Extreme was the word for the weekend at the ADRL Texas Drags: Extreme racing, extreme conditions, and, for John Montecalvo and team, extremely good outcomes. Montecalvo went two for two in the Texas double-header, and after winning the last completed ADRL event in Martin, Mich. Montecalvo is on a three race winning streak. Such success has now given him the points lead in Extreme Pro Stock.

In the first race of the weekend, Monte qualified third with a 4.074 at 178.50. From there he consistently stole his way through the rounds. Richard Penland was a no-show in round one. Then Monte took out Cale Aronson and heavy hitter Brian Gahm to line up against Elijah Morton for the final. Elijah took a stab at the tree and turned on the red light, giving Montecalvo the easy win, although Monte’s .008 light and 4.132 (low ET of eliminations) made him nearly unstoppable anyway.

Final round-by-round results from the 31st annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway, the 16th of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series:

TOP FUEL:  

Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional categories following the 31st annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway, the 16th of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series -  

Top Fuel

1.  Larry Dixon, 1,520; 2.  Tony Schumacher, 1,291; 3.  Cory McClenathan, 1,259; 4.  Doug Kalitta, 1,160; 5.  Antron Brown, 1,127; 6.  Brandon Bernstein, 1,049; 7.  Shawn Langdon, 761; 8.  Morgan Lucas, 725; 9.  Steve Torrence, 673; 10.  David Grubnic, 609.

Last Ditch Qualifying At The Mile-Highs

First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for the 31st annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway, the 16th of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.  Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs listed below pairings.

After long delays during the final Top Fuel qualifying session, track temperatures dipped to 90 degrees as Hagan prepped for his final pass. With near ideal conditions for a track a mile high in the atmosphere, Hagan made an outstanding 4.161-second run at 301.33 mph to eclipse Force's 4.191, 296.76, set on Friday night under the lights.

Allen Johnson has done almost everything he has to do this year to chase down Pro Stock point leader Mike Edwards. He's won poles, he's gone rounds, but he has yet to win a race.

Second in the point standings, Johnson hopes this is the weekend he finally breaks through to a victory.

“I'm hoping this is our breakthrough for the season,” said Johnson after nailing down the top spot in the Pro Stock class. “We've figured out every way in the world to lose this year in the finals. Maybe this one will carry the banners for Mopar, bring home that first win and hone in on that championship.”

Houston Raceway Park hosted three double-up winners this weekend as Rickie Smith, Billy Glidden and John Montecalvo got the job done in Pro Nitrous, Extreme 10.5 and Extreme Pro Stock, respectively. Joining them in victory lane for the inaugural ADRL Texas Drags were Pro Extreme star Joshua Hernandez and Pro Extreme Motorcycle’s Ashley Owens, who both won in dominating fashion.

An emotional Smith said he savored last night’s win in the postponed-from-March UTI Dragpalooza VI event as much as any in his storied career as he felt it offered proof he remains relevant in the class. He apparently remains intimidating, too, as Johnny Pilcher went red against “Tricky Rickie” by 28-thousandths of a second while Smith duplicated his best-of-class 3.90 pass from the semis at 192.82 mph to take his third career ADRL win and his second in as many nights.

Matt Hagan raced to the No. 1 qualifying position in Funny Car Saturday at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway.

Antron Brown, Allen Johnson and Michael Phillips also will lead their respective categories into Sunday’s 11 a.m. eliminations as No. 1 qualifiers at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event. The race is the final stop of the three-race Western Swing and the penultimate race in the regular season. NHRA's six-race championship playoffs -- the Countdown to 1 -- begin Labor Day weekend at the Mac  Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis.

Hagan powered his special edition Team Mopar Dodge Charger to a 4.161-second run at 301.33 mph to overtake 14-time world champ and current series points leader John Force for the top qualifying position. It is Hagan’s second No. 1 of the season and fourth of his career.