SAME DAY COVERAGE
NHRA FRAM Autolite Nationals
Sonoma, CA.
By Susan Wade; Photos by Frank Smith

Sonoma Wrap-Up - California Dreamin' & Scheming & Beamin'

By Susan Wade

Biggest Winner of the Weekend: (tie) Doug Kalitta, Gary Scelzi, and Antron Brown

Kalitta in Top Fuel and Brown in Pro Stock Motorcycle gained or regained the points lead with their victories, and Scelzi made his boldest statement yet in the Funny Car championship chase.

Doug Kalitta always in quite about the POWERade point standings and his chances, and early in the weekend, Scelzi promised he wasn't going to discuss the quest for his first Funny Car title until the final race at Pomona.

But following his victory, he said, "We should have been 100 points ahead of everybody if we'd been able to capitalize on (Force's) early-round losses. (Scelzi had his own string of two first-round exits in the last four races.) "Robert (Hight) has been deadly, and Force isn't going to stumble like this," Scelzi said. "If you think that those guys aren't deadly and can't win this championship you're wrong, and we know that.

"I'm just not going to think about [the championship]. Force and I are buddies. I'm not going to worry about it. I put too much effort in this thing too early. I know how to win championships, I know how to shut my mouth and I know how to pay attention to what I've got to do, and that's what I'm doing from here on out, and whatever happens happens," he said. "If they get ahead of us they get ahead of us. If they don't, then they don't. They decide the champion at the end of the year in Pomona, not right now. But a win is a big thing right now."

Added his crew chief Mike Neff: "We needed to make up some ground with the Force guys going out early. We've had a lot of opportunities, but we've never been able to capitalize on it. There's been a lot of pressure on us here lately, so it's going to feel good to redeem ourselves a little bit after what happened last weekend (first-round loss to Bazemore).

"The Mopar/Oakley Dodge hasn't been running like it should. I had to step it up first round, it made a good run, and then from there we decided to survive the track, so I feel better about that."

Biggest Loser of the Weekend: John Force Racing

After such an outstanding showing the weekend in Seattle, the best-funded, best-organized, most successful team in all of drag racing took a painful tumble. Robert Hight managed to keep his points lead, but winner Gary Scelzi overran John Force for the No. 2 spot in the standings and is just 16 points behind Hight.

Force, whom ESPN2's Marty Reid had called "The King of the Swing" because of his favorable fortune on the grinding three-race Western stretch, lost in the opening round for the unprecedented eighth time. He never has won the championship when he has done so more than five times.

Eric Medlen lasted only until Round 2, when eventual runner-up Ron Capps eliminated him.

Force has dropped to third in the points after heading the class on two separate occasions this year for a total of seven races. He's ahead of Capps by only two points heading into the Brainerd event.

The "We Set the National E.T. Record Again But Could Have Done Better" Award: Andrew Hines

The reigning Pro Stock champion and event winner isn't leading the points but he could give No. 1 Antron Brown a run, if he keeps rewriting the national record, winning races, and racking up points. Hines "I knew if we had the right weather this weekend, this Screamin' Eagle V-Twin was going to go fast," he said. "We had the right weather. There's a little bit of headwind, so we might actually have gone quicker. As soon as I let the clutch go, the thing just jumped up on the rear tire and took off. I had decent lights -- right where I wanted to be. It didn't run a 7.0, but hey, I'll take a 6.96. There might be room for improvement. I might have missed a few shift points on that run."

Hines lowered his own E.T. record, the one he set at the Gatornationals in March, with a 6.968-second ride on the first step to his fourth career victory. He became the eighth different Pro Stock Bike this season. In the final round, he needed only a 7.253 at 186.46 mph to beat Karen Stoffer, who ran 7.343/181.64 on her Geico Suzuki.

The "Hard-Luck Guy Gets A Break" Award: Ron Krisher

Jason Line wasted low elapsed time of the first round by red-lighting, handing Krisher the victory. It was Line's third straight first-round defeat but a fortuitous happenstance for Krisher after his crash at Seattle in his semifinal victory that handed Kurt Johnson the final-round freebie. Krisher didn't get much of a bounce from it, though, for he lost on a holeshot to Greg Stanfield in the next round.

The "Buy The Field, Dominate the Semifinals" Award: Don Schumacher

Ah, we're just having a little fun with you, Don. Actually, the Sonoma race marked the first time in 15 events Don Schumacher Racing's Funny Car trio of Whit Bazemore, Ron Capps, and Gary Scelzi reached the semifinal round.

The "What A Good Son" Award: Gary Scelzi

His Funny Car victory was a lovely 81st birthday present for his mother.

The "Well, This Didn't Start Out So Swell" Award: Lee Beard

In his first event as crew chief for the David Powers Top Fuel team with driver Rod Fuller, the former Matco Tools Funny Car crew chief is 0-1 in round-wins. Fuller lost to Cory McClenathan in the opening round.

The "Silent Speedster" Award: Larry Dixon

Dixon, with a spot-on Dick La Haie tune-up in the Miller Lite/Ameriquest Dragster, has set track speed records in back-to-back events, at Seattle and now Sonoma. He also did it at Topeka and Englishtown, too. So that gives him the track speed record at four of the past seven venues. Meanwhile, he has climbed, since the Houston race, from seventh place in the chase to a dangerous third. He's just 110 points behind No. 2 Tony Schumacher. Incidentally, Schumacher, driver of the U.S. Army Dragster, might not be "The King of Speed," but he could be called "The Sultan of Speed." Benefiting from crew chief Alan Johnson's expertise, Schumacher has rewritten the national speed record three times this year (at Pomona, Gainesville, and Columbus) and set a track speed mark at Denver. Brandon Bernstein owns the track records this year from Phoenix and Atlanta.

The "Back In The Spotlight Again" Award: Kenny Bernstein

After a week of speculation that he might return to the cockpit, team owner and twice-retired Bernstein said he would not be driving the dragster that Ken Black and Connie Kalitta plan to field in 2006. In his Cal Ripkenesque moment, Bernstein said, "There's still one opening that could happen, and that is if we were to supply a sponsor and have a team car with the Bud King team and with Brandon that could share information and run together. Then we could do that and we could possibly go forward that way. You never know. Maybe it'll happen for us." He further teased everyone's curiosity by indicating he could wind up in a Funny Car: "It doesn't matter to me what I drive. The main thing is it has to be under our banner. I have to be the owner, and we have to share information some way, somehow, if we can. If it's a Funny Car, no problem."

The "Not Bad Ad-libbing For Being Put On The Spot" Award: Jim Oberhofer

The Kalitta Motorsports team manager and crew chief for Scott Kalitta's Mac Tools/Jesse James Dragster, who said he lost a coin flip and "won" the dubious achievement of addressing boss Connie's latest venture with the media, did a great job of mentioning all the sponsors and creating a new buzz among fans. With Kenny Bernstein turning down an offer to drive the Ken Black/Connie Kalitta dragster next season, Oberhofer fielded the question of what drive is next on the list. Said Oberhofer, "Our sponsors -- Mac Tools, Zantrex-3, Red Line Oil, Technicoat -- are our family. We'd like to get someone who can represent not only our team but them very well, also. One of those guys is up there in the TV booth, and we need him to quit -- and it isn't Marty (Reid), I can tell you that. A guy like Mike Dunn is a guy we'd love to have.

"There's a lot of people -- a lot of guys without experience, a lot of guys with experience. Ken Black would like to see somebody with experience behind the wheel. We'd love to see Ben Marshall do it. He's like a son to me. We're going to get a list and say who's good and who's it and who knows?! I'd like to drive someday! Who knows?!"

The "See? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Reaction Time Advantage!" Award: Gary Scelzi

"When the points guys ahead of you go out first round, the pressure is on you and you have to deliver," Scelzi said. "My lights were horrible today and (team owner Don) Schumacher promised he wouldn't fire me, and I came through in the final.

"We ran as good as anybody (in qualifying fifth) and then first round my crew chief Mike Neff lowered the boom on them and ran a 4.78. Where that came from I have no idea. He said last night, 'I think I know where I'm missing this thing,' and the race track was pretty good first round and it ran really well.

"But we pulled it back after that because we knew it was going to get hot and slippery. The car responds to the moves [Neff] makes, even as subtle as they are, and it did everything he wanted it to do today except for the final. It knocked the blower off the thing.

"Actually, in the semis, when the front end went crazy, we had too much front brake in the car. We changed master cylinders and the thing started vibrating. I had to let my hand off the wheel and grab both hands on the brake to try to lock the brakes up and not hit the wall.

"My lights absolutely sucked today. I had to roll it in second round against Burkart because Burkart's had my number for the last couple of years. He always seems to run his best number and have his best light (against me). I rolled it in and got a little better light and then went thin again for the semis for lane choice for the final.

"And then in the final we had to race Capps. Capps and (Whit) Bazemore - my two teammates - are probably the two deadliest on the starting line. All bets were off in the final. Capps and I both stuck our noses in there deep and I got a good light, but it knocked the blower off, for whatever reason, I have no idea. But to see that win light was very comforting today."

The "Wink of the Weekend" Award: Rahn Tobler

Doug Kalitta's crew chief raised his sunglasses and gave the TV viewers a celebratory wink after the Mac Tools Dragster advanced in eliminations Sunday afternoon.

SUNDAY - KALITTA, SCELZI, ANDERSON AND HINES EARN VICTORIES AT FRAM AUTOLITE NHRA NATIONALS

(7-31-2005) – Doug Kalitta regained the Top Fuel points lead Sunday by winning the FRAM Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway.

Gary Scelzi, Greg Anderson and Andrew Hines also were winners at the $1.5 million race, the 15th of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

Kalitta earned his fourth victory of the season and 23rd of his career, and in the process moved 16 points ahead of series rival Tony Schumacher. Kalitta used a quick reaction and drove his Mac Tools dragster to a 4.665 second run at 319.90 mph to hold off the quicker Snap-on Tools dragster of Doug Herbert, which clocked a 4.603 at 319.98.

It was a category-leading fifth victory for Kalitta at Infineon. In earlier rounds he defeated Bobby Lagana Jr., teammate Scott Kalitta and Larry Dixon before topping Herbert in the final.

“I don’t know what it is about this place, but for some reason we just seem to be real fortunate here,” Kalitta said. “I hope we can keep it going for a long time. Larry Dixon has his Father’s Day streak and I have my streak here at Infineon. In my opinion this is the best track on the circuit.”

Points rival Schumacher lost in the second round, which opened the door for Kalitta to regain the series lead.

“Rahn (Tobler, crew chief) and the team are really working well right now,” Kalitta said. “It’s nice to be back in the points lead because your sponsors get a big kick out of it.”

