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ELIMINATIONS ROUNDS RECAPS

TOP FUEL ROUND ONE (11:25 a.m.): Texas hero Steve Torrence, starting in the bottom half of the field for the first time in almost three years, advanced to round two with a tight 3.74 to 3.77 victory against good pal Scott Palmer and will face a grudge match against low qualifier Leah Pritchett, hot off a low e.t. of the round 3.697, in round two with the chance to meet his dad, Billy, in the semifinals. No. 2 qualifier Brittany Force (3.755) also advanced, as did No. 3 Tony Schumacher, who exactly matched his 3.703 qualifying pace. The round’s big upset was Terry McMillen taking down trouble-plagued No. 5 Antron Brown.

Second-round pairings (lane choice listed first): Leah Pritchett vs. Steve Torrence; Billy Torrence vs. Terry McMillen; Doug Kalitta vs. Brittany Force; Tony Schumacher vs. Clay Millican

FUNNY CAR ROUND ONE (11:40 a.m.): Jeff Diehl (No. 15) and Del Worsham (No. 12) advanced from the bottom half of the while 13-seed Robert Townsend almost pulled off a big upset in a wild first round of Funny Car racing. Diehl won with a 4.133 after Courtney Force shook the tires and Worsham drove past Cruz Pedregon with a 4.009, 310.20. Townsend, who beat Beckman in Phoenix for his first professional round win, almost pulled off a repeat. Both drivers shook the tires and had to pedal, but Beckman was able to recover more quickly to take a 4.125 to 4.186 victory. Low qualifier Robert Hight got a single run after Todd Simpson could not get his car to fire. The Auto Club team did not waste the opportunity with a 3.878 that was good for low E.T. of the event to this point. J.R. Todd, Matt Hagan, Tim Wilkerson, and Jonnie Lindberg also advanced.

Second round pairings (lane choice first): Jack Beckman vs. Del Worsham: Matt Hagan vs. Tim Wilkerson; J.R. Todd vs. Jeff Diehl; Robert Hight vs. Jonnie Lindberg

PRO STOCK ROUND ONE (12:01 p.m.): Upsets were not limited to the nitro classes as four drivers from the bottom half of the field advanced to the second round including fan favorite Erica Enders, who came from the No. 13 spot to beat Las Vegas winner Vincent Nobile in what was arguably the best race of the round. Enders left first by four thousandths of a second and crossed the finish line just one thousandth ahead of Nobile, 6.537 to a quicker 6.534. Alex Laughlin, Matt Hartford, and Rodger Brogdon also scored wins from the No. 9, 11, and 12, spots respectively. Low qualifier Greg Anderson had no trouble moving on after Steve Graham shut off and Jeg Coughlin Jr. also breezed into the second round with a solid 6.533, 210.70 after Alan Prusiensky fouled in his Dodge Dart.

Second round pairings (lane choice first): Matt Hartford vs. Tanner Gray; Erica Enders vs. Rodger Brogdon; Greg Anderson vs. Alex Laughlin; Jeg Coughlin Jr. vs. Bo Butner.

ON-TRACK INCIDENT (1 p.m.): Top Fuel Harley rider Brian Jernigan of Cypress, Texas, was involved in an ontrack incident during the first round of eliminations in the Mickey Thompson Tires Top Fuel Harley Series. Jernigan made contact with the right-hand wall, maintained control, and brought his motorcycle to a stop before being attended to by onsite safety personnel. Jernigan was transported to a local hospital for evaluation.

TOP FUEL ROUND TWO (1:50 p.m.): Top Fuel's winningest driver, Tony Schumacher, who is winless for more than a year (2017 Gainesville), is in the semifinals for the third time in five races and will have lane choice over world champ Brittany Force after their respective winning passes of 3,737 and 3.739. Low qualifier Leah Pritchett was right there with a 3.740 in besting Steve Torrence while Terry McMillen took out the other half of the Torrence double threat by sending Billy T to the trailer.

