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QUALIFYING ROUND RECAPS

PRO STOCK Q1 (4:40 p.m.): Fresh off a win at the K&N Horsepower Challenge in Las Vegas, Greg Anderson leads the Pro Stock field in Houston after one session. Anderson drove his Summit Camaro to a 6.492, 213.00, the ninth quickest run of the fuel injection era, to lead the 16-car field and reset both ends of the track record. He was followed by Jeg Coughlin Jr., who wheeled his new Jerry Haas-built Camaro to a 6.504, 212.36 and Jason Line, who picked up a bonus point after a 6.518, 211.16. Las Vegas winner Vincent Nobile also made a solid run with a 6.527 in the Mountain View Camaro. After running a strong 5.86 in her Pro Mod debut, Houston native Erica Enders shook the tires and shut off in her Elite Motorsports Camaro.

FUNNY CAR Q1 (5:20 p.m.): A trio of Funny Car drivers found the three-second zone during Friday’s opening qualifying including reigning Mello Yello world champ Robert Hight, who drove to a 3.921, 313.15 in his Auto Club Camaro to lead the field. Hight was joined by Cruz Pedregon, who debuted a new Snap-on Toyota with a 3.963, 299.53 for the No. 2 spot, and Matt Hagan, who is third after a 3.984, 298.40. Jonnie Lindberg also made a solid run with a 4.006, 302.41 in his Landmeco Toyota and J.R. Todd, the winner of the most recent event in Las Vegas, also made a representative run with a 4.010, 313.37.

TOP FUEL Q1 (5:55 p.m.): Doug Kalitta, who won this race back to back in 2016 and ’16, is showing some of that magic already by racing his Mac Tools dragster to the provisional qualifying lead after one pass with a 3.772. Tony Schumacher, looking for his first win in more than a year, is No. 2 with a 3.777 with Scott Palmer a surprising third at 3.783. U.S. Nationals runner-up Kebin Kinsley lost a 3.778 after a part from his car took out the timing lights.  Top Fuel newcomer Terry Brian sits on the bump spot.

PRO STOCK Q2 (7:41 p.m.): Greg Anderson, the provisional leader in Pro Stock qualifying, backed up his earlier 6.492 with a 6.495 to lead the second session. Anderson has been the only driver in the 6.4-second zone but he does not lead by a large margin because most of the other drivers are in the low 6.5s. Gainesville winner Tanner Gray made the second best pass of Q2 with a 6.507, 211.26 while Jeg Coughlin Jr. also picked up a bonus point after running a 6.513, 211.66. Coughlin remains the No. 2 qualifier after his earlier 6.504. Vincent Nobile also recorded a 6.513 but was slightly slower at 210.67 mph. In order to make the top half of the Pro Stock field, a driver would have to run quicker than Deric Kramer’s 6.528.

FUNNY CAR Q2 (8:11 p.m.): In a qualifying session were full runs were few and far between, Matt Hagan showed the way when he drove his Pennzoil-backed Dodge to a 3.913, 308.78 to take the provisional pole heading into Saturday’s final qualifying. Jonnie Lindberg was also in the threes along with Bob Tasca III. Lindberg opened qualifying with a 4.006 in Jim Head’s Landmeco Mustang and then improved in Q2 with a 3.927, 216.52. He finished the day as the No. 3 qualifier. Tasca did not get down the track in Q1 with his Motorcraft entry but rallied with a solid 3.951, 311.05 to move into the No. 3 spot. The only other three-second qualifiers in the field after Friday's two runs are Q1 leader Robert Hight and Cruz Pedregon.

TOP FUEL Q2 (8:55 p.m.): The Top Fuel qualifying sheet got rewritten in the cool of the evening where Brittany Force, running a brand-new car at this event, set a new track record of 3.701 (old mark: 3.722) to lead the field. Tony Schumacher took a shot at unseating her in the final run of the night but fell just short with a 3.711. Billy Torrence climbed to the No. 3 spot with a 3.737. Doug Kalitta, the low qualifier after Q1, couldn’t get down the track and fell all the way to the No. 6 position. The first seven cars are qualified in the 3.7-second zone.

