Tony Schumacher raced to the provisional No. 1 qualifier at the 40th annual United Association NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J.

Ashley Force Hood, Allen Johnson and Craig Treble also took the provisional top spots in their respective categories at the 11th of 24 events on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

Schumacher, the defending event winner, drove his U.S. Army dragster to a 3.818-second pass at 314.46 mph to become the provisional top qualifier in Top Fuel. If it stands it would be Schumacher’s first No. 1 qualifier of the season, 57th of his career and second at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. SCHUMACHER SITS NO. 1 IN ENGLISHTOWN; FORCE HOOD, JOHNSON, TREBLE ALSO IN PROVISIONAL SPOTS AT OLD BRIDGE RACEWAY PARK

Tony Schumacher raced to the provisional No. 1 qualifier at the 40th annual United Association NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J.

Ashley Force Hood, Allen Johnson and Craig Treble also took the provisional top spots in their respective categories at the 11th of 24 events on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

Schumacher, the defending event winner, drove his U.S. Army dragster to a 3.818-second pass at 314.46 mph to become the provisional top qualifier in Top Fuel. If it stands it would be Schumacher’s first No. 1 qualifier of the season, 57th of his career and second at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.

 “The track is outstanding,” said Schumacher. “The track itself is a great surface, and you’ve got to watch the weather. When you know there are only 15 cars, which is something that very seldom happens at a race, and you know that No. 1 guy gets that bye, you have to go for it. I knew it was there.”

Current points leader Antron Brown sits fifth after the first day of qualifying, while four-time Englishtown winner Larry Dixon is second.

In Funny Car, Force Hood drove her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang to a 4.071 at 303.37 to take the provisional No. 1 spot. If it stands, it would be Force Hood’s fourth No. 1 qualifier of the season, seventh of her career and third in the past four races.

“We’re on a great roll, but as soon as you start to think about that or get a little cocky about it, it will go right out the window,” said Force Hood. “We’re trying not to think too far ahead. We know we have a really consistent car, and we go into every weekend just trying to do everything the same way. It really helps to have that sort of consistency, and it shows in the performance of the car.”

Current points leader Ron Capps is sitting in the 10th spot while defending event winner Tim Wilkerson is seventh after one day of qualifying.

Topeka winner and Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson took the provisional top spot in his category. Johnson drove his Mopar Dodge Stratus to a 6.607 at 208.23 and looks to collect his first No. 1 qualifier of the season and seventh of his career.

“(Mike Edwards) is just basically the person who made us do that run,” said Johnson. “He’s just beating everybody right now, and we just decided to roll the dice and really get aggressive with our set-up on that good track, and it worked.”

Current points leader and defending world champion Jeg Coughlin sits the 11th spot, while defending event winner Greg Anderson is in the fifth position.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, 2007 Englishtown winner Craig Treble took the provisional No. 1 spot. Treble drove his Team Scream Suzuki to a 7.008 at 190.43. If it stands, it would be Treble’s first No. 1 qualifier of the season and fourth of his career.

“The conditions got a lot better, so I leaned it out and tightened the clutch,” said Treble. “We made a nice clean run, and it ran a good number. We’ve got a good barometer here and that certainly helps the Suzukis. Any time we race at the sea level tracks it’s usually good for us.”

Qualifying continues Saturday with sessions at Noon and 3 p.m. Sunday’s eliminations begin at 11 a.m.

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