Semifinal pairings (lane choice first): Leah Pritchett vs. Terry McMillen; Tony Schumacher vs. Brittany Force

FUNNY CAR ROUND TWO (1:53 p.m.): Robert Hight set the pace in round two with a strong 3.950, 310.84 to reach the semifinals for just the second time this season. Hight defeated two-time Top Alcohol Funny Car champion Jonnie Lindberg, who put up a solid fight with a 4.002, 305.56, but fell off the pace when his Landmeco Mustang wounded an engine in a ball of fire at the finish line. Lindberg wasn’t hurt in the incident. Joining Hight in the semifinals is Jack Beckman, who coasted past Del Worsham, 5.286 to 5.563. Tim Wilkerson will make his first semifinal appearance of the year after driving his Levi, Ray & Shoup Mustang to a 3.972, 308.71 in his win over Matt Hagan, who broke the tires loose before the finish line and slowed to a 4.190, 240.08. J.R. Todd will round out the final four after stopping Jeff Diehl with a 3.985, 309.70.

Semifinal pairings (lane choice first): Robert Hight vs. Jack Beckman; Tim Wilkerson vs. J.R. Todd

PRO STOCK ROUND TWO (2:11 p.m.): Elite Motorsports engines are under the hood of three of the four semifinalists in Pro Stock including Erica Enders, Jeg Coughlin Jr., and Matt Hartford. The lone exception is Greg Anderson. Coughlin, seeking his first win in two years, made the best run of the round with a 6.512, 211.03 in his win over reigning champ Bo Butner. Coughlin will take on Hartford, who made the final four for the first time since the 2016 Sonoma race after Tanner Gray fouled. A change in race cars seems to agree with Enders, who is making her first semifinal appearance since the Pomona season-opener after stopping Rodger Brogdon, who shook the tires. Anderson wrapped up the round with a 6.514, 211.46 after Alex Laughlin shook the tires.

Semifinal pairings (lane choice first): Greg Anderson vs. Erica Enders; Jeg Coughlin Jr. vs. Matt Hartford

TOP FUEL SEMIFINALS (3: 05 p.m.): Terry McMillen will get the chance to race for his second career Wally as the Amalie Oil driver, who got his breakthrough win at last year’s penultimate event in Las Vegas, is back in the final round (his fourth career), where he will take on Brittany Force in a rematch of that final . McMillen upset tire-smoking low qualifier Leah Pritchett with a traction-plagued 5.12 and will surrender lane choice to Force, who had no such problems with a 3.76 against tire-smoking Tony Schumacher.

FUNNY CAR SEMIFINALS (3:10 p.m.): J.R. Todd extended his winning streak to six-straight rounds after a strong 4.017, 309.06 in the semifinals to defeat Tim Wilkerson, who was late arriving to the starting line, and then smoked the tires at the hit of the throttle. Todd will race reigning champ Robert Hight, who earned lane choice for the final with a 3.959, 312.50 against Jack Beckman, who hazed the tires to a 4.113, 293.39. Todd is coming off a win at the most recent event in Las Vegas while Hight is seeking his first win of the season in his Auto Club Chevy Camaro. Hight is a perfect 4-0 against Todd since the start of the 2017 season.

PRO STOCK SEMIFINALS (3:17 p.m.): There will be a fifth different winner in five Pro Stock events this season after Erica Enders and Matt Hartford advanced to the Houston final. Enders, a fan favorite in front of her hometown crowd, drove her Lupe Tortilla Camaro to a 6.561, 209.95 to edge Greg Anderson, who trailed with a 6.572, 212.23. Hartford, a former star in the Sport Compact class, reached his first career Pro Stock final with a strong 6.5654, 210.83 after Jeg Coughlin Jr. shook the tires in his JEGS.com Camaro. Enders, set to appear in her 40th Pro Stock final, has won 262 elimination rounds as a professional while Hartford has 12.

LUCAS OIL SPORTSMAN SERIES RESULTS: Steve Collier and his son, Koy Collier, became the 12th different father-son duo to meet in the final round of an NHRA national event and this time, youth prevailed. Koy, 19, edged Steve to win the Super Gas title and earn his second national event victory. Steve was appearing in the final round in Houston for the fourth time in five years and he has three wins at Royal Purple Raceway. Collier was joined in the winner’s circle by National Dragster contributor Brenda Grubbs, first-time winner Tim Snively, and Lyndon Rutland. Grubbs drove her ’69 Camaro to a win over Craig Gualtiere’s clean ’66 Nova in Super Stock. Snively, at 53, earned his first national event title by stopping Brandon Bakies in the Stock final and Rutland edged two-time national champion Austin Williams by .001-second in the Super Comp final. Final round results for all classes:

Super Stock
Brenda Grubbs def. Craig Gualtiere

Stock
Tim Snively def. Brandon Bakies

Super Comp
Lyndon Rutland def. Austin Williams

Super Gas
Koy Collier vs. Steve Collier

MICKEY THOMPSON TIRES TOP FUEL HARLEY FINAL (3:44 p.m.): Vance & Hines rider Doug Vancil, near lane, took over  the points lead in the Mickey Thompson Tires Top Fuel Harley series following his second win of the season. Vancil, who also won the Pomona season-opener, rode to a 6.300, 230.76 to stop Randal Andras, who left first by four-hundredths of a second, but spun the rear tire and slowed. Andras was appearing in his first final in the series.