Local favorite Scelzi cut Robert Hight’s series lead to 16 points and earned his third Funny Car win of the season. He drove his Mopar/Oakley Dodge Stratus to a 4.984 at 295.21 to defeat teammate Ron Capps, who posted a 5.079 at 293.60 in his Brut Stratus.

“We didn’t make any mistakes today,” said Scelzi, who beat Frank Pedregon, Phil Burkart and Tony Bartone to advance to the final round. “Mike Neff (crew chief) and the team kept the car running quick and we kept it in the left lane and that seemed to work for us. When the points guys ahead of you go out first round, the pressure is on you and you have to deliver.”

It was Scelzi’s 32nd career victory and second at the Fresno, Calif. native’s home track.

"We should have been 100 points ahead of everybody if we'd been able to capitalize on some early-round losses," said Scelzi, who's had his own string of two first-round exits in the last four races. "Robert has been deadly, and (John) Force isn't going to stumble like this. If you think that those guys aren't deadly and can't win this championship you're wrong, and we know that.”
Force, the defending and 13-time Funny Car world champion, lost in the first round for the fourth consecutive race. It was a career-high eighth first round loss of the season for the driver of the Castrol GTX Start Up Ford Mustang.

"I'm just not going to think about (the championship),” said Scelzi, a three-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion before he made the switch to Funny Car racing in 2002. “Force and I are buddies. I'm not going to worry about it. I put too much effort in this thing too early. I know how to win championships, I know how to shut my mouth and I know how to pay attention to what I've got to do, and that's what I'm doing from here on out, and whatever happens, happens. If they get ahead of us they get ahead of us, If they don't, then they don't. They decide the champion at the end of the year in Pomona, not right now. But a win is a big thing right now."

Anderson regained the series points lead in Pro Stock with his fourth victory of the season and 35th of his career, which ties him for 10th with “Big Daddy” Don Garlits on the all-time wins list.

He outran Jeg Coughlin, Jim Yates and Greg Stanfield in the first three rounds before posting a 6.732 at 205.63 in his Summit Racing Pontiac GTO to outrun final round foe and event top qualifier Kurt Johnson, who clocked a 6.760 at 204.23 in his ACDelco Chevy Cobalt.

“Kurt (Johnson) and I are like brothers, we have a lot of history together and there could be no more motivator than running against him or Warren (Johnson),” Anderson said. “It's fun when you race either one of them, but you have to dig down and find something extra. Kurt wanted this race badly - he was .016 on the light in the finals, but I also came up with my best light of the day - it was enough to get the job done and give that Pontiac GTO its first win.

Anderson moved 50 points ahead of first-round loser Warren Johnson, who became the first drag racer to be inducted into Infineon Raceway’s Wall of Fame on Sunday.

"The Pro Stock class is a dogfight right now," said Anderson. "We have five guys that can absolutely win this POWERade championship without any one of them being an upset or anybody wondering how it happened, and that's the state of Pro Stock racing right now. We're back in first place and that's obviously a great place to be after the Western Swing. We didn't have a good series of races out here and this one right here made us healthy. Now we can go home, regroup and have this car smokin’ at Brainerd."

Hines clocked a national record performance of 6.968 seconds en route to becoming the eighth different Pro Stock Motorcycle winner of the season. Hines powered his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson to a final round run of 7.253 at 186.46 to defeat Karen Stoffer, who posted a 7.343 at 181.64 on her Geico Suzuki.

“It was a great weekend for the Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines team,” said Hines of his fourth career victory. “We were the No. 1 qualifier, set the national record and won the race. I am proud to be the eighth different winner this season and just happy to finally get another win. It has been a long time since we won so this is great for the team.”

Hines, who defeated Matt Smith, Chip Ellis and new points leader Antron Brown in early rounds, rode a consistently quick bike all day until the final, when it bogged at the start.

“The bike almost shut off when I let out the clutch,” said Hines, who earlier this season became the first rider to post a six-second run. “It scared me, because I thought ‘Oh no, not again.’ It feels good to win today and give my dad (team owner Byron Hines) his 60th victory since he’s been in the sport.”

The NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series continues with the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals, Aug. 11-14 at Brainerd (Minn.) International Raceway. (Motel6Vision lead photo)

Top Alcohol Dragster -- Steve Federlin, 5.438, 259.56 def. Duane Shields, 5.499, 248.98.

Top Alcohol Funny Car -- Steve Gasparrelli, Pontiac Firebird, 5.772, 247.84 def. Doug Gordon, Chevy Camaro, 5.993, 195.28.

Competition Eliminator -- Doug Lambeck, Pontiac Sunfire, 8.591, 154.09 def. Tom Mettler, Dodge Dakota, 7.531, 179.54.

Super Stock -- Jimmy DeFrank, Pontiac Grand Am, 9.064, 143.75 def. Tony DeFrank, Olds Calais, 9.622, 135.39.

Stock Eliminator -- Bernie Cunningham, Pontiac Firebird, 11.117, 116.20 def. Ted Seipel, Pontiac TransAm, 11.899, 111.77.

Super Gas -- Jim Sowards, Chevy Corvette, 9.942, 145.99 def. Jed Bourquin, Dodge Daytona, 9.983, 151.07.

Final round-by-round results from the 18th annual FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway, the 15th of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series:

TOP FUEL:

ROUND ONE -- Scott Kalitta, 4.598, 322.19 def. Melanie Troxel, 4.761, 287.35; Brandon Bernstein, 4.524, 328.86 def. David Grubnic, 4.575, 325.06; Cory McClenathan, 4.552, 324.75 def. Rod Fuller, 4.766, 303.91; Doug Herbert, 4.552, 320.36 def. Ben Marshall, 6.874, 111.98; Morgan Lucas, 4.617, 312.42 def. Jack Beckman, 4.702, 308.64; Larry Dixon, 4.560, 328.30 def. Scott Weis, 8.004, 107.18; Doug Kalitta, 5.315, 289.76 def. Bobby Lagana Jr., 5.516, 219.86; Tony Schumacher, 4.540, 326.40 def. John Smith, 4.951, 237.21;

QUARTERFINALS -- D. Kalitta, 4.619, 326.40 def. S. Kalitta, 9.316, 73.79; Herbert, 4.696, 313.58 def. Lucas, foul; Dixon, 4.586, 329.02 def. McClenathan, 4.589, 323.58; Bernstein, 4.558, 325.92 def. Schumacher, 5.786, 158.41;

SEMIFINALS -- D. Kalitta, 5.154, 269.24 def. Dixon, 7.876, 119.58; Herbert, 4.702, 306.26 def. Bernstein, 6.432, 130.40;

FINAL -- D. Kalitta, 4.665, 319.90 def. Herbert, 4.603, 319.98.

FUNNY CAR:

ROUND ONE -- Whit Bazemore, Dodge Stratus, 4.866, 320.36 def. Tim Wilkerson, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.873, 319.67; Tony Bartone, Monte Carlo, 4.928, 282.84 def. Jeff Arend, Monte Carlo, 5.120, 245.00; Eric Medlen, Ford Mustang, 4.901, 314.39 def. Tommy Johnson Jr., Monte Carlo, 5.597, 186.18; Tony Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.874, 316.38 def. Cruz Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 5.933, 160.25; Del Worsham, Monte Carlo, 4.877, 310.77 def. Gary Densham, Monte Carlo, 6.789, 131.24; Phil Burkart, Monte Carlo, 4.924, 310.55 def. Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.929, 307.93; Gary Scelzi, Stratus, 4.785, 325.30 def. Frank Pedregon, Stratus, 5.915, 163.29; Ron Capps, Stratus, 4.858, 313.73 def. John Force, Mustang, 4.912, 313.15;

QUARTERFINALS -- Bartone, 4.941, 313.29 def. T. Pedregon, 5.040, 274.94; Bazemore, 4.900, 318.84 def. Worsham, 5.475, 220.48; Capps, 4.880, 313.07 def. Medlen, 4.885, 317.12; Scelzi, 4.921, 319.14 def. Burkart, 7.666, 106.73;

SEMIFINALS -- Scelzi, 4.877, 319.67 def. Bartone, 5.007, 293.28; Capps, 4.963, 311.34 def. Bazemore, 6.491, 144.60;

FINAL -- Scelzi, 4.984, 295.21 def. Capps, 5.079, 293.60.

PRO STOCK:

ROUND ONE -- Richie Stevens, Dodge Stratus, 6.714, 205.04 def. Erica Enders, Chevy Cobalt, 6.729, 205.54; Greg Anderson, Pontiac GTO, 6.721, 206.01 def. Jeg Coughlin, Stratus, 6.771, 204.60; Dave Connolly, Cobalt, 6.742, 204.32 def. Warren Johnson, Pontiac Grand Am, 6.733, 205.29; Larry Morgan, Stratus, 6.728, 205.22 def. Allen Johnson, Stratus, 6.749, 204.01; Jim Yates, Grand Am, 6.792, 203.06 def. Mike Thomas, Stratus, 7.770, 131.60; Kurt Johnson, Cobalt, 6.702, 205.94 def. V. Gaines, Stratus, 6.749, 204.54; Greg Stanfield, Chevy Cavalier, 6.729, 205.07 def. Bob Panella, Cobalt, 6.753, 203.55; Ron Krisher, Cavalier, 8.501, 111.49 def. Jason Line, Grand Am, foul;

QUARTERFINALS -- Stanfield, 6.762, 204.63 def. Krisher, 6.750, 204.08; Connolly, 6.762, 204.42 def. Morgan, 6.743, 205.47; Anderson, 6.712, 205.82 def. Yates, 6.780, 203.49; K. Johnson, 6.714, 205.69 def. Stevens, 6.738, 204.60;

SEMIFINALS -- K. Johnson, 6.722, 205.44 def. Connolly, 6.804, 203.74; Anderson, 6.719, 205.79 def. Stanfield, 16.973, 46.67;

FINAL -- Anderson, 6.732, 205.63 def. K. Johnson, 6.760, 204.23.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE:

ROUND ONE -- Chip Ellis, 7.156, 179.97 def. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 7.236, 184.14; GT Tonglet, Harley-Davidson, 7.040, 189.55 def. Kurt Matte, Suzuki, 7.266, 181.59; Chris Rivas, 7.160, 180.40 def. Matt Guidera, 7.200, 178.85; Antron Brown, Suzuki, 7.076, 189.60 def. Angelle Sampey, Suzuki, 7.697, 130.86; Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.968, 193.27 def. Matt Smith, Suzuki, 7.186, 184.30; Mike Berry, Suzuki, 7.161, 186.07 def. Ryan Schnitz, 7.331, 164.97; Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 7.112, 188.25 def. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.134, 183.34; Geno Scali, Suzuki, 7.098, 184.75 def. Shawn Gann, Suzuki, 7.143, 186.43;

QUARTERFINALS -- Stoffer, 7.258, 185.13 def. Berry, 7.286, 183.10; Brown, 7.128, 188.41 def. Tonglet, 7.096, 187.65; Scali, 7.188, 183.32 def. Rivas, 7.609, 145.06; Hines, 7.042, 185.05 def. Ellis, foul;

SEMIFINALS -- Stoffer, 7.224, 180.43 def. Scali, foul; Hines, 7.066, 188.99 def. Brown, 7.151, 187.00;

FINAL -- Hines, 7.253, 186.46 def. Stoffer, 7.343, 181.64.