Pro Stock low qualifier Greg Anderson: “We only get conditions like this once or maybe twice a year if we’re lucky. Pro Stock racers love this. We don’t have a supercharger to speed up the air into the engine. We’re just dependent on what Mother Nature gives us. The negative is that the good weather seems to even the class up because everyone is able to make quality runs. You’re going to have a tight, tight field. We haven’t run 6.40s for quite a while. It’s a neat feeling. We’ve done this very few times in the EFI era. Actually, I don’t think I have [run a 6.4].

“I’ve got a great car. It’s like a bracket car out there. The good thing is that it’s Bracket 1. She’s at the top of the charts. It’s going to be cool tomorrow as long as the rain holds off long enough to run. We will not see much if any sun on the track so this deal is not over. The top spot is not secure. The good news is that we can run every bit as fast tomorrow if not quicker.”

Funny Car low qualifier Matt Hagan: “Obviously we were dealing with a tricky track due to the new asphalt Credit to Dickie [Venables, crew chief] for being able to pull the car back. He’s done some crazy stuff to get it to go down the track. I clicked it a little early on both runs. As a driver, it’s your call as far as being able to say enough is enough. I’m happy because the car has been phenomenal. I know I’ve got a great race car under me. It’s good to get a decent run in both lanes and get some data to go off of.

"Right now in fuel Funny Car we’ve got some mean competition. With the class we have, there are a lot of guys and girls who can bring it. There are 16 cars and truly any one of them can win. You’ve got to dig deep and work hard. You’ve got to give it all you have at the line.”

Top Fuel low qualifier Brittany Force: “It’s been a whirlwind this season. We had my team’s dream car in Pomona and, unfortunately, we wrecked it, so we’ve been running our 2017 car for the last few races while we’ve been building this car. To be able to come out here and on the second run in the car be able to go No. 1 is pretty amazing.

“Our concern was just getting down the track because we don’t know what the weather is going to do tomorrow. I’ve heard all kinds of different things; that’s a number that we’re able to carry over to tomorrow. Hopefully we’ll get at least one run tomorrow because we want as many as we can get going into raceday.”
 

FEATURES

Royal Purple Raceway has a history of dishing up first career wins, dating back to its second event, in 1989, when the late Scott Kalitta scored his first career win -– and his only one in the class -–in Funny Car before going on to become a two-time Top Fuel world champion.

A breakthrough race win in Houston has proven a good stepping stone to world titles. Another future world champ, Funny Car ace Cruz Pedregon, also got his first career win in Houston in 1992, as did future Pro Stock champs Mike Edwards (1996) and Jeg Coughlin (1997) and future Funny Car kings Robert Hight (2005) and Matt Hagan (2010), and, of course, Bo Butner, who got his first in Pro Stock here last year en route to the 2017 championship.

Three-time Top Fuel champ Antron Brown already had a collection of Pro Stock Motorcycle Wallys when he earned his first career Top Fuel win in Houston in 2008, but still remembers it fondly.

“I remember 2008 like it was yesterday,” said Brown, who is looking for his milestone 50th career Top Fuel win this weekend. “It was [team owner] David Powers’ hometown track and we were driving our original Matco Tools/Toyota dragster and we got our first Top Fuel win there in just our fourth race. It was a phenomenal deal. Houston always sticks out to me because it’s where I was able to live out my dream and win in a Top Fuel car. I never imagined all of this back in 2008. It’s far more than I ever dreamed. I’ve been very fortunate, very blessed.”

Other Pro drivers who claimed their first career wins in Houston were Mark Pawuk (Pro Stock, 1992); Dean Skuza (Funny Car, 1997); Bob Gilbertson (Funny Car, 2000), and Vincent Nobile (Pro Stock, 2011).

Billy Torrence ran only three events in Top Fuel last year alongside his son, Mello Yello superstar Steve-o, but even though he’s already on his third event this season (with more planned) and has run in the 3.60s, he still considers himself “the weak link” in the Capco Contractors powerhouse. 

“I just need to make more laps,” he said. “It’s a good bunch here. I’m the weak link. It’s a good team, good tuner, good car. I think you could put Steve in either one of them and he’d win. We’re just super busy at work, which is a good thing, but I can only make races this this that are close to home, where I can fly in Friday. I think it would be bad news for [the Top Fuel field] if I got to race all the time. People were talking about how the four-wide [race] screws up their routine; hell, I don’t even have a routine to screw up.