E3 SPARK PLUGS NHRA PRO MOD SERIES FINAL (4:03 p.m.): Three-time NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster national champion Jim Whiteley, far lane, claimed his second win in the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Series and his 25th national event title following a holeshot win over Rick Hord in the final round. Whiteley drove his J&A Service supercharged ’69 Chevelle to a 5.834 to 5.818 holeshot win over Rick Hord’s turbocharged Maximun Effort Corvette. The margin of victory between he two drivers at the finish line was just nine-thousandths of a second. Whiteley’s first Pro Mod win was also at Royal Purple Raceway in 2016 when he defeated Rickie Smith in the final. Hord previously won the Comp Eliminator title at the NHRA SpringNationals in 1988, when the event was held in Columbus, Ohio. He was making his first final round appearance in Pro Mod competition.

 
PRO STOCK FINAL (4:15 p.m.): Matt Hartford, far lane, became the 66th different Pro Stock winner after driving his Total Seal Camaro to an upset win over two-time world champion Erica Enders a final round battle of Elite Motorsports-powered Chevy Camaros. Enders got off the starting line first by .037-second and appeared to be on her way to her 23rd career victory but Hartford ran her down for a 6.522 to 6.570 victory. Hartford qualified No. 11 in the field and drove to victories against Chris McGaha, Tanner Gray, and five-time world champ Jeg Coughlin Jr. Enders made it to career final No. 40 in Pro Stock after wins against Vincent Nobile, Rodger Brogdon, and low qualifier Greg Anderson.

FUNNY CAR FINAL (4:21 p.m.): J.R. Todd, near lane, remained perfect in Funny Car final rounds and won his second-straight race after he wheeled the Kalitta Motorsports DHL Toyota to a 3.955, 313.29 to 3.993, 308.14 win over reigning world champ Robert Hight in the final round. Todd, also a winner two weeks ago at the Denso Spark Plugs Four-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas, has an unblemished 4-0 record in final rounds since joining the Funny Car class in 2017. Todd also joins Mike Dunn and Del Worsham as the only drivers to win in both Top Fuel and Funny Car at Royal Purple Raceway. Todd stopped Tommy Johnson Jr., Jeff Diehl, and Tim Wilkerson to reach the final while Hight drove past Todd Simpson, Jonnie Lindberg, and Jack Beckman.

TOP FUEL FINAL (4:25 p.m.): Brittany Force, far lane, completed the comeback from her accident at the season opener to score her eighth career victory. In a rematch of their final at last year’s fall Las Vegas event, Force and her Monster Energy team turned the tables on Terry McMillen to score the win, 3.76 to 3.81. Force joins her dad, John, and sisters Ashley and Courtney, as Houston winners. She is the fourth different winner in five events so far this season . Only Steve Torrence has repeated in 2018.

Pro Stock champion Matt Hartford: “Its been a long time coming. I started in Pro Stock in 2006. It’s 2018. I’ve let the clutch out a few times. I’ve lost way more than I’ve ever won. We struggled in qualifying. We qualified eleventh. We should have qualified third or fourth but the best air was Friday night and we completely missed the set-up. We started in the back half of the field and we had to work our way through. They’ve always told me if you want to be the best you have to beat the best. We beat Chris McGaha, Tanner Gray, Jeg Coughlin and Erica Enders. We earned this. And I didn’t leave on any of them just to make that clear. They all left on me and we just did a better job with our car today than the other teams.

“Over the winter I was done. I said I’m not coming back and then [Elite Motorsports owner] Richard Freeman called me and all but begged me to come back. He said we need cars. You’ll have as good a power as we have. I have his fifth-best motor but it’s as good as his first-best motor. They’re all the same. When you have horsepower this is fun. When you struggle like I have for so many years and have carnage the fun starts going away. My crew is close nit. We have a good time out here. This isn’t work We’re excited to be here. My driving is not why we won here. That is a fact. It was my crew.”