SUNDAY NOTES - Beckman's loop, Bad Bad James Dean and Johnson versus Connolly again...

History lesson -- Andrew Hines, the No. 1 qualifier, treated the Infineon Raceway crowd to the quickest pass in Pro Stock Motorcycle history with a 6.968-second elapsed time at 193.27 mph on his Vance & Hines Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson. It came in the first round as he eliminated Matt Smith. Hines' 7.021-second E.T. from qualifying backed up the time for the national record. Hines had set the previous record -- 6.991 seconds -- in March during the Gatornationals at Gainesville, Fla.

Slip-slidin' away -- All Tony Schumacher had between himself and closest challenger Doug Kalitta was 43 points as this event began. He picked up a point in qualifying first in the U.S. Army Dragster, one spot ahead of Kalitta and the James Dean-themed Mac Tools Dragster.

But in a repeat of the previous weekend's final round, Brandon Bernstein eliminated him with a 4.558-second pass at 325.92 mph. Schumacher took off first, but smoked the tires and finished with a 5.786/158.41.

That seriously jeopardized his dominance, leaving Kalitta the chance to regain the points lead he lost at Denver. Kalitta took a major slice from Schumacher's cushion with his own semifinal victory (over teammate and cousin Scott Kalitta) and gave himself the opportunity to overtake Schumacher in the standings with a fourth triumph of the year.

Kalitta advanced to the final round, as opponent Larry Dixon smoked his tires immediately. Doug Herbert, returning to the final at Infineon Raceway for the second time in four years, had lane choice in the final round over Kalitta. If Kalitta were to win, he would grab the lead back from Schumacher and have a 16-point edge. If Herbert were to win, Kalitta would trail Schumacher by a mere four points.

Completing the loop -- With his first-round victory over Jack Beckman, Morgan Lucas has raced at all 20 national-event venues in the Joe Amato-owned Lucas Oil Dragster.

The 21-year-old Riverside, Calif., resident has two victories at Infineon Raceway in the Top Alcohol Dragster class: the 2004 Fram-Autolite Nationals and a 2003 Division 7 event.

"I know we have nothing to lose right now. so we just have to go for it. We have nine races remaining," he said before the event started, "and that equals 36 rounds of racing. We can't afford to let anyone gain any further ground on us."

With guidance from crew chiefs Jim Dupuy and John Stewart, Lucas said, "We've made 11 runs down the track in the last three races, and that's phenomenal." He said that "eventually, either performance or luck" will lead him to his first pro victory. "We need to keep the frontrunners close."

Lucas didn't get either performance or luck Sunday -- unless one counts bad luck. Lucas was overeager to move up from fifth place in the standings and red-lit, allowing Doug Herbert to advance to his fourth semifinal this season.

As for Beckman, the former sportsman champion competing in just his sixth race in the Top Fuel class, it was a crazy weekend that saw him slip into the field Saturday on his fourth and final chance. "Nobody likes to get beat, but the silver lining is that our team learned a lot this weekend," Beckman said. "We’ve been able to run consistent low 4.6s with this car all year, but we realize that isn't quick enough to win races. The competition has gotten so tough that you’ve got to run high 4.40s and low 4.50s in order to win. [Crew chief] Jimmy Walsh tried some new parts this weekend, including a new fuel pump and a different supercharger. Obviously it's going to take us a little while to get all the new stuff figured out, so we have to expect a few growing pains along the way. This is the first time we really had to face the possibility of not qualifying for a race."

Bad James Dean karma -- John Force knows he "let one get away last year" at Sonoma, as he red-lit in the final round and handed the victory to Tim Wilkerson "We had a car that should have won, but the driver went brain-dead," Force said. He said coming into the event, "We can't afford a mistake (like that) this time. The points are too close. Robert (Hight) has a lead, but I've got (Gary) Scelzi and (Ron) Capps right behind me and with five or six more who could move up."

Force was in second place, 84 points behind Hight as the race began. And his first-round loss to Capps -- which marked the first time since 1986 that Force has lost in the opening round at four consecutive events -- was no help.

Hight also dropped out in the first round for only the third time in his sensational rookie season. Phil Burkart defeated him. That left Capps to take on the last of the three Force Racing drivers, Seattle winner Eric Medlen, in the quarterfinals. And Capps easily beat Medlen, ending the Castrol Syntec driver's chance for back-to-back victories for the first time in his career (or two victories in a single season). The last hope for the Force gang, Ashley Force, lost to Duane Shields in Round 3 of Top Alcohol Dragster eliminations.

The serious stumble in the 15th of 23 races denied Force his seventh victory at Infineon Raceway, a track on which he had reached the final round 10 times in the past 15 seasons. This year, he has carried a tribute to James Dean on his Castrol Ford Mustang -- and he didn't do any better than when he wowed the fans with his two Elvis-themed Funny Cars.

"James Dean loved fast cars," Force said before eliminations began, "so to be associated with my ol' hot rod and with (Doug) Kalitta's dragster, I think he'd be proud. We're going do our best to put him in the winners circle. We never were able to get Elvis a win."

The James Dean 50th Anniversary tribute car was a Fred Wagenhals conception. Wagenhals is chairman, president, and CEO of Action Performance Companies, Inc., which also has made a full-scale replica of Dean's Porsche Spyder from his personal collection available for display in a special traveling exhibit of Dean memorabilia. Dean died 50 years ago this September in the crash of a Porsche 550 Spyder he was driving to a sports-car race in Salinas, Calif.

All Schumacher -- With Gary Scelzi facing Tony Bartone in one Funny Car semifinal and Whit Bazemore and Ron Capps going in the other, Don Schumacher Racing controlled three-quarters of the semifinal round. Scelzi and Capps won, and as Darryl Jackman of Drag Race Central pointed out, the Funny Car final was "all California, all Dodge, and all Schumacher."

Oh, brother -- Tony Pedregon officially on Saturday tied brother Cruz for fourth on the Funny Car career No. 1 qualifier list at 31. Cruz was quick qualifier at Englishtown this June, and Tony has led the field three times (including at Pomona and Phoenix). Ahead of them on the list are John Force and retired drivers Kenny Bernstein and Don Prudhomme.

Neither Pedregon has gotten much of a bounce this year from starting No. 1. Cruz lost at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park to Jim Head in the first round. Tony lost his opening match against former teammate Gary Densham in Phoenix, and Whit Bazemore stopped him in the second round at Pomona.

Tony improved Sunday morning to 16-8 against Cruz in head-to-head meetings. Although Cruz got the jump on the Christmas Tree with a .096 reaction time to Tony's .115 and they ran each other close about half the way down the drag strip, Cruz' Advance Auto Parts Chevy Monte Carlo had mechanical trouble and Tony won in his Q Racing Monte Carlo with a 4.874-second elapsed time at 316.38 mph to Cruz's 5.933/160.25.

His excitement lasted about 80 minutes. Tony Bartone met him on the starting line for Round 2 and left him in his dust after 60 feet with a 4.941-second, 313.29-mph victory. Pedregon became the second top qualifier to be eliminated, as he managed only a 5.040/274.94 showing.

The 'flashy' Phil shows up -- Phil Burkart was runner-up at the season-opening Winternationals and No. 1 after the following race at Phoenix for the Checker, Schuck's, Kragen team. Then he seemed to drop completely out of the Funny Car world, spiraling down to 14th place in the standings. He resurrected his top-10 chances with a great start to the Western Swing. He was runner-up to Robert Hight in Denver before scoring a first-round victory over Ron Capps in Seattle.

He came to Sonoma with a star-spangled new version of Team CSK's annual Havoline car and an equally snazzy firesuit and helmet. "If we run as well as we're going to look this weekend," Burkart said earlier in the week, "we'll be in very good shape." He qualified a not-so-glamorous 13th and drew a Round 1 meeting with points leader Robert Hight.

And then -- ta-DAH! -- the Flashy Phil showed up again. With a .073-second reaction time, he caught Hight asleep at the switch with a .126 light and turned it into a victory by five-thousandths of a second. Burkart ran a 4.924-second elapsed time at 310.55 mph to Hight's
4.929/307.93.

"We never gave up, I can tell you that," Burkart said of his Phoenix-to-Denver stretch. "Things were tough around here, but my guys sucked it up and kept working hard. Finally, before Denver, they just focused on being as normal and confident as they could be, because being tense and nervous hadn't been working. Confidence breeds more confidence, I guess, because things are clicking right now. It's not a pipe dream to envision winning for Havoline and Checker, Schuck's, Kragen. We're fully capable. And, if they want to give us the 'Best Appearing' awards too, we'll accept."

Making progress for women, self -- Erica Enders said, "I’m stoked!" after becoming the first woman in Pro Stock history to qualify for the top half of the field. Outdoing predecessors Judy Lilly, Lucinda McFarland, Shay Nichols, and Shirley Shahan, Enders qualified eighth with a 6.696-second elapsed time at 205.91 mph. Enders' time passed the personal best she had set Friday.

"The guys have been telling me all year that they would get me a motor that would place us in the middle of the pack,” the driver of the Slammers Ultimate Milk Chevy Cobalt said late Saturday, "and I guess we are finally there. Tomorrow it's my turn to perform, and I can't
wait."

She started her Sunday by facing Richie Stevens in a battle of Junior Dragster graduates. Unlike the previous, and only, time they met -- at Phoenix, where he was top qualifier she was 16th -- she left on Stevens . However, he reeled her in and beat her by .0067 second, or about two feet.

Nevertheless, her car has been showing promise for the past several races. With a new engine from the Victor Cagnazzi Racing shop for the first time this weekend, Enders enjoyed her first string of three qualifying performances.

"This is where we wanted to be a lot earlier in the season," crew member Roy Simmons said. "Pro Stock is such a competitive class that it just took us a while to get here. Believe me, we are going to do everything possible to maintain our new performance."