“But it’s clear that the more you’re in there the better you do. These guys who run every race make it look easy but, believe me, it’s not easy. They’re difficult to drive. And borderline terrifying.”

One thing that might be terrifying to the field is that Steve Torrence has won both events this season at which his father also competed, in Phoenix and at the recent four-wide event in Las Vegas, both times beating his dad along the way.

Kebin Kinsley has a lot of fond memories of Houston and would love to make some new ones this weekend in Roger Hennen’s RoadRage Top Fueler. Kinsley scored his first national event win here, in Alcohol Funny Car, in his Wild Child entry, back in 2006 and also won the Dallas event later that season, making for a sweep of his Texas homestate.

Kinsley hasn’t visited the winner’s circle since then, but for a part-time team they’ve proven they can run with the Top Fuel pack. Last year’s surprise runner-ups at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals are running just their second event of the season after a disappointing DNQ in Phoenix and looking to get back to the 3.7-second pace that put them just a broken blower pulley away from winning The Big Go.

“Phoenix was a tough one for us; we shook the car on almost every run,” said Kinsley. “We had put new heads on the car and we were just a little too rich and it just would shake. It shook so hard on one run that it broke the carbon fiber/Kevlar seat. It felt like a mule kicked me in the back. Not qualifying sure makes me appreciate what happened to us at Indy.”

After Phoenix, the team sent the car back to its Kalitta Motorsports birthplace – it formerly was Doug Kalitta’s backup chassis – to be front-halved in anticipation of this event. Kinsley, who grew up just 30 miles from the track, in Klein, Texas, will have a lot of family support this weekend cheering him along.

Crew chief Donnie Bender, meanwhile, is licking his lips in anticipation of running in the sea-level conditions this weekend, as the majority of the events they’ve run have either been at altitude tracks or poor conditions. The team posted a career-best 3.75 at Indy last year and would love to improve upon that this weekend.

Texan Terry Brian is making his NHRA Top Fuel debut this weekend in the dragster that banners his Kilgore-based custom fabrication shop, ProFab. 

Brian, who raced fuel altereds for years, crossgraded his license during the Nitro Spring Training event earlier this year in Phoenix, driving a McKinney-chassised ex-Keith Murt car that he front-halved himself. He has some good parts, including a Brad Anderson block and Alan Johnson heads, but what he needs now more than anything is seat time.

“I had a lot of laps in my altered but not many in a dragster,” he admits. “With the weather looking kind of iffy for tomorrow, we don’t have much time to lay back today and take it easy. I’ve raced here a lot and tomorrow may never come. No matter what the weatherman says down here, it can change in a heartbeat.

“We made three runs in testing and ran a 4.05 and that wasn’t even a full pass, just what we needed to do to get my license, so we think we can run in the threes pretty easy. I think we’re a mid-.390 car but we could dip into the .80s. I don’t want to lean on it too much until we get some more laps and get everything going, but that will be a game-time decision based on how the field looks.”

Bill Litton is saddling up this weekend in the Worsham Racing Top Fueler for his first Mello Yello Series outing since running the Western Swing with the team in 2016. Steve Chrisman has been driving the car -– emblazoned with Litton’s business, Litton Financial -- this year and last while Litton has run some match races with the machine.

Litton, a six-year veteran of the Alcohol Dragster ranks, mostly recently wheeling an injected nitro out of the Randy Meyer Racing camp, is still getting his feet wet in the blown nitro counterparts. Although they’re both basically set up the same – a centrifugal-clutched dragster burning nitro – there are differences.

“I’ve probably got 25-30 runs in the cars, and it’s quite a bit different than the A/Fuel car,” he said. “For example, when the clutch starts locking up in the Top Fuel car it feels a little like what tire shake feels like in the A/Fuel car, so I have to teach myself to drive it differently. In a Top Fuel car, you can drive through it – sometimes it recovers and sometimes it smokes the tires – while an A/Fuel car will just continue to shake the tires until you lose your head. The startup procedure is a little different too, so it’s just about making more runs.

