Johnson's Dodge tops in Denver; Brown, Force, Phillips also lead
Friday, July 23, 2010
by Phil Burgess, National DRAGSTER Editor
Allen Johnson has the opening-day Pro Stock lead at his sponsor’s event, the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway outside of Denver. He’s joined atop the qualifying sheets by Antron Brown (Top Fuel), John Force (Funny Car), and Michael Phillips (Pro Stock Motorcycle).
The event is the final leg of the three-race Western Swing, an NHRA institution since 1989, and the end of a grueling section of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series schedule in which racers competed at seven national events in eight weeks. The race is also the second to last in the Countdown to the Championship’s 17-event regular season that will set the 10-car fields for the Countdown to 1 playoffs that begin Labor Day weekend at the Mac Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals, meaning that racers are jockeying for those final berths in addition to race wins.
Antron Brown
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Brown, who began his Western Swing sweep last year with a win in Denver, is once again leading the way with the Matco Tools dragster after posting a 3.961 in the evening session. Brown, whose pass is more than a tenth off his own 3.862 track record set last year, is looking for his fifth No. 1 berth of the season and 26th of his career.
“The conditions out here are really good and the track is really good,” said Brown. “The car really took off hard from the 330 to 660. It went almost 275 miles an hour at half-track, so I knew it was on a run. Then it dropped a hole and when it did that it shredded the blower belt, and that’s why it only went 280. The car shut off about 700 feet down the racetrack, so it probably would have run a low .90.
“Tomorrow is going to be really interesting because it’s going to be cool and I don’t think the .96 is going to hold. You’re going to see some guys out there going for it and I think you’re going to see a low .90 or high .80. We were No. 1 last year on Saturday with a .86, so it’s definitely out there. We’ve just got to get the power level right and get the car hooked up.”
Doug Kalitta, who scored his first No. 1 in more than three years last week in Sonoma, is currently ranked second after steering his Kalitta Air mount to a 3.962, a few ticks ahead of teammate David Grubnic’s 3.970. Shawn Langdon, hot off his Super Gas win in Sonoma, is fourth with the Lucas Oil/Speedco rail after posting a 3.982.
Points leader Larry Dixon has the Al-Anabi Racing machine in the No. 5 spot at 3.985, just ahead of first-session leader Brandon Bernstein, who was unable to improve on his opening 3.992. Bob Vandergriff Jr. (4.027) and Cory McClenathan (4.103) round out the top eight.
Morgan Lucas has the 12th and final elapsed time to transfer to Saturday’s final two qualifying sessions with a 4.177. Seventeen dragsters made runs Friday.
John Force
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Wholesale improvements marked the second Funny Car session two, but it didn’t change the order. Points leader and 14-time series champ Force still leads the field after posting a 4.191 at 296.76 mph to edge out Del Worsham’s similar number at 294.75 on the basis of speed. Force’s Castrol GTX Mustang led the day’s field after one session with a 4.401. Force has won this event five times in his career, but not since 2003.
“We really choked it down on the first run just to make it go A to B to see what would happen,” said Force. “At half-track I’m thinking, ‘This is almost embarrassing.’ But the crew chiefs are making the decisions and it’s very critical to get down there.
“Coming into this race No. 1 in the points put us at the rear of the pack [in the first session] and allowed us to watch the rest, then that run put us low and put us at the rear of the pack [in the second session] to watch the rest. Worsham stepped up and ran a great number, then we went out and did it and got it on speed.”
Behind Worsham’s Al-Anabi Toyota is another pair of matching e.t.s at 4.221, with reigning season champ Robert Hight claiming the No. 3 spot with a speed of 295.72 ahead of Sonoma winner and defending event champ Ron Capps’ 293.73.
Bob Tasca III is in the No. 5 spot with a 4.240 and is followed on the qualifying sheets by Matt Hagan (4.242), 2009 event runner-up Ashley Force Hood (4.247), and 2007 Denver winner Jack Beckman (4.251).
Jeff Diehl sits a lofty 12th with his Rimz One Monte Carlo after posting a 5.349.
Allen Johnson
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Johnson, who’s been to the final round of his sponsor’s race the last three seasons, scoring wins in 2009 and 2007 around a 2008 runner-up, has the qualifying lead at the midpoint with his Mopar-sponsored Avenger after streaking to a 7.020 at 197.19 mph in the evening session. Johnson already has three No. 1 qualifying awards this season.
“The conditions got really a lot better; I think the track temperatures were about 20 degrees cooler,” said Johnson, who improved from his earlier 7.063. “We just put some gear ratio in it and got after it. The track conditions are awesome, and we’re still adjusting to it. I think that tomorrow will be better because it’s supposed to cool down. We’ll have to work hard to hold on to it.
“We didn’t test here this year, and we normally do, so we were a little nervous before the first run, but we hit it pretty close. So for the second run we were able to tweak it just a little bit and it worked out. We’ve put a lot of work into this, and we have a lot of data.”
Reigning season champ Mike Edwards, who led after the first session with a 7.041, is just a tick behind his seasonlong performance rival after charting a 7.021 on his second pass in his Penhall/Interstate/K&N Pontiac for the No. 2 position. Sonoma champ Jeg Coughlin has his JEGS.com Cobalt in the No. 3 slot after a 7.031 while Ron Krisher’s Valvoline Cobalt sits fourth at 7.039.
Greg Anderson, the 2008 Denver winner, is fifth with his Summit Racing Equipment GXP at 7.048, just ahead of the field’s other Dodge, Vinnie Deceglie’s Mountain View Tire Avenger, which clocked a 7.049 at 196.76. Larry Morgan also ran 7.049 in the field’s quickest Ford, his Lucas Oil/Summit Mustang, but his slower speed of 195.99 relinquished the higher spot to Deceglie. Jason Line, last year’s runner-up, sits in the eighth spot with a 7.050. Five-time Denver champ Warren Johnson has the No. 12 position at 7.067.
Michael Phillips
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Phillips, a winner last weekend in Sonoma, Calif., is halfway to his second career No. 1 qualifying spot aboard his Racers Edge Suzuki after posting a track-record 7.308 on his opening pass. Phillips was the No., 1 qualifier earlier this season in Englishtown.
“It was surprising that we didn’t run quicker in the second qualifying session,” said Phillips, who ran 7.344 on his evening pass. “The weather was about 300 to 400 feet better than it was on the first run. Basically, I was shooting for about a 7.28, but I came up a little bit short with a 7.34, but I’ll take it any way I can get it. The 7.30 in the first session was actually a surprise because I thought it was going to be about a 7.40 or a 7.41, but the short time off the line was pretty decent and got it down there.
“You’ll probably see someone run a 7.26 or a 7.28 tomorrow because it is supposed to be cooler in the morning.”
Defending event champ Eddie Krawiec has his Screamin' Eagle/Vance & Hines Harley in the No. 2 position with a 7.328 and Karen Stoffer her Geico Suzuki in the third spot after a 7.339. Steve Johnson had the best pass of the evening session, a 7.341 that has his Lincoln Tech Suzuki in the No. 4 position.
Andrew Hines, last year’s runner-up to teammate Krawiec has the No. 5 position with a 7.342 and is followed on the grid by the Buells of Shawn Gann (7.347), reigning season champ Hector Arana (7.356) and 2008 event champ Matt Smith (7.364).
Rookie sensation LE Tonglet’s Suzuki holds down the No. 12 spot with a 7.457.