Forget logic -- If Richie Stevens was counting on logic to help him in qualifying for the FRAM-Autolite Nationals, he was disappointed. In Friday’s opening Pro Stock session he put his Don Schumacher-owned Team Mopar/Valspar HEMI-powered Dodge Stratus in sixth place with a 6.737-second E.T. He ran a little quicker in the evening session -- a 6.725 -- but dropped to 10th place. In the heat of early Saturday, he posted a 6.700 -- his best of the weekend -- but didn‘t climb any higher than ninth place.

Respectably, it was his his10th start in the top half of the field in the first 15 races. But it was "not quite what we were looking for," Stevens said. "We kind of struggled all weekend. We didn't make picture-perfect runs. . . . They were not really the runs we were looking for. . . . I think we just missed the setup this weekend. We've been a little off from where we normally are and we hadn't been really in the top five or six like we have been in the past.

"We're just missing something. I don't know what it is," he said "Bob (crew chief Glidden) doesn't know what it is, and hopefully we'll find it before we head to Brainerd."

Whatever it was, it didn't hurt him too much against rookie Erica Enders in Sunday's first round of eliminations.

My light's better -- Kurt Johnson had an outstanding reaction time -- .028 seconds -- in the Pro Stock quarterfinals against Richie Stevens, but Stevens had a fantastic one, .008. However, Johnson's ACDelco Chevy Cobalt caught up with Stevens' Dodge Stratus after the 1,000-foot mark and got the light that counted -- the win light -- by .0047 of a second, or about 17 inches.

Now they're even -- Kurt Johnson evened his elimination record against Dave Connolly at 2-2, beating him to advance to his second straight Pro Stock final.

Greg Anderson went for his second consecutive Fram-Autolite victory, advancing to his sixth final-round appearance of the season with a semifinal win over Greg Stanfield.

It was the first time Anderson reached the finals with his new Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac GTO. He debuted it at Denver and qualified No. 1 with a track record elapsed time but lasted just two rounds. At Seattle, Anderson set top speed in qualifying but lost in the first round.

No burndown -- Dave Connolly, who gambled with and lost a staging duel against Warren Johnson in the final round at Denver two weeks ago and in a first-round match-up last Sunday against Kurt Johnson, didn't try it again this time against WJ. He didn't need to. Connolly and his Skull Gear Chevy Cobalt beat WJ on a holeshot with a 6.742-second elapsed time at 204.32 mph to Johnson's quicker and faster 6.733/205.29 in the GM Performance Parts Pontiac Grand Am. That eliminated the points leader and five-time Sonoma finalist. Connolly's margin of victory was .0355 seconds, or about 11 feet.

Glitch-be-gone -- Tim Wilkerson, the No. 6 Funny Car qualifier who was No. 1 after Friday’s first session, said he has been "beating up some pistons" lately but thinks he has pinpointed the source of his problems with his Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevy Monte Carlo

"All weekend we've been messing with a fuel slide valve malfunction," the defending race winner said, "and it was missing too much gas in the middle and it didn't have as much power as it was suppose to. We're glad we got to the bottom of it now, so we're not chasing it all day (Sunday). We're pleased that we made four good runs."

And OK -- so Wilkerson might not get the prize for most optimistic. Even though he had lane choice over Whit Bazemore in the first round, his prediction for Sunday was a bit grim:
"Hopefully we can keep it up, because every round is ugly."

He might not have been positive, but he was right. Bazemore beat him in the first round Sunday by a four-foot margin (.0094 seconds).

"Unfortunately, when you race a team with that caliber of car, that's what happens," Wilkerson said. "The same thing happened to us when we raced Tommy Johnson, Jr. in Chicago earlier this year. We've got a good car. It's fast and better than middle of the pack. We were one of the quickest cars every run, but those guys went out there and threw everything at the wall and they had enough stick. They did a better job than we did.

"We ran just what we planned. We didn't want to go out there and overpower the track the way we did in Seattle last week. The run was as smooth as silk, and looked beautiful. Every run we made this weekend was nice," he said. "We're on to something. We just need to get a little bit of luck. When we have a chance to beat somebody, we don't make the run we need. And when we do make a stellar run, we race the wrong guy. But we're doing great, and with the more runs you make, eventually the wins will come."

Bike battle -- Locked in a battle with Pro Stock Motorcycle points leader G.T. Tonglet, Antron Brown kept pace in the first round. But he did so at the expense of Angelle Sampey, his U.S. Army teammate and the defending Sonoma bike champion. Brown was one point behind Tonglet coming into the event. Tonglet beat Kurt Matte in the first round.

In their quarterfinal shwodown, Brown's Suzuki got the better of Tonglet's Harley-Davidson. Brown took over the points lead with the starting-line advantage (.016 to Tonglet's .055) and a 7.128-second E.T. at 188.41 to Tonglet's 7.096/187.65.

So happy together -- In his last three events, Dennis Taylor has appeared in 9 out of a possible 11 rounds of Top Alcohol Funny Car competition and won 7. The Seattle runner-up to Clint Thompson drove his Plumbing Concepts car to a quarterfinal finish, losing to defending Division 7 champion Doug Gordon. But it was a weekend for celebration in Taylor's pit, anyway. Crew chief Ora Vasquez and wife Barbara celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.

SATURDAY - JOHNSON, SCHUMACHER, PEDREGON AND HINES EARN NO. 1 QUALIFYING POSITIONS AT FRAM AUTOLITE NHRA NATIONALS

(7-30-2005) – Kurt Johnson continued to be the hottest Pro Stock driver in the NHRA POWERade Series by taking the No. 1 qualifying position Saturday at the FRAM Autolite Nationals at Infineon Raceway.

Tony Schumacher, Tony Pedregon and Andrew Hines also will lead their respective categories into Sunday’s 11 a.m. eliminations. The $1.5 million race, which will be televised on ESPN2, is the 15th of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

Johnson, who has won two of the last three events, raced to the No. 1 qualifying position with a track record time of 6.676 seconds at 206.80 mph in his ACDelco Chevy Cobalt. It was his third top qualifying award of the season and 26th of his career.

“After yesterday’s runs we had to make a chassis adjustment and change the carburetor and hope that everything meshed,” Johnson said. “We knew the conditions would be good and the track would be there, but you never know. Overall we’re pretty happy.”

Schumacher drove his U.S. Army dragster to his fifth top qualifying performance of the season in Top Fuel, with his track record time of 4.529 seconds from Friday holding the position. It was the 16th No. 1 effort of his career and another positive move as he battles rival Doug Kalitta for the POWERade Series world championship title.

“We still have a long season left but when it is this close every point counts,” said Schumacher who gained one point on second-place qualifier Kalitta (4.549, 321.88) by virtue of his better qualifying position. “It was good to get the No. 1 position, but the best thing for me was making three runs in the 50s and two of those came in the heat. Qualifying No. 1 sounds like a great deal but it’s not so easy anymore. There’s a lot of tough competition out there and no easy rounds. We have to be ready for John Smith tomorrow.”

Pedregon also claimed the top spot with his run from Friday, a track record run of 4.759 at 321.12 in his Madagascar-themed Q-Racing Chevy Monte Carlo. It is his third No. 1 of the season and 31st of his career.

“We’re happy with the No. 1 spot,” said Pedregon, who will race his brother Cruz in the first round. “It’s where you want to start and there’s some points and bonus money that comes with it, but on race day it’s all the same. I think the competition is tougher than ever because there are 16 legitimate cars out there. Now there’s pressure on every round and that just shows that the level of competition has increased, which is healthy for the sport.”

Hines earned his sixth No. 1 qualifying position of the season and 14th of his career in Pro Stock Motorcycle, powering his Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson to a track record time of 7.021 at 192.47.

“It’s an awesome feeling to be No. 1 for the sixth time this season,” said Hines, who hopes to join the season’s seven other winners in the two-wheel category with a victory tomorrow.. “For some reason the bike and I haven’t been able to team up yet on Sunday. We’ve had some problems. Once we get it to come together I think we’ll have the bike to beat. It’s been a while since I’ve won a race and I’d like to take home another Wally. I think the bike is there to win the race.”

First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for the 18th annual FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway, the 15th of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday.

Top Fuel -- 1. Tony Schumacher, 4.529 seconds, 325.77 mph vs. 16. John Smith, 4.758, 303.78; 2. Doug Kalitta, 4.549, 321.88 vs. 15. Bobby Lagana Jr., 4.738, 294.31; 3. Larry Dixon, 4.550, 326.71 vs. 14. Scott Weis, 4.675, 316.15; 4. Morgan Lucas, 4.560, 317.42 vs. 13. Jack Beckman, 4.671, 311.27; 5. Doug Herbert, 4.562, 320.66 vs. 12. Ben Marshall, 4.666, 316.15; 6. Cory McClenathan, 4.566, 321.58 vs. 11. Rod Fuller, 4.635, 325.69; 7. Scott Kalitta, 4.573, 323.19 vs. 10. Melanie Troxel, 4.594, 318.09; 8. Brandon Bernstein, 4.574, 325.92 vs. 9. David Grubnic, 4.584, 320.97.

Funny Car -- 1. Tony Pedregon, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.759, 321.12 vs. 16. Cruz Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.973, 302.21; 2. Eric Medlen, Ford Mustang, 4.783, 323.12 vs. 15. Tommy Johnson Jr., Monte Carlo, 4.963, 307.51; 3. Del Worsham, Monte Carlo, 4.789, 325.69 vs. 14. Gary Densham, Monte Carlo, 4.956, 312.57; 4. Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.789, 317.87 vs. 13. Phil Burkart, Monte Carlo, 4.939, 308.64; 5. Gary Scelzi, Dodge Stratus, 4.793, 325.14 vs. 12. Frank Pedregon, Stratus, 4.937, 311.49; 6. Tim Wilkerson, Monte Carlo, 4.839, 320.13 vs. 11. Whit Bazemore, Stratus, 4.898, 316.38; 7. John Force, Mustang, 4.844, 315.78 vs. 10. Ron Capps, Stratus, 4.880, 312.35; 8. Jeff Arend, Monte Carlo, 4.854, 317.49 vs. 9. Tony Bartone, Monte Carlo, 4.859, 318.69.

Pro Stock -- 1. Kurt Johnson, Chevy Cobalt, 6.676, 206.80 vs. 16. V. Gaines, Dodge Stratus, 6.739, 205.26; 2. Mike Thomas, Stratus, 6.679, 205.91 vs. 15. Jim Yates, Pontiac Grand Am, 6.733, 204.42; 3. Greg Stanfield, Chevy Cavalier, 6.686, 206.13 vs. 14. Bob Panella, Cobalt, 6.732, 204.20; 4. Larry Morgan, Stratus, 6.687, 206.42 vs. 13. Allen Johnson, Stratus, 6.730, 204.63; 5. Warren Johnson, Grand Am, 6.689, 205.85 vs. 12. Dave Connolly, Cobalt, 6.727, 205.10; 6. Jason Line, Grand Am, 6.690, 205.04 vs. 11. Ron Krisher, Cavalier, 6.718, 205.51; 7. Greg Anderson, Pontiac GTO, 6.693, 206.95 vs. 10. Jeg Coughlin, Stratus, 6.714, 205.07; 8. Erica Enders, Cobalt, 6.696, 205.91 vs. 9. Richie Stevens, Stratus, 6.700, 204.98.

Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 7.021, 192.47 vs. 16. Matt Smith, Suzuki, 7.172, 189.98; 2. Ryan Schnitz, Buell, 7.054, 195.11 vs. 15. Mike Berry, Suzuki, 7.167, 191.78; 3. Chris Rivas, Buell, 7.068, 189.47 vs. 14. Matt Guidera, Buell, 7.165, 179.04; 4. GT Tonglet, Harley-Davidson, 7.071, 190.32 vs. 13. Kurt Matte, Suzuki, 7.163, 186.28; 5. Antron Brown, Suzuki, 7.071, 188.52 vs. 12. Angelle Sampey, Suzuki, 7.157, 188.36; 6. Geno Scali, Suzuki, 7.104, 192.85 vs. 11. Shawn Gann, Suzuki, 7.148, 186.87; 7. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 7.121, 194.30 vs. 10. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.132, 188.75; 8. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 7.123, 191.70 vs. 9. Chip Ellis, Buell, 7.131, 187.68.

KABOOM - Lighting up the Sonoma wine country

(7-30-2005) - Morgan Lucas blasts an engine during Friday night qualifying. (Motel6Vision)

SATURDAY NOTES - It's all about the theme, WJ's Grand exit for the Grand-Am...

(7-30-2005) - Connolly-WJ duel again -- Dave Connolly said he and his Skull Gear Chevy Cobalt Pro Stock car are in “the best shape we've been in in the last four or five races” after qualifying 12th.

His final attempt Saturday wasn’t by any means the quickest, but he said, “We ran better on that run (6.760 seconds at 204.29 mph) and were closer to the rest of the field than we had been. 'Grump' (engine builder Bill Jenkins) found a problem on that run, and we left a lot on the table. I think we have a shot at it Sunday."

Connolly's best effort of 6.727 seconds at 205.10 mph got him in the starting lineup, where he will face No. 5 Warren Johnson for the seventh time this season and the second timein three races. Johnson beat Connolly in the Denver final two weeks ago, but Connolly opened the year by defeating Johnson in the Winternationals final at Pomona, Calif., in February.

"We were within three-hundredths of a second of Warren's time in the last session," crew chief Terry Adams said, "and we'll have a chance against him Sunday with Dave Connolly behind the wheel."

S’mores, anyone? -- Morgan Lucas and team owner Joe Amato have good senses of humor, and it’s lucky for the Team Kalitta crew members that they do. At Seattle, after Lucas had another engine fire, they tied a string marshmallows onto the wing struts of the Lucas Oil Dragster, then came by with their blowtorches for a visit. Lucas had another fire this weekend at Sonoma. No word whether they gathered around the parachutes and roasted marshmallows this time.

Getting closer -- Melanie Troxel said her Skull Gear Dragster is starting to make consistent runs down the drag strip and before long just might challenge for an event victory. She qualified 10th on the strength of her quickest pass in her three races this season, a 4.594-second elapsed time at 312.78 mph Saturday morning.

She’ll face Scott Kalitta in the opening round of eliminations Sunday. Last weekend she started against his teammate Doug Kalitta.

"The Kalitta team is tough, no matter what the conditions are," the 32-year-old Denver native and Avon, Ind., resident said. "We continue to make progress and have turned a corner with the team. We are starting to see what this team is capable of. The numbers are just as good as anybody's in the heat of the day, so we're pretty excited about our opportunity.

"We're not doing a bad job,” she said of her three weeks so far in her second stint for team owner Don Schumacher. “We're qualified, and we're running respectable numbers, but tomorrow, and in the next race, we're going to show what we're really capable of. What that is a top-half car, a car that's capable of going a few rounds, and before long, a car that has a legitimate shot at winning a race."

She said she came out for the Friday night session "and the car was running really good, running incremental numbers comparable to (polesitter and teammate) Tony (Schumacher), and got out there past half track and it was driving out of the groove.” She ended up with a 5.010/201.34 lap. “Unfortunately, we didn't get to see what it would run in the best conditions of the weekend,” she said.

"Saturday was a new day, and we came out and made two really good passes,” she said. “We ran a 4.59-second E.T. in the first session and a 4.61 in the second. Both are great passes for race-day conditions, so we feel very confident going into tomorrow with those kind of numbers.

"The tune-ups have been coming around more. Short of a few problems or mistakes we've had with the car, the Skull Gear Dragster has actually been really easy to drive. These guys have given me a car that has made my transition back into this class very easy."

I’ll drink to that! -- Rock musician Sammy Hagar, whose Cabo Wabo interests include a hot-selling premium tequila brand, two restaurant/nightclubs, and a growing entertainment festival and merchandise line, was at the starting line Saturday, cheering on Tony Bartone as he qualified ninth in the Funny Car field.

Hagar, whose Cabo Wabo empire has eyed Jim Dunn’s racing team “for some time,” a company spokesman said, indicated that he might expand his involvement in drag racing in the near future.

“It’s such a rush,” the entertainer whose nickname is the Redrocker said after Bartone launched a pass. “I’m hooked! I’m addicted! You’re going to see me at every race!”

Team owner Jim Dunn said a few weeks ago when the sponsorship agreement was announced, "We are very happy to have the support of Cabo Wabo Tequila and we're looking forward to working with them to create plenty of exposure for their excellent product. We look forward to many Cabo Wabo Tequila-fueled victory celebrations in the future."

Bartone, of Long Island City, N.Y., drove his Chevy Monte Carlo to a 4.859-second pass at 318.69 mph to take his place on the grid. “We’re ready for race day,” Bartone said after qualifying. “We have a good warm weather tune-up in the Got CMKX?/Lucas Oil Funny Car and it feels sooo good.”

Huh? -- John Force, referring to his James Dean-themed edition of his Castrol Ford Mustang, said he has been “waiting for this ol’ heap to crash this weekend.” He called it “psychological foreplay.”

Force is seventh in the order, while his teammates grabbed the Nos. 2 and 4 spots. Eric Medlen, the Seattle winner and top qualifier, is second. Robert Hight, the points leader and Seattle runner-up who has won twice this rookie season, is fourth.

Drama Guy -- If Funny Car’s Tommy Johnson Jr. secretly thrives on drama, Saturday would have been his day. He drove his Skoal Racing Chevy Monte Carlo to two consistent passes during qualifying Saturday and squeaked into the field after entering the day in 20th place among the 21 entrants.

He started the day with a pass of 5.004 seconds at 293.09 mph to get his Don Prudhomme-owned car in the mix. He posted his quickest run of the weekend in his final attempt -- a 4.963 elapsed time at 307.41 mph to claim the No. 15 position. Johnson has qualified for 30 consecutive races and remains sixth in the Skoal Showdown standings.

“It was all about drama for us today,” Johnson said. “It’s not that we ran badly this weekend. We just had a few little things that got us. If I had to guess, I think we might have had a bad set of tires. The team did a great job under the pressure and that shows what a tough bunch they are. Sunday is a new day. I like that we have to race (Eric) Medlen, because that lets us control our destiny in the points standings.”

Scelzi's lips zipped, sort of -- In the midst of a close battle for the POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car championship and stalled in third place after two first-round losses in the last three races, Gary Scelzi says he doesn't want to talk about the championship anymore.

John Force also has departed in the opening round, while Force teammate Robert Hight has taken over the top spot with a victory at Denver and runner-up finish at Seattle. And that's bugging Scelzi that he hasn't taken advantge of Force's stumbles. As he headed into Infineon Raceway, where he earned his first Funny Car victory in 2003, Scelzi is third in the standings, just 11 points behind Force and 95 behind Hight. He's also 50 points ahead of his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Ron Capps, who's No. 4.

"I'm not talking about the championship anymore," Scelzi said. "I'm done talking about the championship. The championship ain't going to be talked about until Pomona. That's where I am at with it.
"I've been coaxed into talking about the championship even when I know better," the Mopar Oakley Dodge Stratus driver said. "This thing is 23 races long, and the more I talk about it the dumber I look, and that's not hard for me to do. So I'm done talking about it."

Well . . . OK . . . Wait-a-minute!-That's-after-I-explain-what-I-need-to-do-the-rest-of-the-season!

"We just have to go do our normal stuff, the same thing as every race. We have to qualify well. We have to go down the race track and I can't make a mistake driving, the car can't make a mistake, and maybe we need to have a little luck along the way. That wouldn't hurt us at all. That's what we have to do.

"We've got a good race car. I think we have one of the best tuners out here (Mike Neff), and we have the best crew. We just have to go and execute. We need to get around Force when he has these first-round bobbles, and we can't let Robert Hight continue to win rounds.

"Otherwise, in another few races, Hight is going to have this thing done. And that's not what we're after. We want to be the world champion. We're going to do whatever we can, but it's in fate's hands. We can only do what we can do."

Scelzi, the No. 5 qualifier, gained one point on Force by the end of Saturday. "We're going to get around Force one point at a time," Scelzi joked.

"Again, great hot rod this Mopar/Oakley Dodge in qualifying. It goes down the race track every single time, no matter what the conditions. Mike is able to make changes and see responses to the car, so it's not like we're making changes and nothing is happening.

"What he's wanting to try is working in different areas. It's great to go out and qualify, get in the field in the top half and to make changes and see results. We've done that again. Now, tomorrow, we'll just go up there and race smart. Hopefully we'll have a little bit of luck being in California," the Fresno native said, "and maybe we can repeat what happened two years ago."

Pro Stock milestone -- Erica Enders, qualifying for just her sixth race in 15 tries for Cagnazzi Racing, became the woman with the highest-ever qualifying position in the Pro Stock class Saturday. She will start the FRAM-Autolite Nationals in eighth place, thanks to a 6.696-second elapsed time that doubles as her personal best. Her qualifying speed in the Slammers Ultimate Milk Chevy Cobalt was 205.91.

"I'm not superstitious or anything," Enders said after qualifying for her third consecutive race -- an achievement in itself for the 21-year-old who stepped up from the Junior Dragster program. "But it's funny how the Slammers Ultimate Milk Cobalt has qualified for every event it's been at so far. Yellow is quickly becoming my favorite color."