“Hopefully something comes together,” he added. “I’ve got some people who I’m talking to about a deal, and they want hospitality, too, so I’ve got to get my head fully in this game. I hope you guys will see more of me later this season. I enjoyed running with Randy, but I want to stay in Top Fuel. It’s Top Fuel or bust for me.”

Four races into his first fulltime season since 2014, Bob Tasca III and his team have yet to turn on a win light in 2018, but a Monday test session following the recent four-wide event in Las Vegas has Tasca and crew chief Eric Lane feeling a little better.

“I was really ticked-off at how the car was launching to 60 feet,” Tasca explained. “My reaction times have been poor, and the car has been slow early since the beginning of the season. We were consistently one of the slowest cars to 60 feet, yet one of the quickest cars from 60 to 330 [feet]. We made some substantial changes to the weight balance and clutch and were able to improve my reaction time by almost three-hundredths. We were also able to pick up our 60 feet by two-hundredths. That’s huge. To find three, four, five-hundredths before you go by the starting lights is amazing and that will only multiply as you go down the race track

“We ran 3.96 at 320 mph twice on a 120-degree track. Robert Hight ran 3.96 and [Jack] Beckman ran 3.95. Those were the three-quickest runs of the entire day. I was happy with how the car ran. We got the motors happy. We’re not blowing engines. We found a nice combination in the engines.”

Tasca also hasn’t been lucky when he could have used it, mostly a matter of bad timing.

“We were fifth-quickest on Sunday [in Las Vegas]; we would have won any other quad that round,” he said. “In Gainesville, we would have beaten 13 out of 16 cars on Sunday’s first round. We raced the guy who put down low E.T. In Phoenix we would have beaten 11 out of 16 cars [in the first round]. Our team has performed, made some good passes and just haven’t caught a break on Sunday. You need some luck in this sport. It will eventually come our way. It’s only a matter of time for us to start going some rounds.”

Tim Wilkerson opened the 2018 season on an optimistic note when he defeated Del Worsham in the first round in Pomona. Since then, he’s struggled to find consistency with his Levi, Ray & Shoup Mustang. Wilkerson has qualified in the bottom half of the field at the last three races, and hasn’t been able to get past a quicker car in the opening round. That’s a trend he’s desperately trying to reverse this weekend in Houston.

“I’m really just trying to figure this car out,” said Wilkerson, who is one of the few drivers who also acts as his own crew chief. “I have some new crew members and that’s been another challenge but the bit issue is this car. I’ just keep beating on my junk to try and make it go. In Pomona, I thought we had it straightened out but we apparently don’t. I’ve basically went back to square one to try and figure out what will work.”

Wilkerson noted that his biggest issue is trying to get his car to go all the way to the finish line without spinning the tires. He has always been known as someone who thrives on tricky track conditions, but changes in track prep have thrown him a curveball.

“Unfortunately, they don’t tell me what they’re going to do as far as track prep so for me it’s a guessing game,” Wiklerson said. “I also don’t have three or four cars like Force and Schumacher so I can’t just go look at data from another car. Lately, we get to the middle of the track and it wants to pull the tires loose. The short version is that I can’t get away with the things I used to be able to. We’re a stubborn group, though. I appreciate Richard [Hartman, car chief] and we’re determined to figure this out. We’ll get there for sure.”

Wilkerson entered the NHRA SpringNationals as the 14th ranked driver in the Funny Car class, but he’s just 33-points out of the top ten.

Following his accident in Phoenix, Jonnie Lindberg and team owner Jim Head made the switch to a Mustang body and Lindberg was quick to note that he likes the view from inside the Ford shell.

“I can see the Tree and everything else a lot better in the Mustang,” said Lindberg. “You don’t really see very well in these cars no matter what body is on them but of the cars I’ve driven, the Mustang is the best. I got my license in Tim Wilkerson’s Mustang so I knew I’d like it.”

In terms of performance, team owner and crew chief Head takes a different view of the body switch.

“Doesn’t matter one bit,” said Head in his usual blunt tone. “Aerodynamics in these cars means nothing. We’ve got 10,000 horsepower. What do you need aerodynamics for? Now, it matters in almost every other form of racing but in drag racing, it doesn’t matter one bit.”

