SATURDAY READING QUALIFYING
Schumacher's run, the fourth quickest in history, placed him on a record low qualifier podium next to Funny Car's Tommy Johnson Jr., Pro Stock'sGreg Stanfield, and Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Angelle Sampey. The fourth round of professional qualifying was lost to rain.
There
are three pending national records on the sheets. Stanfield stole away
the elapsed time mark in Pro Stock from Greg Anderson with his 6.621 in
the third round. Anderson still has designs on the national speed
record after his 208.91 mph clocking. Sampey's 6.939 could be the
national E.T. record in her class. Records aren't official until the
endof the event.SCHUMACHER, JOHNSON, STANFIELD AND SAMPEY TOP QUALIFIERS IN READING
Schumacher's run, the fourth quickest in history, placed him on a record low qualifier podium next to Funny Car's Tommy Johnson Jr., Pro Stock'sGreg Stanfield, and Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Angelle Sampey. The fourth round of professional qualifying was lost to rain.
There
are three pending national records on the sheets. Stanfield stole away
the elapsed time mark in Pro Stock from Greg Anderson with his 6.621 in
the third round. Anderson still has designs on the national speed
record after his 208.91 mph clocking. Sampey's 6.939 could be the
national E.T. record in her class. Records aren't official until the
endof the event.Schumacher and points leader Doug Kalitta thrilled the fans with a side-by-side finish to qualifying that would ultimately award thequicker car a first-round bye. They both posted their best passes of the weekend with Schumacher's 4.440 at 327.27 mph in the U.S. Army dragster getting the job done against Kalitta's 4.488 at 321.88 mph in the Macrail.
"It got a little outside the groove down there at the top end and spun the tires just enough to cost us the national record," Schumacher said,referring to the 4.437-second national mark. "Because we have that single in the first round tomorrow I'm guessing Alan [Johnson, crew chief] will take one more shot at it. To me it's 40 points on the line because it's 20 for the record and 20 less someone else could get."
Just
as it was one week ago in Dallas, someone edged Friday leader Mike
Ashley off the Funny Car pole. This time it was veteran Johnson,
whozipped to a 4.693 at 327.27 mph in his Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Ashley
had to settle for second place by just one thousandths of a second in
his Dodge Charger.
"We're
still fighting for positions," Johnson said. "Our goal now is to finish
in the top five. We're just a few points behind fifth. The only
disappointment is that the new points system isn't in effect right
now. The way we're running lately we'd be in pretty good shape. I can't
wait for next year."
Championship contenders Ron Capps and John Force finished fifth and
ninth, respectively. Capps' Brut Revolution Dodge Charger R/T posted
a4.717, while Force's Ford went 4.761. They could meet in the
semifinals.
Currently 10th in the points, Stanfield has already proclaimed that
he'd rather win the race then set a record. Summit Racing pro
Anderson,meanwhile, really needs the 20 bonus points that go with an
E.T. record.
"He
was pretty crushed down there at the end of the track," Stanfield said
of Anderson. "We were just fortunate they didn't hit on it that
session. The truth is there are four or five of us that could
bestanding here as the No. 1 qualifier. We're just the lucky ones."
Mike Edwards and the Young Life GTO crew are next with a 6.632, while
points leader Jason Line is fourth with a 6.633.Sampey is one day
closer to the Pro Stock Motorcycle national elapsedtime record and the
20 bonus points it awards. Her 6.939 at 191.10 mph on her Suzuki has
already been backed up to make it official. Now it just needs to
survive race day.
"I think [points leader] Andrew Hines and that team will be doing
everything they can to get that record tomorrow," said Sampey, who is
97points behind Hines in the standings. "They really need it more
thananyone to get some breathing room and this is the best place to do
it. I know they'll go for it."Hines already has the back-up mark for a
record with his 6.950 at 192.28mph, which slotted his Screamin' Eagle
Harley-Davidson V-Rod second on the grid.Eliminations begin at 11 a.m.
ET.
First-round
pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for the 22nd annual Toyo
Tires NHRA Nationals at Maple GroveRaceway, the 20th of 23 events in
the $50 million NHRA POWERade DragRacing Series. Pairings based on
results in qualifying, which ended Saturday.
Top Fuel -- 1.