Funny Car champion J.R. Todd: “I just want to keep riding the wave. I don’t even think I’ve been to back-to-back finals. This just goes to show that maybe winning the [Las Vegas] four-wide wasn’t a fluke. I knew coming here that the track was going to be a factory and I hoped that maybe would play into our hands. Everytime we got to the asphalt it just blew the tires off and I thought that guys like [Robert Hight’s crew chief] Jimmy Prock can’t just go out there and throw down. We were struggling early but I wasn’t doubting ourselves up there in the final. I thought If I could leave on him or leave with him we’d go up there and we’d stand a chance. I thought they’d run better than they did, though.

“It’s nice to have this momentum early in the season. We struggled really bad last year. We didn’t turn it around until the Western Swing. Denver is where we really got come momentum. Nice for Kalitta Motorsports as a whole to come out here winning races and that definitely makes Connie [Kalitta, team owner] happy and keeps team morale up all the way around. It’s also nice to be moving up in the points. It seems like every year I’ve been out here competing in the points during the Countdown I’m always right around the cut line. Hoepefully we can keep this going and stick around the top five. That would be nice.”

Top Fuel champion Brittany Force: “This has been our third car this season and that was a lot of work for my team and the fab shop guys in Indy. We brought this car out this weekend. We didn’t go testing. Qualifying was all the runs that we get. I asked my guys are we going to make a full run? Do you want me to go to half-track? And they said, ‘No just take it right down there.’ We went to No. 1 on Friday and then got moved to No. 2 but we were pretty excited about it. To come out here and win on race day is huge for all of us.

“We wrecked in Pomona and those things happen. I knew one day that might happen. I’ve been out here for six or seven years so you expect that in this sport but the boys put a safe race car around me. I climbed out perfectly fine and we went back to work building a new car and we just brought it out this weekend. We won in Charlotte a couple of years ago so I’m familiar with the [four-wide format] and we go back next week and I’d like to have two wins in a row.”

Sunday recap: Force, Todd, Hartford collect meaningful victories at NHRA SpringNationals

FEATURES

Leah Pritchett started 2017 like a house afire, winning the first two events of the season and holding the points lead until the ninth event, so 2018 has obviously been a step back for the Todd Okuhara-led team, which has won just three rounds over the year’s first four races, but Pritchett is not concerned. Testing after the Denso Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals proved fruitful and her No. 1 qualifying spot here was a big boost.

“We’ve been developing our confidence in the last few races, specifically Las Vegas when we tested and to finally put it on track is phenomenal,” she said. “What’s been impressive is the amount of unity on the team. For each individual to know what we’ve done right and what we’ve done wrong and to be very outspoken about it and learn from that.

“It’s easy to get down; you compare last season to this season and go ‘Man, what’s the difference?’ and the difference is that last year we were racing and this year we’re racing and developing because we know we need to be exceptional because our competition is exceptional.

“The competition is absolutely fierce. We know other teams, even within our own Don Schumacher Racing organization, are trying things, so you make certain moves to advance yourself and your team. You have to not give up from an intellectual and interpersonal level to try new things. It’s getting outside your comfort zone, and that takes guts.”

Brittany Force’s comeback from her season-opening accident in Pomona has been a multi-step project, but after almost putting the Brian Husen- and Alan Johnson-tuned Monster dragster on the pole here. It’s safe to say that she and the team are all way back.

“Getting back in the car in Phoenix was not about winning the race; it was just about getting back in my racecar and getting comfortable,” she explained. “Watching that wreck over and over was one of the toughest things I’ve done, but in Gainesville I knew that weekend that it was all behind me and it was game on.”

The Pomona crash was caused by a regrettable attempt to pedal the car in Sunday’s first round, but after a successful – if losing – pedal job two weeks ago in Las Vegas, another wound was healed.

“That pedal definitely took me back to Pomona,” she said. “It is race day. It is game on and we are looking for a win. When it wasn’t running smooth down there and it smoked the tires you have to pull your foot out of it and make sure you let it settle. That is the one thing I learned coming out of Pomona. You have to make sure the car is completely settled. I got back on it and it started to go. I think it was a good pedal job on my end but it wasn’t enough to turn on a win light.” 

The team debuted a new car at this event, and it went to the No. 1 spot on just its first attempt. Now she has to complete the comeback with a Sunday win. The John Force Racing team has a remarkable record at Royal Purple Raceway, with Funny Car wins by her father, sisters Ashley and Courtney, Mike Neff, Tony Pedregon, and Robert Hight. 