In the week following the Seattle event, Enders spent extra time, "hanging out" with her crew members. "The guys and I took a road trip from the last race," she said. "We all drove down to Sonoma together in a rented mini-van. It was so funny. I had a blast hanging out with them. Yesterday we went on a bay tour in San Francisco and saw all the sights. The guys even let me go shopping while we were out. I really want to thank Roy, Rich, Steve, Tommy
and Dave for taking such great care of me."

One step forward, one back -- Larry Dixon went .049 of a second quicker and 10.56 miles an hour faster in Saturday's early session than he did in qualifying No. 2 in the Top Fuel lineup Friday. In the process, he rewrote Tony Schumacher's track speed record of 325.85 mph with a 326.71 blast. However, he lost one place in the order, from second to third, as Doug Kalitta was one-thousandth of a second quicker. Dixon, who said he expects weather conditions Sunday similar to Saturday's, will face Scott Weis in the first round in going for his second victory at Sonoma in three years.

Pedregons everywhere -- One Pedregon topped the Funny Car list, one was on the bump spot, and yet another was unqualified after three sessions. Tony Pedregon held onto his No. 1 position, but Cruz began the final session of qualifying in the 16th and final spot. Brother Frankie bumped Cruz from the field with a 4.937-second E.T. at 311.49, but Cruz came back a few pairs later and got his Advance Auto Parts Chevy Monte Carlo in the field with a 4.973/302.21. While Tony was sailing along, it seemed, he, too, discovered some problems. In the last pairing of Funny Cars (and pros), his Q Racing Chevy went kaput at about the 100-foot mark, and he coasted down the track. Tony and Cruz will meet each other in the first round of eliminations, while Frankie is 12th and will face No. 5 Gary Scelzi. Tony and Cruz are 1-1 this season against each other in eliminations.

Speedy but No. 3 -- Del Worsham's 4.789 was enough only to put him third in the Funny Car lineup, but his 325.69-mph speed set the Infineon Raceway record.

"I was hoping to run with the top guys, and they were mostly running 4.85's to 4.88's, so to step up and run a 4.82 is really very rewarding," Worsham said. "It felt like we finally got the car to do what we've been wanting it to do all year. I just feel like we're continuing to make positive steps, and this was yet another move in the right direction.

"Now, we know we have to take what we just did and keep it rolling on Sunday. We know (first-round opponent Gary) Densham and his guys will give it everything they have, and they'll force us to run great if we want to beat them. Gary will leave well, and they'll get their car to the other end, so we have to stay with this tune-up and make another good lap. If we can do
that, maybe we can turn it into a really good day, but every round will be mammoth, so anything we do tomorrow will be tough to earn."

No. 1 driver trying to keep up -- Pro Stock's Kurt Johnson said his No. 1 qualifying position with a track-record 6.676 elapsed time was "just barely good enough." However, since he rolled out his ACDelco Chevy Cobalt at Bristol this spring, he has won more elimination rounds (20) than any driver in the class and has jumped into the thick of the points race. No. 1 qualifier award was his third of the year and his fourth at Infineon Raceway.

"We were trying to beat Mike Thomas' 6.679, and it was like, 'Holy smoke!' " Johnson said. "We were soft on the first run here. We left the car like it was at Seattle and thought it would be fine. This morning we changed the carburetors around, the gearing, and then actually changed the suspension. We haven't done that since before we went to St. Louis. We ended up making four pretty big changes that we thought were necessary to go fast. We knew we were hurting at 60-foot and we were able to improve there. Last year here, we were trying to be conservative to make sure we qualified. This year I said, 'To heck with it! We're going to go for it and try to be No. 1.' It couldn't have ended up any better."

Added Johnson, "You know when you've won the last race that you have a good race car. But everyone else is making changes trying to beat you, so you have to adjust, as well, trying to keep up with the pack. It's tough to make changes, because sometimes you make calculations and sometimes you make calculated guesses. But this Chevy Cobalt seems to respond to what we want to do. It's at the point now that as long as we stay within our parameters then we seem to be OK.

"You have to look at a change and examine how it will affect the rest of the program. When you make another change the question then is how will they work together? That's the key," he said. "Today we took four pieces of the puzzle, scrambled them up, stuffed them together and they stuck. We found a slot for them all to go into. We were the No. 2 qualifier last week, came back and we're No. 1 this week. We've obviously made some gains."

Seventh but fastest -- Defending event champion Greg Anderson barely qualified in the top half of the Pro Stock field but he came away from qualifying with the track speed record of 206.95. His 6.693-second best effort of the four qualifying sessions put him in the No. 7 spot. He lost his track E.T. record to Kurt Johnson, his former shopmate, but he aced out teammate Jason Line for the track speed mark.

Super sub -- Mike Thomas is nearing the end of his "designated driver" duties for Kenny Koretsky, but the Knoxville, Tenn., Pro Stock veteran continues to show he hasn't lost the touch behind the wheel despite a lengthy absence from competition.

Thomas, the surprising No. 1 qualifier at Seattle, is second in the order, with an elapsed time that's just three-thousandths off leader Kurt Johnson's. Thomas drove the Nitro Fish Wear Dodge Stratus to a 6.679-second E.T. at 205.91 mph and a first-round match-up with Jim Yates.

Naturally, Thomas is hoping to last a little longer Sunday than he did in Seattle. There he disqualified himself with a red-light start against Ron Krisher.

"We found out what we can do at Seattle," Thomas said. "Kenny has a pretty bad car here, and he has an excellent bunch of guys on the crew. They work together as well as any I've ever seen.

"I think people saw what they could do, from me getting into the car for the first time at Denver (July 15) with no runs to a track record elapsed time and No. 1 qualifying spot at Seattle."

While Guarnaccia did the tuning, he thanked engine builder Larry Morgan for providing very good Hemi horsepower for the race weekend. When Thomas lowered the Seattle track's Pro Stock time record to 6.661 seconds, he was one-thousandth of a second off Koretsky's career-best 6.660 from March at Gainesville, Fla.

"We were ready for that," crew chief Eddie Guarnaccia said. "Mike is doing a nice job of driving, and the setup and tune-up did what they were supposed to do."

Leader looking out -- While it might look like points leader, No. 1 qualifier and four-time winner Tony Schumacher has the Top Fuel class under control, he'll tell you that's not true. Although he ran a 4.576-second pass at 324.05 mph in the heat of the day at Sonoma Saturday to put an exclamation point to his track-record 4.529 E.T., the U.S. Army Dragster driver said he is wary of his first-round opponent, John Smith.

"That was pretty stout," Schumacher said. "(Crew chief) Alan Johnson (his crew chief) figured it out as he always does.The last time we faced Smith in the first round, he beat us. You clearly can't take anyone for granted in this sport."

That slap came in the opening round June 19 at Englishtown.

Schumacher, who entered the Western Swing at Denver 43 points behind Doug Kalitta in the Top Fuel standings, enters race day 44 points ahead of him.

Marshall plan -- Ben Marshall, driver of Kalitta Motorsports' part-time fourth dragster that's sponsored by StriVectin-SD, landed the No. 12 position in only his third professional appearance. He recorded a 4.666-second, 316.15-mph pass and will square off against No. 5 qualifier Doug Herbert in Sunday's Round 1. Marshall made his pro debut in April at Las Vegas. After racing at Englishtown, N.J., in June, Marshall is seeking his first round-win. He worked as a crewman for Kalitta Motorsports from 1998 to 2000 and is the team's test driver and marketing manager.

King deposed -- With some parts-sharing help from Tony Pedregon, Mitch King came back Saturday after his La King/Ay Que Salsa Dragster erupted in a top-end fireball Friday night and made an improved pass of 4.893 seconds at 290.13. However, it wasn't enough to make the Top Fuel field. He was one of four Top Fuel drivers who missed the cut, as John Smith and the Hartman Motorsports Dragster anchred the field with a 4.758 bump spot.

Hippopotamus? Whynotamus! -- Tony Pedregon said ideal conditions helped him blast his "Madagascar"-themed Q Racing Funny Car to the No. 1 spot Friday night with a run of 4.759-seconds at 321.12 mph. "I have to say that the Q Racing car did not run all that bad for having a hippo on its back,” the 2003 series champion said.

Pedregon, who's bidding for his third top-qualifier award of the season after earning it a Pomona and Phoenix in the first two races on the schedule, claimed the Infineon Raceway elapsed-time record. That erased John Force's 4.814 from August 2003. The feat gave Pedregon the track records at both California stops on the Powerade Drag Racing Series tour. When Pedregon led the field for the Winternationals, he also established Pomona Raceway E.T. mark.

He said he and crew chief Dickie Venables decided to shoot for a pass in the 4.74-4.75 range. "The downforce was as good as it gets, and we took full advantage of it," he said.

"If it warms up (Saturday), that will be good for us. We've been working real hard trying to get that kind of performance. It didn't do any engine damage. It was a good, clean run. The conditions were there. And we kind of ran like we did at the first two races. We feel like we're capable of that kind of performance, and it's nice to see we were right. I feel there is even more left in the car. Performance and consistency are coming together."

Old car going out in style -- Warren Johnson said his new Pontiac GTO should be on the track at Brainerd.

"The graphics are already applied, and it will be at the shop on Monday. Hopefully it will be at Brainerd. Basically, we just have to wire it and spend a half a day testing, then it will be ready to go."

But he didn't do poorly with his trusty GM Performance Parts Pontiac Grand Am in Friday qualifying. He took the provisional lead in the Pro Stock class in a track-record 6.689 seconds at 205.13 mph, despite a headwind.

The performance was particularly satisfying, for Johnson has failed to qualify for this race twice in two of the previous three visits. In 2002, his DNQ at Sonoma halted a 303-race qualifying streak. Then last season, it was the second of eight such stumbles for the six-time champion.

"The sun going down actually helped the air conditions quite a bit. Unfortunately, the wind kept picking up, and Pro Stock cars don't really do well with a direct headwind so there was a little bit of a problem with that running a real speed," Johnson said. "But we actually had the fastest speed of the old-style bodies. All the cars that were faster than us were of the new body styles. It's pretty evident that they are more slippery, even though we were quicker."

He said that "will affect the E.T. a little bit, maybe three or four thousandths of a second. We were pretty quick all the way to the thousand foot and then we fell off by about three thousandths to the two cars that were the new body style. That's about what we figured it would be, maybe five thousandths on the outside. But that's three, four, five thousandths that you get with a new body style."