Tony Schumacher, 4.440 seconds, 331.85 mph vs. Bye; 2. Doug Kalitta,
4.488,330.39 vs. 15. Luigi Novelli, 4.837, 285.95; 3. Rod Fuller,
4.518,328.78 vs. 14. Doug Herbert, 4.701, 291.82; 4. Brandon Bernstein,
4.528, 329.50 vs. 13. David Baca, 4.674, 312.28; 5. David
Grubnic,4.533, 326.95 vs. 12. Morgan Lucas, 4.662, 299.26; 6. Larry
Dixon,4.541, 328.54 vs. 11. Melanie Troxel, 4.566, 327.74; 7. Bob
Vandergriff, 4.547, 323.50 vs.10. Hillary Will, 4.560, 322.88; 8. J.R.
Todd, 4.549, 328.06 vs. 9.Cory McClenathan, 4.550, 317.64.
Funny Car -- 1.
Tommy Johnson Jr., Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.693, 327.27 vs. 16. Jim Head,
Dodge Stratus, 4.854, 308.99; 2. Mike Ashley,Dodge Charger, 4.694,
330.96 vs. 15. Del Worsham, Monte Carlo, 4.843,321.19; 3. Eric Medlen,
Ford Mustang, 4.705, 325.69 vs. 14. Scott Kalitta, Toyota Solara,
4.840, 320.97; 4. Gary Scelzi, Charger, 4.709,328.62 vs. 13. Gary
Densham, Monte Carlo, 4.829, 321.50; 5. Ron Capps,Charger, 4.717, 323.97 vs. 12. Phil Burkart, Monte Carlo, 4.794,
324.44; 6. Tony Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.723, 321.12 vs. 11. Cruz
Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.792, 308.99; 7. Robert Hight, Mustang,
4.739,325.69 vs. 10. Tim Wilkerson, Monte Carlo, 4.777, 319.98; 8.
JackBeckman, Charger, 4.756, 325.45 vs. 9. John Force, Mustang, 4.761,
323.58.
Pro Stock -- 1.
Greg Stanfield, Pontiac GTO, 6.621, 208.04 vs. 16. Dave Northrop, Dodge
Stratus, 6.664, 206.57; 2. Greg Anderson, GTO,6.626, 208.91 vs. 15. Max
Naylor, Stratus, 6.662, 206.89; 3. MikeEdwards, GTO, 6.632, 208.36 vs.
14. Warren Johnson, GTO, 6.659, 206.83; 4. Jason Line, GTO, 6.633,
208.14 vs. 13. Larry Morgan, Stratus, 6.653,207.40; 5. Tommy Lee, Chevy
Cobalt, 6.634, 207.62 vs. 12. DaveConnolly, Cobalt, 6.651, 207.66; 6.
Tom Martino, GTO, 6.637, 208.07 vs. 11. Dave Howard, Cobalt, 6.649,
207.43; 7. Richie Stevens, Stratus,6.640, 207.40 vs. 10. Kurt Johnson,
Cobalt, 6.649, 207.66; 8. AllenJohnson, Stratus, 6.645, 207.72 vs. 9. Jim Yates, GTO, 6.648, 206.95.
Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1.
Angelle Sampey, Suzuki, 6.939, 191.10 vs. 16. Tom Bradford, Buell,
7.050, 189.52; 2. Andrew Hines,Harley-Davidson, 6.950, 193.16 vs. 15.
GT Tonglet, Harley-Davidson,7.049, 189.07; 3. Shawn Gann, Suzuki,
6.952, 190.65 vs. 14. Michael Phillips, Suzuki, 7.049, 193.18; 4. Karen
Stoffer, Suzuki, 6.970, 193.10vs. 13. Chip Ellis, Buell, 7.047, 187.81;
5. Matt Smith, Buell, 6.975,190.78 vs. 12. Paul Gast, Suzuki, 7.046,
186.82; 6. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.001, 188.73 vs. 11. Antron Brown,
Suzuki, 7.025, 191.05; 7.Geno Scali, Suzuki, 7.009, 192.00 vs. 10. Matt
Guidera, Buell, 7.011,187.83; 8. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 7.009, 191.05
vs. 9. Ryan Schnitz,Buell, 7.011, 189.04.