The Top Fuel entry list was filled with homestate Texas racers: Steve and Billy Torrence (Kilgore), Kebin Kinsley (Arlington), newcomer Terry Brian (Overton) and even recently transplanted Tony Schumacher (The Hills), and the underdog’s underdog, Terry Haddock, out of Temple, Texas.

“I’ve been getting my ass kicked this year,” admitted Haddock, who’s only qualified at two of four races this season with a new car and been tagged with a few oildown penalties. “We’re trying. The old car was running so good at the end of last year; every time we pulled the wires it ran an .80-something. We went home, we kept our mouths shut, we worked hard on this brand-new car to improve my image, but we’re not there yet. When I get this car back to where the old car ran, we’ll be fine. We had hoped to make the Top 10 this year, but we’re probably too far behind already. Now we just want to go out there and do a good job and not look dumb.

“People ask, ‘Who do you keep going?’ and the answer is simple: I know if I stay home no one is ever going to give me any money. If I’m sitting on the couch, the phone’s never going to ring. I want to go racing, and it’s not going to happen without the work.”

When Haddock does get the new dragster up to speed, he’ll let Jim Maroney, a nostalgia drag racer whose company, American FlowTech, has been one of Haddock’s staunchest supporters, make some runs in the car. Haddock still has his sights set on returning to Funny Car –- he has a new car almost ready to go –- and also will make some runs in a new Vega Nostalgia Funny Car, dubbed Fool’s Errand, he has under construction. He hopes that car will be ready for the California Hot Rod Reunion in the fall.

“My whole racing career sometimes feels like a fool’s errand, so I thought that was a good name,” he says self-deprecatingly honest. “I just want to run that race one time before my career is over and at this point I don’t know how long that’s going to be.”

In a career that has spanned more than 739 races heading into this event, John Force had only failed to qualify 21 times, and most of those were in the early days of his career. Unfortunately, the 16-time world champ added No. 22 to the list this weekend after a series of maladies kept his Peak Camaro from reaching its peak performance, ending a string of 221 consecutive raceday starts.

Between fighting a new track and mechanical maladies that repeatedly triggered the onboard safety system, Force could only manage a best of 4.62 (Q2) against a 4.53-second bump spot and will be a spectator today.

“That is hard for me,” he said. “You earn what you get. We didn’t put it in the show. We couldn’t get to half-track. We have had a lot of problems all year. NHRA came up with some automatic shut-off stuff for when you build pan pressure, it shuts you off. We have to stick with that. It shut the car off every run that we made this weekend. At least I got my final shot to get in and I didn’t make it. I will be here rooting on Robert, Courtney and Brittany. I’ll be signing autographs for all the fans. I am sorry to all of you fans that I didn’t make it.”

Force’s last DNQ was Sept. 13, 2008 when he failed to make the show at the NHRA Carolina Nationals at Charlotte. Earlier in his career, Force set an NHRA record by qualifying for 395 consecutive events from 1988 until April 2007.

Tim Wilkerson’s Saturday was a huge turnaround from his Friday. where his best e.t. in two attempts with the Levi, Ray & Shoup Shelby was a 5.21. Saturday brought about a marked change as the veteran Illini came out fighting with passes of 3.968 and a better-yet 3.925 to finish in the No 4 spot, his best raceday start since qualifying No. 2 at the 2017 season finale in Pomona.

"The car is parked outside there, and I shut the door so it wouldn't hear me say this, but it's really showing some good signs," said Wilkerson, who won this race in 2004 and was runner-up in 2016. "I don't want to ever brag about the thing, but it's going nice and straight, and the guys are working hard on it. It would be lovely if we could win a round of racing.

"The car acts different when the track is good; it's all the header push and how different it is. We just have to learn how to run it. You think about it, we haven't been on an 80-degree racetrack since Pomona. We're still working on it, but after the [3.96], looking over it, it was real nice and safe. It looked good. I was trying to go 3.95 and it went 3.96. I told Richard [Hartman, co-crew chief] well, now we're gonna try to go 3.90-flat. He asked me if I thought it would do that, and I said I thought so. Well, it would have, but it got through the clutch in the middle and then spun really bad out at the other end. We ended up with a 3.92. If it wouldn't have gotten through the clutch, it would have been real close to a 3.90."

Wilkerson will race Shawn Langdon in the first round of eliminations.

