Friday's Phoenix Photos
Friday, October 14, 2011
The first Countdown to the Championship event held at Firebird Int'l Raceway in Phoenix was welcomed with hot, sunny weather. The temperature is expected to reach 100 degrees during the afternoon. |
NHRA legend "Big Daddy" Don Garlits, left, and two-time Phoenix event Top Fuel winner and former Arizona resident "Hot Rod" Fuller were present for an autograph session on Friday morning. |
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AGP Arms' Ben Kriegsfeld, who is a tuner on Jimmy Underdahl's Pro Stock Motorcycle, invited several racers to sample his wares at Caswell's shooting range in Mesa, Ariz., on Thursday (above). LE, GT, and Gary Tonglet; Underdahl; Gary Stoffer; and Melanie Troxel were among those who participated. (Left) Troxel had fun in her first time at a shooting range. |
Nostalgia Funny Car driver Todd "the Nitro Pirate" Lesenko is set to make his Professional debut in the Jolly Rogers/Auto Select Funny Car owned by Chuck and Del Worsham. The Canadian driver plans to compete with the Worshams' team at the Las Vegas event as well and will eventually pilot a Funny Car owned by Steve Plueger. |
| [2:30 p.m.] Steve Torrence's brand-new Capco Contractors Top Fuel team is making their second appearance. The Richard Hogan-led outfit qualified during their debut in Dallas. |
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[2:35 p.m.] Funny Car driver/tuner Mike Neff set the flows in the fuel management box of the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang in the pits with the help of 23-year-old assistant crew chief Jon Schaffer. |
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[3 p.m.] Red-hot Hector Arana Jr. continued to build his case for the Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award with a 6.97 that stands as the quickest run of the first Pro Stock Motorcycle session. |
[3:10 p.m.] Ron Krisher's Valvoline Cobalt led the pack with a 6.65 in the first Pro Stock session. His time was quick enough to withstand a couple of 6.66s ran by Summit drivers Greg Anderson and Jason Line in the final pair. |
[4:15 p.m.] Johnny Gray, who scored his first No. 1 qualifying position in his 178th start at the Reading event, is on top after the first session of Funny Car qualifying with a 4.31 at 277 mph. |
[4:35 p.m.] Tony Schumacher stole the show in the opening round of Top Fuel qualifying with a 3.98 at 297 mph, which was the only three-second pass of the round. |
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[4:40 p.m.] "We went from the best conditions we've had all year to some of the hottest," said Rob Flynn, crew chief for Bob Vandergriff Jr. "It's such a big difference that the first run is kind of a guess." Vandergriff is No. 6 after the first Top Fuel session with a 4.10. |
[4:50 p.m.] Fans were treated to an exhibition by seven Nostalgia Funny Car racers in anticipation of next weekend's California Hot Rod Reunion in Bakersfield. Jason Rupert made the quickest run of the day by a bunch with a 5.72 in his Mert Littlefield-tribute Camaro.
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[4:55 p.m.] The chess match between Eddie Krawiec and Hector Arana Jr. continued in the second round of Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying. Krawiec's Harley-Davidson made the quicker run this time, moving into the No. 1 spot with a 6.93. |
| [5:05 p.m.] Local favorite Gordie Rivera, who began racing Pro Stock in 1974, is making his second start of the 2011 season. Rivera reached the final round at this race in 1990. |
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[5:15 p.m.] Pro Stock rookie Vincent Nobile moved way up the field with a 6.65 in the second round of qualifying that stood as low e.t. for a short time before Mike Edwards and Jason Line bumped him to the third position. |
[5:30 p.m.] In her second career Funny Car start, Alexis DeJoria was the veteran in a pair that featured her and Todd Lesenko, who is driving the same car that DeJoria earned her license. She posted a 4.34 while Lesenko, who sat out the first session, ran a 4.32. |
[6 p.m.] Taking advantage of rapidly improving conditions after the sun went off the racetrack, Cruz Pedregon sped to a 4.21 to take the provisional No. 1 qualifying position in Funny Car. |
| [6:15 p.m.] Cory McClenathan provided some excitement during the second Top Fuel qualifying session when a fuel line came loose on the Santo Rapisarda's dragster and left a trail of burning fuel behind it. |
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[6:40 p.m.] Header flames were on full display when Troy Buff drove the BME/Okuma Top Fueler to a 3.954 that earned him the No. 5 position in the field despite the improving conditions helping those behind him in line. |
[6:50 p.m.] Larry Dixon made the quickest run of the day when he posted a 3.919 in the second Top Fuel session. |
[7 p.m.] The day closed with a jet car exhibition show that was wildly popular among the NHRA fans in attendance. |