Asked to explain further, Head clarified his firm stance.

“Aerodynamics mean nothing but balance means everything,” said Head. “A 20-pound difference in downforce from front to rear means the world in these cars. Moving some weight around or changing the wing or whatever. That means everything but I just don’t see a difference from body to body and I’ve messed with almost all of them at one point. The shape of the body doesn’t matter nearly as much as what you do with it in terms of balance. When we ran our Toyota, we ran with almost no rear wing because that’s what it wanted. We’re still trying to figure out what the Ford body wants. That’s a work in progress but we’re getting closer. Losing that car in Gainesville was a set-back but we’re sneaking up on this deal.”

So much has happened to Bo Butner in the last 12 months that he sometimes has a hard time remembering everything, but he won’t ever forget the 2017 NHRA SpringNationals. A year ago, Butner won his first Pro Stock race in Houston after more than a year of frustration. Today, Butner returns to Royal Purple Raceway as a six-time event winner and of course, the 2017 Mello Yello Pro Stock champion. After a solid start to the season, he’s also the current points leader in what has become a very competitive Pro Stock field.

“That was our first win; it was a big breakthrough that kind of opened the floodgate for us,” said Butner, recalling his landmark victory. “We don't have to win every race, just keep going to the semis and finals, and the points will add up. It's way early to be too worried about points for this year, but I feel good.”

Butner opened the season in the best way possible; with a win in Pomona, and he followed with a runner-up finish in Gainesville. The only blemish on an otherwise great start is a holeshot loss to Jeg Coughlin Jr. in the first round in Phoenix. At that event, Butner had been the No. 6 qualifier and Coughlin was the No. 11 seed.

“That just goes to show you that you can’t let your guard down in this class; not even for a minute,” said Butner. “Those things happen sometimes. You just have to limit the damage and put it out of your mind before the next race. Fortunately, we went to Las Vegas and had a pretty decent race. Now, we’re here in Houston where it all began and I just want to have a repeat of last year. Is that too much to ask for?”

That vapor trail that fans are likely to see in the pit area at Royal Purple Raceway this weekend was probably left behind by two-time Pro Stock champion Erica Enders, who will be extremely busy this weekend as she pulls double-duty in Pro Stock and behind the wheel of the new Elite Motorsports Pro Mod Camaro. Drivers racing in two classes is very common at NHRA events, but Pro Stock and Pro Mod will run their qualifying and elimination rounds almost back-to-back, which means that Enders must shuttle quickly from one car to the other.

“I’m excited about it,” said Enders. “I love to race and I don’t really care what I’m driving. I’ll drive anything if I feel like we can be competitive. I’m especially happy to be back home [in Houston] There’s definitely a lot of happy memories here. My sister [Courtney] and I grew up watching our dad race there and that’s where my driving career started. We’ve made a lot of fun memories there and a big reason why our family is so close is because of drag racing, so I’m thankful for that.”

The Elite team had a strong test session with their Pro Stock entries before the most recent race in Las Vegas, but it didn’t translate to results. Still, Enders remains impressed with how her team has pushed forward.

“Hopefully we can make a turn in Houston,” Enders said. “We’re either stubborn or we have zero quit. For a year and a half, we’ve fought to get better. We’re not making excuses, but it’s just been an uphill climb. We’re not pleased with where we’re at, but there’s not any quit in any of us. Really, half the battle is believing and I’m optimistic about what’s to come. Regardless of performance, our team is going to dig deep and work hard, and that speaks volumes about their character.”

John Gaydosh is making his second start of the season this weekend behind the wheel of his Pypes Performance Camaro, and he’s also shining a spotlight on autism. The month of April is designated as ‘Autism Awareness Month’ and featured prominently on the Gaydosh’s Camaro is a decal promoting Pathfinders for Autism out of Maryland. Pathfinders for Autism was founded 18 years ago by a group of parents including Baltimore Orioles Hall of Famer, William “B.J.” Surhoff, and his wife, Polly.

“My nephew, Kolton, has autism, so it really hits close to home for us,” said Gaydosh. “We wanted to do something to bring awareness and help the cause,” Pathfinders for Autism is an amazing group helping families with autistic children in the Maryland area.