“Fast Jack” Beckman has won at 16 different facilities on the NHRA Mello Yello tour but Royal Purple Raceway is not one of them. Beckman went to the final in Houston in 2009, but lost to Ashley Force Hood. Regardless of his past performances, Beckman believes he’s got as good a shot as anyone to win this weekend.

“Our car did almost everything we asked of it so far this weekend,” said Beckman. “On Q1 we threw the chutes out early but that was a lever issue. On Q2 we were a bit weak but on Saturday our plan more or less came together. We ran a 3.95 on the first run, which is what we expected and then we stepped on it for the last run and it also did what we wanted it to do. This time yesterday, we were sitting up here in the crew chief lounge thinking it was a high probability Saturday would be a complete rainout. That didn’t happen obviously. Making those runs on Saturday gives you a lot of confidence, even though the conditions today [Sunday] are going to be quite a bit different than they have been.”

Beckman’s 3.918, 314.31 pass in his Infinite Hero Dodge was the fourth-quickest run in qualifying and sets up a match against rookie Richard Townsend in round one. It was just three races ago in Phoenix that Beckman broke in the first round and handed Townsend his first, and so far, only round win in Funny Car competition.

“As a rule, we don’t take anyone lightly,” said Beckman. “Especially not in a field like this where we have a lot of good cars and even John Force didn’t qualify. That tells you how tough the competition is in this class. I am so confident going into [eliminations]. I hate using the word 'proud,' when people say, 'I'm proud of my guys,' because they don't work for me and I'm not their dad. I am just really happy to be a part of this group.”

Ron Capps qualified in the No. 14 spot, which is his worst qualifying effort since a DNQ at the spring Las Vegas event in 2016.  In an usual occurrence for Capps and crew chief Rahn Tobler, they didn't earn a single qualifying bonus point; through the first four races of the season they'd earned something in qualifying at each event, charting points in nine of the 16 qualifying sessions for a class-leading 19 points. Only Pro Stock's Greg Anderson (26) has earned more.

With a best of just 4.077, 305.77, Capps figured he’d have a tough round one draw and he got one; teammate and two-time world champ Matt Hagan.

“It's not optimal to run your teammate first round,” Capps said. “We've got four DSR Funny Cars and they're all the cream of the crop. We all know we're going to have to meet each other to win a race; that's a given. You just don't want to put yourself in a position to have each other first round. And it's our fault. We didn't qualify very well, and we got behind. It was on a great run Friday night and then [crew chief, Rahn] Tobler had to just kind of back everything off to make sure we got in the show.

“This race track has been tricky, but that is part of what drag racing is,” said Capps. “It's having to deal with different conditions. Not every race track is the same. But you know what, how many times have we rolled up there with Tobler and he’s pointed at me through the windshield, no matter where we're qualified, and he's pointed at me before I stage the car, without lane choice, and everybody would have thought we had no chance and we went on to win the whole race, so I have plenty of confidence.”

Capps is not only the defending Funny Car winner at the NHRA SpringNationals, he was also a winner at Royal Purple Raceway in 2015, 2007-06.

For Jason Line, there is nothing unusual about racing against one of his KB Racing teammates; he’s faced off against Greg Anderson 36 times in final rounds alone and compiled a respectable 16-20 record. Today, Line will face off against a new teammate when he races native Texan Rodger Brogdon, who is making his return to Pro Stock in a KB-powered Camaro. Line reached the final round at the first two events in 2018, is in the hunt for the 50th win of his career, including two victories in Stock Eliminator.

Line opened the season with back-to-back final rounds in Pomona and Phoenix, but has cooled since with a pair of round one losses in Gainesville and the recent Las Vegas Four-Wide race. He’s also dropped from first to fifth in the Mello Yello standings in the last two events.
 
“Qualifying was a little bit of a struggle here,” said Line, who is fifth-quickest with 6.518, 211.16 mph in the first session. “ All you can do is keep working on it. It's a tough deal, but it's not supposed to be easy. [Drag racing] is certainly living up that that reputation. You just have to make the best of it and keep digging. The fact that it isn't easy is what makes it rewarding when you do well. We have great folks on this team and we've got great folks behind us at Summit Racing, and we'll make it better. There are a lot of really good cars right now, so we're going to have to really execute perfectly.”

Less than a month ago, Vincent Nobile had no intention of racing at the NHRA SpringNationals but a win at the Denso Spark Plugs Four-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas changed more than just the mood in the Mountain View Racing camp.

