DALLAS FRIDAY QUALIFYING
ASHLEY, KALITTA AND ANDERSON LEAD QUALIFYING AT O'REILLY NHRA
FALLNATIONALS
New Yorker Mike Ashley raced to the
qualifying lead in Funny Car Friday at the O'Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals
presented by Castrol Syntec.
Ashley posted a 4.799 at 314.53 mph in his
Torco Racing Fuels Dodge Stratus at the all-concrete Texas Motorplex to lead his
category and join Top Fuel points leader Doug Kalitta and reigning Pro Stock
champion Greg Anderson as leaders after the first day of qualifying.
A
heavily-accented mortgage broker from Long Island, Ashley posted a
4.799 at
314.53 mph in his Dodge Stratus to overshadow the championship
battle between
Ron Capps and John Force. Capps' Dodge has him fifth
after a 4.865, while
Force's Ford carried him to 11th with a 4.983. It
is the first time Ashley
has led the 7,000 horsepower category since
moving from Pro Modified to Funny
Car last year at the U.S. Nationals.
"I think we've been underrated the
last four races," Ashley said. "I'm a
former champion. This is not the first
time I've been No. 1 qualifier. This shouldn't be a surprise. We've got all the
pieces here; a great sponsor in Torco Fuels, the resources of Don Schumacher
Racing, and a proven crew chief in Brian Corradi. The weak link has been me, but
this is my one-year anniversary driving these cars and I've learned a lot."
Keep up with this weekend's event on our EVENT PAGE
ASHLEY, KALITTA AND ANDERSON LEAD QUALIFYING AT O'REILLY NHRA FALLNATIONALS
Keep up with this weekend's event on our EVENT PAGE
ENNIS, Texas -- New Yorker Mike Ashley raced to the
qualifying lead in Funny Car Friday at the O'Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals
presented by Castrol Syntec.
Ashley posted a 4.799 at 314.53 mph in his
Torco Racing Fuels Dodge Stratus at the all-concrete Texas Motorplex to lead his
category and join Top Fuel points leader Doug Kalitta and reigning Pro Stock
champion Greg Anderson as leaders after the first day of qualifying.
A
heavily-accented mortgage broker from Long Island, Ashley posted a
4.799 at
314.53 mph in his Dodge Stratus to overshadow the championship
battle between
Ron Capps and John Force. Capps' Dodge has him fifth
after a 4.865, while
Force's Ford carried him to 11th with a 4.983. It
is the first time Ashley
has led the 7,000 horsepower category since
moving from Pro Modified to Funny
Car last year at the U.S. Nationals.
"I think we've been underrated the
last four races," Ashley said. "I'm a
former champion. This is not the first
time I've been No. 1 qualifier. This shouldn't be a surprise. We've got all the
pieces here; a great sponsor in Torco Fuels, the resources of Don Schumacher
Racing, and a proven crew chief in Brian Corradi. The weak link has been me, but
this is my one-year anniversary driving these cars and I've learned a lot."
Needing to rebound from a costly first-round
exit at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, Kalitta powered his Mac Tools
dragster to the best Top Fuel pass of the day, posting a 4.535 at 324.59 mph on
the scoreboard. Kalitta was low qualifier here in 2004 and won the event in
2002. Tony Schumacher, currently second in points, is third in the starting
order with a 4.630 at 318.32 in his U.S. Army dragster.
"The car's
running strong, certainly good enough to run with anybody that's up there with
us in the points," Kalitta said. "We've got to do our jobs and I can't be losing
on holeshots. Going out early can really put a beating on anybody's points. You
can see how it can go either way
real quick."
Defending event champion
Anderson and teammate and points leader Jason
Line were the last two Pro
Stock drivers down the racetrack and they
quickly moved to first and second
on the provisional ladder in their
Summit Racing Pontiac GTOs. Anderson's
6.782 at 203.83 mph was slightly
quicker than Line's 6.788 at 203.03 mph,
giving him the No. 1 position.
"It's been a different type of season for me," Anderson said.
"It's been a grind. But we're still in the game and right now the cars are the
best they've been all season. So are the drivers. I want a fourth championship
really bad and I know Jason wants his first. They've smelled the blood in the
water and pushed their way past us. We need to answer back."
Qualifying continues Saturday at noon and 3 p.m. for Sunday's 11
a.m.
eliminations.
Friday's qualifying results for the 21st annual
O'ReillyNHRA Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec at Texas Motorplex, 19th
of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.Qualifying will
continue Saturday for Sunday's final eliminations.
Top Fuel -- 1.
Doug Kalitta, 4.535 seconds, 324.59 mph; 2. Rod Fuller,
4.571, 324.28; 3.Tony
Schumacher, 4.630, 324.98; 4. David Grubnic,
4.639, 319.37; 5. David Baca,
4.661, 309.63; 6. Joe Hartley, 4.703,
297.61; 7. Larry Dixon, 4.704, 318.84;
8. Troy Buff, 4.710, 319.90; 9.
Andrew Cowin, 4.720, 314.68; 10. J.R. Todd,
4.729, 296.76; 11. Alan
Bradshaw, 4.732, 315.19; 12. Melanie Troxel, 4.762,
314.97; 13. Bill
Ancona, 4.793, 271.30; 14. Brandon Bernstein, 4.864, 254.18;
15. Scott
Palmer, 4.876, 263.00; 16. Cory McClenathan, 4.913, 304.74.
Funny Car -- 1. Mike Ashley, Dodge Stratus, 4.799, 314.53; 2.
Eric
Medlen, Ford Mustang, 4.822, 318.39; 3. Robert Hight, Mustang,
4.849,
314.39; 4. Tommy Johnson Jr., Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.857, 312.86; 5.
Ron
Capps, Dodge Charger, 4.865, 317.27; 6. Tony Pedregon, Monte
Carlo,
4.871, 314.53; 7. Jim Head, Stratus, 4.893, 312.71; 8. Cruz
Pedregon,
Monte Carlo, 4.911, 313.37; 9. Jack Beckman, Charger, 4.933,
307.02; 10.
Scott Kalitta, Toyota Solara, 4.954, 295.34; 11. John Force,
Mustang,
4.983, 295.98; 12. Gary Densham, Monte Carlo, 4.989, 310.55; 13.
Tony
Bartone, Monte Carlo, 5.079, 287.78; 14. Todd Simpson, Chevy
Camaro,
5.254, 288.52; 15. Phil Burkart, Monte Carlo, 5.480, 200.44; 16.
Del
Worsham, Monte Carlo, 5.518, 230.37.
Pro Stock -- 1. Greg
Anderson, Pontiac GTO, 6.782, 203.83; 2. Jason
Line, GTO, 6.788, 203.19; 3.
Larry Morgan, Dodge Stratus, 6.791, 202.82;
4. Dave Howard, Chevy Cobalt,
6.792, 203.49; 5. Steve Schmidt, Cobalt,
6.795, 203.92; 6. Richie Stevens,
Stratus, 6.798, 202.55; 7. Kurt
Johnson, Cobalt, 6.799, 203.40; 8. Ron
Krisher, Cobalt, 6.803, 202.64;
9. Mike Edwards, GTO, 6.805, 203.22; 10. Greg
Stanfield, GTO, 6.805,
203.00; 11. Tom Martino, GTO, 6.805, 202.91; 12. Allen
Johnson, Stratus,
6.805, 202.88; 13. Tommy Lee, Cobalt, 6.806, 203.19; 14.
Dave Connolly,
Cobalt, 6.808, 202.61; 15. Erica Enders, Stratus, 6.810,
202.55; 16.
Dave Northrop, Stratus, 6.814, 202.27.