The top two points runners -- Larry Dixon and Cory McClenathan -- show why they're there by grabbing the top two spots, Dicon with a 3.86 in the Al-Anabi dragster and Cory Mac with a 3.92 in the Fram machine. Morgan Lucas, who won his first career Top Fuel title here, is third with a 4.02 and local hero Bob Vandergriff Jr. fourth with a 4.082.
Pro Stock Motorcycle session two (6:25 p.m.): Matt Smith races from No. 6 to No. 1 with as 6.940 to edge ahead of first session leader Hector Arana, who improved to a 6.941 but fell to second. David Hope remains third while Eddie Krawiec fell to fourth.
Pro Stock session two (6:50 p.m.): World champ Mike Edwards and former world champ Jeg Coughlin both rebounded from engine-troubled opening laps that had both outside the top 16 to post respective passes of 6.641 and 6.659 to highlight the second session. Edwards finished No. 2 and Coughlin 4, both trumped by first-session leader Allen Johnson, who improved to a 6.634 to maintain the top position. Johnny Gray sits third with a 6.652.
Funny Car session two (7:50 p.m.): Jeff Diehl, who kaboomed the body a few races ago in Charlotte, had another good one here, fireballing his Rimz One car and taking a chunk out of body. It doesn't look terminal, but we're down for cleanup. (20 minutes later) ... and we're back.
Ashley Force hood impresses with a 4.10 from her Castrol Ford, stealing the No. 1 spot from teammate Robert Hight despite his improved 4.12. Ron Capps is second at 4.147 and Del Worsham fourth with a 4.158.
Top Fuel session two (8:40 p.m.): Doug Kalitta kicked off the session with a stout 3.849 to take over the No. 1 spot -- he entered the session just 13th -- that has held on through more than half a session, and we're down to just four cars when we get a ton of oil on the track.
It all comes down to whether the first session leaders -- Larry Dixon and Cory McClenathan -- can get by Kalitta for the top spot, and they're the final cars of the night. And Dixon goes back to No. 1 with a strong 4.822.
We'll see you tomorrow.