“I believe we’re going to all the races now and that’s just fine with me,” said Nobile. “That was a clutch win. It changed a lot around here. I didn’t know we were coming to this race until about a week ago. Nick [Mitsos, team owner] was going to Oklahoma to pick up a new trailer and I was on the phone with him and he didn’t even mention it. I called him back a while later and he said we’re going to the rest of them. I’m really busy at home but I’ve got no problems making time to go to the races. This only lasts so long. I want to race as much as I can.”

Nobile also addressed his win in Las Vegas, his first Pro Stock victory in more than a year. It was also his first win in the Four-Wide format.

“I think Las Vegas owed me one,” he said. “Between Pro Stock and bracket racing I think I’ve been to eight finals and never won once. I didn’t have any problems racing four-wide. I think we’ve done it enough now that you don’t see so many big mistakes on the starting line. It used to be easy to get confused but now we’re all used to it. We’ve also got a good car now that responds to the changes we make. We’re all pretty pumped up about what we can do this year.”

Erica Enders didn’t qualify for the tough field in her debut in the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod series but that doesn’t mean she didn’t consider the weekend a success. Driving the new turbocharged Elite Performance Camaro, Enders opened qualifying with a solid 5.866, 240.81 which was one of the best runs of Q1. Enders was not able to improve and by the time qualifying ended, she was bumped to 19th, out of the record field.

“We hurt an engine and that sort of set us back for the weekend,” said Enders. “It was just nice to get out here and make some runs. I only got to make about six or seven runs in testing. We learned a lot, but we didn’t get to the finish line too many times. I’m just glad to get some seat time in this car.”

Off the starting line, Enders’ new Pro Mod Camaro isn’t much quicker than her Elite Motorsports Pro Stock car. That changes around 330-feet out when the turbocharged engine in the Pro Mod car begins to build boost. Typically, a Pro Mod car is about eight-tenths of a second quicker than a Pro Stock car, and there is a 40-plus mph difference at the finish line.

“The launch is not really a big deal,” said Enders. “At half track you know you’re driving a Pro Mod car because it never stops pulling. It sets you back in the seat the whole time. I really enjoy both cars. The Pro Stock car is very technical and you have to be precise with your shifts and the Pro Mod car is just an animal.”

As a result of the engine damage they sustained this weekend, Enders said the team might skip the next Pro Mod event in Charlotte, but they plan to be in Topeka in mid-May, which is the closest event to the Elite headquarters in Oklahoma.

PHOTOS

The popular SealMaster Track Walk kicked off raceday, led by NHRA legend Tom “the Mongoose” McEwen in his ’57 Chevy-styled golf cart and the Torrence family. Fans were able to traverse the actual racing surface at Royal Purple Raceway for an up-close look.

Terry Brian qualified for the Top Fuel show in his debut, but the Overton, Texas, racer fell to low qualifier Leah Pritchett in round one.

Robert Hight and the AAA Texas team were welcomed to the stage as the No. 1 qualifiers heading into eliminations.

Good friends and technology teammates Scott Palmer and Steve Torrence raced in round one. Despite not having first-round lane choice for the first time since the 2015 Seattle event, Torrence took the win.

Amalie Motor Oil Top Fuel pilot Terry McMillen and crew chief Rob Wendland upset No. 5 qualifier Antron Brown in the opening round of action and went on to reach the final.

Jeff "the Surfer" Diehl pulled off the biggest upset of the opening round when he defeated No. 2 Funny Car qualifier Courtney Force. It was just the sixth round win of Diehl's career.

Brittany Force got a win in round one over Terry Haddock, but it didn't come cheaply.

Pro Mod's Chad Green also blew his top in round one when the hood scoop unexpectedly peeled back at speed.

Shawn Langdon valiantly tried everything to get his Global Technology Toyota down the track in round one , but it's hard to pedal with all four tires off the ground.

Matt Hartford became the 66th winner in Pro Stock history when he beat hometown favorite Erica Enders in the final round.

J.R. Todd became the season's first repeat Funny Car winner as the Four-Wide Nationals champ went the distance in Funny Car. He's only the second driver (with Del Worsham) to win in both nitro classes at this event.

Brittany Force was congratulated by fans after scoring her first win of the season to complete here comeback from the Winternationals crash.

The event winners, from left, Matt Hartford, J.R. Todd, and Brittany Force.