He said the headwind makes a Pro Stock car "glued down a little tighter at the other end because of the downforce on the spoiler and what-not. You can feel it. When I pulled the parachutes, I didn't even use the brakes, and I barely made the turnoff. You can feel the parachute tug a little harder on it, not like a fuel car, but it's definitely stronger. The track is actually pretty good right now. We don't have any sand blowing on the track, and based on what I see, this is the smoothest race track, as far as surface smoothness, we've run on all year long. We drove up and down it on Tuesday, and I was impressed."

Johnson said his car is the same he has had throughout the Western Swing. "This is the same car we ran at Denver and Seattle, but we've been nitpicking it a little here, a little there. We made some changes on it to try and get it to 60-foot a little better and have better reaction times,' he said. "At least with the track temperature we had (Friday night), the car worked real well. We're going in the right direction for that track temperature. We'll have to wait until it gets warm to see if it repeats."

Arend gets help -- Struggling Funny Car driver Jeff Arend, suddenly without a ride after the Denver event two weeks ago, has salvaged something of this Western Swing. With sponsorship help from VF Trucking and "Go San Francisco Card," he skipped the first Friday session and qualified No. 8 in the evening with a 4.854-second E.T. at 317.49 mph.

“We decided not to run our VF Trucking/Craftsman Funny Car in the first round of qualifying because of we wanted to save it for the evening session,” he said. “The objective for the second pass was to get the car from point A to point B, keep all the candles lit, and not smoke to tires. Our hot rod was pretty strong throughout the entire run, and it still had a little more in it. I knew crew chief Paul Smith would have good tune-up for our evening run and it would lay down a good number."

He said he and the team would use Saturday to"try a few things that will keep our Monte Carlo in the top half of the ladder.”

He said he wanted to thank VF Trucking and Craftsman. "Without all of our generous supporters, we would not be racing this weekend,” Arend said. He went to Seattle and qualified 14th at Seattle but lost in the opening round to eventual finalist Robert Hight, scrambling to keep up his quest for a top-10 berth.

Arend went to the finals at Bristol and the semifinals at Chicago, qualified second at Englishtown with a 4.792-second E.T. at 322.19, both career bests. At midseason, he was fourth-best among Funny Car drivers in reaction time with a .082 showing in 16 elimination runs.

Making strides -- Chip Ellis might not be all that thrilled with being seventh in the Pro Stock Motorcycle lineup after Friday qualifying, because that means six other riders are ahead of him and the G Squared S&S V-Twin Buell. And he wasn't doing cartwheels that he and the crew inadvertently left a safety pin in the shifter in the second session that prevented him from making a full run under power.

However, just putting the bike inthe field -- just being at the race -- is an improvement from last year for George Bryce and Geoirge Smith, business partners and team co-owners.

“This is the first time with the Buell at Sonoma, as we were regrouping from the additional weight that NHRA added to the V-Twins beginning at the 2004 St. Louis race and missed four events, including Sonoma,” Bryce said. “Everything is changed from the last time we ran here. We have a different motorcycle and different driver."

“One thing I can tell you is that the motorcycle class is very popular at Infineon Raceway. If you look around the parking facilities, you will see thousands and thousands of motorcycles at the event. We have a big fan base here, and we look forward to seeing how quick and fast our S&S-powered Buell can run in front of our fans in the final two qualifying sessions.”

FRIDAY - SCHUMACHER, PEDREGON, JOHNSON AND HINES ARE QUALIFYING LEADERS AT FRAM AUTOLITE NHRA NATIONALS

(7-29-2005) – Tony Schumacher led a record-setting day of qualifying Friday at the FRAM Autolite Nationals at Infineon Raceway.

Schumacher racedfs to a track record time of 4.529 seconds at 325.77 mph in his U.S. Army dragster to take the top spot in the qualifying order ahead of championship rival Doug Kalitta, who clocked a 4.549 at 321.88 in the Mac Tools dragster.

“That was a great run with the top two cars in the points, and that’s how it should be,” Schumacher said. “It’s going to be a good race this weekend because the track is great. It’s going to be a good old fashioned drag race.”

Tony Pedregon, Warren Johnson and Andrew Hines also were qualifying leaders in their categories at the $1.5 million race, the 15th of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

Pedregon powered his special Madagascar-themed Q-Racing Chevy Monte Carlo to a track record time of 4.759 at 321.12 to lead Funny Car. Seattle winner Eric Medlen was second in his Castrol Syntec Ford Mustang with a 4.783 at 323.12.

“When you have these conditions it puts a lot of pressure on the driver,” Pedregon said. “It’s nice to have that kind of performance. This is a good track and at sea level you have optimum conditions and you can unleash all you’ve got. That run reminded me of earlier this season at Pomona and Phoenix (Pedregon was No. 1 qualifier at both races). But here lately we’ve gone off course a little and the process tonight was to get back on course and get consistent.”

Johnson, who has failed to qualify for this event in two of the last three years, paced the Pro Stock order, powering his GM Performance Parts Pontiac to a track record time of 6.689 at 205.13. Larry Morgan was second in his Team Mopar Dodge Stratus, posting a 6.690 at 205.41.

"We started the session late and the air conditions improved quite a bit," Johnson said. "Pro Stock cars don't do real well with an extreme headwind. You can feel it pushing the car down on the track and when you throw the 'chutes it pulls you pretty good. I didn't even touch my brakes and I barely made the turn-off up there.”

Hines raced to the provisional top qualifying position in Pro Stock Motorcycle, covering the distance in 7.049 at 190.48 on his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson.

“The headwind was the major deal out there tonight,” Hines said. “The Screamin’ Eagle bike has been performing well in qualifying but now we have to transfer that over to Sunday. Tomorrow we should have a little tailwind in the morning, so I would think we might see a few six-second runs.”

Qualifying continues Saturday at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Results Friday after qualifying for the 18th annual FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway, 15th of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. Qualifying will continue Saturday for Sunday's final eliminations.

Top Fuel -- 1. Tony Schumacher, 4.529 seconds, 325.77 mph; 2. Doug Kalitta, 4.549, 321.88; 3. Larry Dixon, 4.550, 326.71; 4. Morgan Lucas, 4.560, 317.42; 5. Doug Herbert, 4.562, 314.75; 6. Cory McClenathan, 4.566, 321.58; 7. Scott Kalitta, 4.573, 323.19; 8. Brandon Bernstein, 4.574, 325.92; 9. David Grubnic, 4.584, 320.97; 10. Scott Weis, 4.675, 316.15; 11. Rod Fuller, 4.735, 313.58; 12. Bobby Lagana Jr., 4.738, 294.31; 13. Ben Marshall, 4.793, 310.84; 14. John Smith, 4.797, 278.75; 15. Mike Strasburg, 4.802, 251.72; 16. David Baca, 4.945, 284.62.

Funny Car -- 1. Tony Pedregon, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.759, 321.12; 2. Eric Medlen, Ford Mustang, 4.783, 323.12; 3. Del Worsham, Monte Carlo, 4.789, 325.69; 4. Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.789, 317.87; 5. Gary Scelzi, Dodge Stratus, 4.793, 325.14; 6. Tim Wilkerson, Monte Carlo, 4.839, 320.13; 7. John Force, Mustang, 4.844, 307.58; 8. Jeff Arend, Monte Carlo, 4.854, 317.49; 9. Ron Capps, Stratus, 4.880, 312.35; 10. Whit Bazemore, Stratus, 4.898, 316.38; 11. Tony Bartone, Monte Carlo, 4.900, 314.17; 12. Phil Burkart, Monte Carlo, 4.942, 308.64; 13. Gary Densham, Monte Carlo, 4.956, 312.57; 14. Terry Haddock, Pontiac Firebird, 5.011, 302.89; 15. Dale Pulde, Firebird, 5.044, 293.28; 16. Bob Gilbertson, Monte Carlo, 5.058, 301.33.

Pro Stock -- 1. Warren Johnson, Pontiac Grand Am, 6.689, 205.85; 2. Larry Morgan, Dodge Stratus, 6.690, 205.51; 3. Jason Line, Grand Am, 6.690, 204.73; 4. Greg Anderson, Pontiac GTO, 6.704, 205.88; 5. Erica Enders, Chevy Cobalt, 6.705, 205.72; 6. Kurt Johnson, Cobalt, 6.708, 206.23; 7. Mike Thomas, Stratus, 6.708, 204.51; 8. Jeg Coughlin, Stratus, 6.715, 204.70; 9. Ron Krisher, Chevy Cavalier, 6.725, 204.66; 10. Richie Stevens, Stratus, 6.725, 204.54; 11. Allen Johnson, Stratus, 6.730, 204.01; 12. Jim Yates, Grand Am, 6.733, 203.58; 13. Greg Stanfield, Cavalier, 6.737, 204.39; 14. V. Gaines, Stratus, 6.739, 204.54; 15. Dave Connolly, Cobalt, 6.745, 204.57; 16. Bob Panella, Cobalt, 6.751, 202.85.

Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 7.049, 190.48; 2. GT Tonglet, Harley-Davidson, 7.071, 190.32; 3. Chris Rivas, Buell, 7.085, 189.47; 4. Antron Brown, Suzuki, 7.118, 188.52; 5. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 7.123, 189.87; 6. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 7.130, 184.88; 7. Chip Ellis, Buell, 7.131, 181.08; 8. Ryan Schnitz, Buell, 7.138, 189.58; 9. Geno Scali, Suzuki, 7.142, 192.85; 10. Shawn Gann, Suzuki, 7.148, 186.43; 11. Angelle Sampey, Suzuki, 7.157, 186.23; 12. Matt Smith, Suzuki, 7.188, 188.81; 13. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.213, 185.82; 14. Michael Phillips, Suzuki, 7.222, 184.55; 15. Kurt Matte, Suzuki, 7.233, 186.28; 16. Mike Berry, Suzuki, 7.252, 187.26.

FRIDAY NOTES - WJ's beating the odds, Capps plays the game and Erica's running strong

 (7-29-2005) - Overcoming odds -- Warren Johnson struck the tires on his GM Performance Parts Pontiac on his first Pro Stock run and battled a headwind with a dinosaur of a body in Friday evening’s second session. But he made a few adjustments in between runs and parked his aging Grand Am in the tentative No.1 spot.

The so-called "Professor of Pro Stock" vaulted to the head of the class with two sessions left for qualifying. He did it with a track-record 6.689-second elapsed time, which came with a top speed of 205.13 mph.

His first run of the day was a 6.726-second, 205.88-mph effort.

"We got just about everything we could from our GM Performance Parts Pontiac on that run,” Johnson said. “It had spun the tires pretty hard in the afternoon session, so we made some substantial changes, going back to a set-up we had used in Denver when the track was slippery, as well. Fortunately, the car responded and made a great move from the 60 to the 330 (foot marks).