“The internet wasn’t what it is now. B.J. and his friends wanted a way for families with children on the autism spectrum to get access and resources for things that don’t necessarily include the doctors. Things like a dentist, barber and autism support groups,” explained Neal Lichter, Resource Center Coordinator for Pathfinders for Autism.
 
Gaydosh is racing for the first time at Royal Purple Raceway, and he’s once again running an engine supplied by Chris McGaha’s Southwest Performance & Machine.

“This car is just flying,” said Gaydosh. “I've never gone this fast before in a fuel injected Pro Stock car. In Gainesville, I was able to get used to the new power and figure out how it runs. We also had a new clutch system last race, which accounted for my delayed reaction time in round one. But now we have everything is good and so I'm excited to race in Houston.”

PHOTOS

The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour makes the first of its two annual stops deep in the heart of Texas this weekend at the 29th annual NHRA SpringNationals at Royal Purple Raceway. The event has historically produced some of NHRA’s most memorable moments and a host of first-time winners. 

At Royal Purple Raceway, as all across the United States, flags are flying at half-mast this week in remembrance of First Lady Barbara Bush, a beloved Texan who passed away earlier this week. 

Hall of Fame nitro racer Tom “the Mongoose” McEwen spent a large part of Friday meeting fans and signing autographs for the Houston fans. McEwen’s appearance is part of the NHRA Legends Tour, which is helping to promote the 50th annual Gatornationals, to be held next year in Gainesville. 

Peak Funny Car driver John Force, who won the first of his seven Houston titles in 1990, remains a fan favorite at Royal Purple Raceway. The 16-time world champ held his own meet and greet for fans between qualifying runs.

In addition to her normal ride in the Elite Motorsports Park Stock Camaro, Erica Enders is also making her debut in the E3 Spark Plugs Pro Mod Series in the Hairston family’s turbocharged Camaro. Enders’ first official run in the new car was a very competitive 5.866, 240.81.

Robert Hight, who has 41 career No. 1 qualifying efforts, and crew chief Jimmy Prock grabbed the early qualifying lead in Funny Car with a 3.921 in Q1.

Kayla Morton and her ProCharger-equipped, Ford big block-powered Hot Mess Express Procharger Mustang won the Redemption series exhibition event. [Story]

The field for the E3 Spark Plugs Pro Mod series is already one of the quickest in the history of the class and one of the early leaders is Stevie “Fast” Jackson. The popular Pro Mod star ended the day in the provisional No. 2 spot after driving his Bahrain1 Camaro to a 5.707, 249.03.

After a long and action-packed day of professional and sportsman qualifying, the Houston fans were treated to a flame-throwing jet car exhibition to close the show. The fire-breathing jet dragsters lit up the night sky over Royal Purple Raceway.

PREVIEW

Steve Torrence returns to his homestate with both the points lead and a head of momentum after his win two weeks ago at the four-wide event in Las Vegas. Torrence’s victory made him the first Pro driver in any of the four Mello Yello classes to score a second season win, following up on his victory in Phoenix, but he's still looking for his first Top Fuel win in Texas. The Capco Contractors driver will again be joined at the event by his father, Billy. Both times that the senior Torrence raced this season, Steve-o reached the winner’s circle, so look out for the hat trick.

As mentioned above, there have been no repeat winners this season in Funny Car with Matt Hagan (Pomona), Courtney Force (Phoenix), Jack Beckman (Gainesville), and J.R. Todd (Las Vegas) splitting the points four ways it’s still tight at the top, led by Beckman, who’s never won in Houston (three runner-ups). Former world champ Ron Capps hasn’t won yet this season but is the defending event champ after taking a wild final-round victory last year over reigning world champ Robert Hight, so the timing may be right for his first win of the season.

Defending event Pro Stock champ Bo Butner, whose victory here last year was the first of his career in the Pro ranks, leads the points heading back to the scene of the crime but Phoenix winner Chris McGaha is hot on his heels and looking to impress in his homestate. Surprisingly, Pro Stock’s big two –- Summit teammates Greg Anderson and Jason Line –- have yet to reach the winner’s circle this season. Anderson has three wins in Houston (two of them over Line in the final) while Line has two.