Sunday's Phoenix Photos
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Race day began with Arizona fans joining NHRA racers and officials on a track walk down the newly repaved Firebird Int'l Raceway. |
The FRAM and NAPA trailers were absent in the pit area. After Spencer Massey and Ron Capps surprisingly failed to qualify; the teams packed up and headed to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to test on Monday in anticipation of the next race in the Countdown to the Championship. |
| Racing teammate Mike Neff in an important first-round match with major points implications, Robert Hight pressed on with the message "Now is the time to get better," hanging in the background of the Auto Club trailer |
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Automobile Club Road to the Future Award nominees, from left, Hector Arana Jr., Jerry Savoie, and Vincent Nobile hammed it up before the race. |
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[11:30 a.m.] (Above) NHRA Legends "Big Jim" Dunn, Shirley Muldowney, and "Big Daddy" Don Garlits were presented with posters from Firebird Int'l Raceway that said "Thanks for the Memories" and were filled with signatures of grateful race fans. Dunn (left) riled up the fans before giving the orders for the first pair to fire up. His wit was on display when he said, "Crew chiefs: wanna hurt some parts? Then fire up those engines!" |
| [11:45 a.m.] Steve Torrence, who sat out of the Friday night qualifying session due to illness, made his best run of the event in the first pair of cars down the track. He ran a 3.99 to beat the higher-qualified Troy Buff while earning the first round-win for his new Top Fuel team. |
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[noon] Alexis DeJoria, left, and Jeff Arend (with his daughter, Jenna) both made race-day starts in Kalitta Motorsports Funny Cars for the first time in the team's history. Arend upset No. 1 qualifier Cruz Pedregon to advance, and DeJoria lost to Bob Tasca III. |
[12:15 p.m.] The usually dominant Summit Racing entries of Greg Anderson (pictured) and Jason Line were both ousted in the Pro Stock opening round. Anderson was shut off on the starting line due to a fuel leak opposite V. Gaines, and Line lost traction against Shane Gray. |
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[12:30 p.m.] Mike Berry made good on a bet with his LAT Oils Pro Stock Motorcycle team that he would dye his hair if he qualified in the top half of the field. Berry improved upon his qualifying time with a 6.95 in his first-round win against Steve Johnson. |
[1:10 p.m.] Nostalgia Funny Cars, such as Bucky Austin's '78 Plymouth Arrow, are competing in a three-round exhibition event. True to their era, Nostalgia Funny Cars are limited to 500-cid engine displacements, 1979-or-older body styles, 6-71 superchargers, and 21-gallon fuel pumps. |
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[1:25 p.m.] Antron Brown won a monster matchup against Del Worsham in the second Top Fuel round and took over the provisional lead in the point standings. He gives up lane choice to teammate Tony Schumacher in the semi's. |
[1:45 p.m.] Jim Head scored wins in the first two Funny Car rounds with red-lights by his opponents. Jeff Diehl made a better run them him in the first round and fouled, and Paul Lee left before the Tree was activated in round two. Head has hosted several Arizona-based racing friends in his pit, including J.T. Stewart. |
[2 p.m.] Erica Enders, hanging with NHRA legend Shirley Muldowney, qualified No. 4 and is the highest-ranked Pro Stock driver still in competition after wins against Kurt Johnson and Steve Kent. She has lane choice over rookie Vincent Nobile in the semifinals. |
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[2:10 p.m.] Matt Smith ran a 6.97 to get the win light over Karen Stoffer in the Pro Stock Motorcycle second round. The former champ is one of four V-Twins to advance to the semi's. |
[3 p.m.] Crew chief Jason McCulloch chose an opportune time to end Larry Dixon's stretch of 10 races without a final-round appearance. Dixon beat Steve Torrence by just .006-second in the semifinals and will face Antron Brown in a big Top Fuel final round. |
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[3:10 p.m.] Tony Schumacher's day ended on a holeshot at the hands of Top Fuel teammate Antron Brown. Schumacher's 3.97 was the quickest run of the round, but it wasn't enough for the U.S. Army driver to overcome a .054 light. |
[3:25 p.m.] Jack Beckman ran his second 4.29 e.t. of the day to advance past Jeff Arend and reach the Funny Car final round. He'll face off with teammate Johnny Gray to vie for the pewter Wally.
Gray did a remarkable pedaljob against Jim Head to win the most exciting race of the event by a fragment, six ten-thousandths of a second. |
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[3:40 p.m.] From left, Hector Arana Sr. and Jr. nearly made the Pro Stock Motorcycle final a father-son affair. Hector Jr. took care of business with a 6.937 against Matt Smith, but Hector Sr.'s .001 light wasn't enough to trump Eddie Krawiec. |
[4:40 p.m.] Former sand racer and reigning Division 7 champ Tony Jardino, near lane, scored his second national event win in Top Dragster when final-round opponent Chuck Phelps broke out by .001-second. |
[5 p.m.] Hector Arana Jr., near lane, cut a perfect light in the Pro Stock Motorcycle final and ran away from Eddie Krawiec, 6.88 to 6.94. Arana is chipping away at Krawiec's points lead. |
[5:05 p.m.] Vincent Nobile, far lane, scored his third Pro Stock final-round win — all on holeshots — when he beat Allen Johnson in a 6.67 to 6.65 decision. |
[5:15 p.m.] Jack Beckman, near lane, scored his second straight and third overall Phoenix event win by defeating teammate Johnny Gray in Funny Car. Gray is atop the point standings for the first time in his Professional career. |
[5:40 p.m.] Larry Dixon, far lane, ran down Antron Brown by .008-second in a 3.95 to 3.96 Top Fuel contest. It's Dixon's second win of the season and his first final since his Bristol win. |
[5:40 p.m.] With Dixon's win, Al-Anabi Racing team manager Alan Johnson, center, delivered an anniversary present to parents Everett and Agnes, who celebrate 57 years of marriage on Monday. |
[6 p.m.] The four Professional winners celebrated their hard-earned pewter Wallys in front of the Arizona crowd in the winner's circle. |