"Of course, we were fighting a tremendous headwind on that run, which is particularly significant with the body style we are running, which is the oldest in the NHRA. Even so, we were the third fastest behind two Cobalts, which, of course are the newer generation design. Overall, I'd have to say we're pretty pleased.”

Johnson said he just might experiment with elements of his Sunday tune-up in Saturday’s final two sessions. "Fortunately, we know our time will not get bumped out, so we'll use tomorrow to try a few things. We'll probably leave this set up in for the morning session, when it may still be cool enough to run well. After that, we'll try something different in the afternoon, trying to get as much information as we can for Sunday."

Vacuum pump problems -- Antron Brown, qualified fourth, was supposed to run alongside Chris Rivas in Friday night’s second session for Pro Stock Motorcycles. But a “vacuum pump issue” with the U.S. Army Suzuki, according to Brown, forced him to rely on the 7.118-second elapsed time at 188.52 mph he ran in the opening session. It didn’t hurt him at all, for he remained fourth on the grid. Brown, who has advanced to three straight finals and won at Englishtown, entered this event in second place in the standings, one point behind leader G.T. Tonglet.

Personal best -- Pro Stock rookie driver Erica Enders lowered her career-best elapsed time to 6.705 seconds Friday night, finishing the first day of qualifying in the No. 5 spot at a clip of 205.72 mph in the Slammers Ultimate Milk Chevy Cobalt . Her previous best had been a 6.724 at Englishtown, N.J.

"I'm so proud of the guys at the track and all my guys who are putting in the hours at the shop. I'm also thankful that the guys at General Motors gave me one bad hot rod.

"Going fast is fun," Enders said. "I owe it all to my Slammers crew. They worked so hard and kept positive, even when things were frustrating.” She was referring to just five previous successful qualifying weekends (all in the bottom half of the ladder) and a string of six straight DNQs among her nine total.

“As a driver, you can tell when the car is on a good run, I knew it was good when I dropped the clutch,” she said. “Then the pulled hard all the way through the lights. I'm ready for that ride again!

Her Slammers Ultimate Milk team has improved steadily during the Western Swing. Delivery of a new motor from the Cagnazzi Racing shop in Mooresville, N.C., might give her the horsepower she and her crew have been trying to achieve all year long.

"Team Cagnazzi's original mission is starting to come together," crew member Roy Simmons said. "We started the year with a whole new program. We built our own chassis and we started building our own engines. It's been a long road to get here, but now I think we have turned the corner. What you are seeing is the culmination of our program starting to work together. Our engine and chassis are meshing."

Could’ve been low E.T. -- Doug Herbert on Friday night recorded his fastest qualifying pass in the Snap-on Tools Dragster since the early-June Carquest Nationals at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill. His 4.562-second elapsed time at 314.75 mph gave him the tentative No. 5 position. That was his best in qualifying since his 4.530 at Joliet.

Still, Herbert said the pass could have been much better -- he indicated he thought he could’ve staked claim to his first No. 1 spot since the fall Las Vegas race in 2002.

"The car was hauling, and then at about 1,000 feet, it spun the tires and the car fishtailed a bit," Herbert said. "I think we had the low E.T. snatched away from us at that point. We're still happy with being fifth with two sessions left.

"It's a top-five run, and that's what we were looking to do," he said. "It's great that we got the car to make two respectable runs today, knowing that there was a lot left it the setup."

His first effort was a 4.665-second run.

Bring on Bruton -- Top Fuel’s resurgent Larry Dixon said the first thing he thinks of when he hears the words “Infineon Raceway” is “that it’s in California and that means that I’m back home.” Although he grew up in the Van Nuys area, Dixon was right at home in Northern California’s Sonoma in the first session of qualifying for the FRAM-Autolite Nationals.

Tony Schumacher took the provisional No. 1 spot after the opening session with an elapsed time of 4.588 seconds at 320.51 mph. But Dixon registered the first 4.50 pass of the weekend and wound up with the No. 2 spot with a 4.599/316.15 in the Don Prudhomme-owned Miller Lite/Ameriquest Dragster.

“I love what Bruton Smith has done with the track,” Dixon said. “It makes you wish that he owned more tracks or even the series.”

Dixon is going for his fourth No. 1 qualifier award in eight events. Top Fuel’s winningest active driver, the Avon, Ind., resident is 2 for 4 in final-round appearances this year.

“The car has been both quick and fast,” he said. “Now we just need to continue to work on our consistency from day to night conditions. We’ve got some work to do, but I still think we’ve got a great car that’s capable of winning each week, and that excites me.”

Tim Terrific and his Mighty Monte Carlo -- Funny Car privateer Tim Wilkerson said before he got to Sonoma that maybe this last of the Western Swing events “will be nice, easy, and gracious.” Well, so far so good for the Springfield, Ill., native. He put his Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevy Monte Carlo in the No. 1 spot early Friday with a 4.927-second, 313.15-mph run.

He’s due for a stellar outing out west, as he looks to defend his event title. At the start of this year’s Western Swing, in Denver, Wilkerson trashed more parts in one weekend than he normally would in an entire season. In Seattle, he couldn’t break into the top 10 in the standings. However, he entered this race just 26 points behind No. 10 Tony Pedregon.

"It's going to hot," he said, "and that's going to be tough. All we can do is our best and try to slide through some rounds. I'm confident that we'll do OK. We've done well this entire trip, really. It's just that we couldn't take the Levi, Ray & Shoup Funny Car enough rounds.”

Upright and back in the groove -- Ron Krisher, in an '03 Chevy Cavalier this weekend because his Cobalt was totaled in his semifinal victory at Seattle last weekend, qualified 11th in the Pro Stock order in the first session. With nearly no time in that seat since the car was shipped Sunday night from northern Ohio, Krisher was just .061 seconds off his No. 9 qualifying spot in the brand-new car in Seattle.

Video version easier? -- Ron Capps figured heavily into the development of soon-to-be-released NHRA Championship Drag Racing game for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system. But the Santa Clara University graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in software engineering, unfortunately, wasn‘t much of a factor in the Funny Car qualifying order during Friday‘s first run.

He and teammate Whit Bazemore, who both lost traction on the Infineon Raceway quarter-mile, were the only two to miss the cut. Capps was No. 17 with an 8.997-second elapsed time that was .684 of a second slower than part-time competitor Robert Schwab, who anchors the field of 16.

Capps, driver of Don Schumacher Racing’s Brut Dodge Stratus, said, “Several of my racing colleagues, including Del Worsham and Jeg Coughlin have played the game as well, providing feedback that is critical to the game experience. People are always asking me what it feels like to drive a Funny Car, and nothing gets players as close to the real thing as NHRA Championship Drag Racing — the in-game cars handle just like they do at the track.”

Doug Clemmer, President of THQ’s VSE Games division, which publishes and distributes the game, said Capps’ “deep involvement in the development of this game has enabled us to create a game that is unsurpassed in its realism.” It will be available in retail stores throughout North America in mid-August.

Jamie Ottilie, CEO of developer Luck Chicken Games, said, “Achieving realistic racing action has been a key focus of the game’s development, and Ron’s input has been very important. Our entire team spent months researching the sport before programming (began).”

Diggin’ deep -- Whit Bazemore won at Sonoma in 1999, was runner-up the year before, and was top qualifier in 1999, 2000, and 2001. And he said he likes the track.

"It's a Bruton Smith-owned track, has a lot of personality, and the fans are really incredible. We always enjoy coming here. The fact that it's the third of the Western Swing is nice. If the Western Swing has been so-so (for a driver), then this is your last chance to really dig deep and shine.”

Bazemore had to dig a bit deeper after the first session Friday afternoon, because he could’ have dug himself a deeper hole in the Funny Car lineup: dead last among 18 entrants after smoking the tires of his Don Schumacher Racing-owned Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge Stratus.

He’s seventh in the POWERade standings, and he said he and crew chiefs Dan Olson and Todd Okuhara are “coming here with confidence and high expectations that we can win this race again."

Since the Englishtown, N.J., even in mid-June, Bazemore has improved at each event, reaching the semifinal round in Seattle last weekend. "Our Matco Tools team, we had an up-and-down weekend in Seattle. We struggled some with the car, but come race day we went to the semifinals and had a really good result.”

New car performing -- Top Fuel contender Cory McClenathan is looking for his first victory of the year, his first since last May 16 at Atlanta (31 events ago), the Carrier Boyz Racing team’s first since FRAM and Honeywell came on board at the beginning of this season. He said Career Victory No. 29 -- he’s already among the top five all-time Top Fuel winners -- “would be huge and there would be a whole lot of people to help us celebrate and share the pictures in the winner’s circle. That would be a big deal for us as a race team.”

The Carrier Boyz Racing team quietly debuted a new Brad Hadman-built dragster at Denver two weekends ago. McClenathan drove it in Friday’s first qualifying session to a 4.671-second elapsed time at 317.87 mph that put him sixth in the lineup.

That 4.671 pass was the second-quickest he has made in competition with the new car. His best was his 4.598-second E.T. that gave him the No. 8 position at Seattle. He also ran a 4.6 (4.628) in the opening round last weekend in a loss to eventual winner Brandon Bernstein, and he qualified sixth at Denver with a 4.682.

Crew chief Todd Smith said he’s excited with its initial performance and said that with enough passes, the car should help No. 9 McClenathan move up through the standings. He’s less than 100 points behind sixth-place Bernstein and just 376 off leader Tony Schumacher’s pace. Only 145 points separate Schumacher from No. 4 Dave Grubnic.

McClenathan said he thinks this 18th edition of the race at Sonoma might provide a breakthrough. “We feel like we have a competitive car again. Todd Smith and I, along with the crew, are real comfortable with it. When we make changes and adjust to the track and weather conditions, those changes make a difference now. Maybe we used the old car too long.”

He has been to the final round at Sonoma twice. He won in 1997, beating Scott Kalitta, and was runner up to Eddie Hill in 1993.

Harleys hoggin‘ the limelight -- Andrew Hines, the reigning Pro Stock Motorcycle champion who‘s fourth in points, and G.T. Tonglet, the current points leader, led their class Friday on Harley-Davidson V-Twins.

Will has her way -- Hillary Will and her Girl Power Racing team continued to shine in the Top Alcohol Dragster class. Apparently feeling comfortable in her native Northern California, the 25-year-old rising star was top qualifier in Friday’s opening session with a 5.396-second elapsed time at 266.85. Her time was .096 seconds off the personal best and class best she recorded --with some tuning help and track expertise from Bucky Austin -- during the first round of eliminations last Saturday at Seattle (5.302/270.97). That performance held up as low E.T. and top speed of the meet at Pacific Raceways.

Steve Federlin was close behind with a 5.407 E.T. at 261.83 mph in the Friday night session.  

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