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.

On Friday night, Michael Phillips thought a 7.26 or 7.27 elapsed time was going to win the pole at the Mile-High Nationals, he was wrong.

Phillips set a new track record for the second day in a row at Bandimere Speedway, winning the pole with a 7.238-second time at 186.41 mph.

“When I saw Karen Stoffer go out there she went 27 and then Jimmy Underdahl went 28, I knew I was going to go at least 24 or 25,” Phillips said. “I hit all my shifts and I made a perfect pass on that 23.”

Confident his Friday night run, 3.961 seconds at 286.19 miles per hour, would fall to the cooler temperatures, Brown expected to either improve himself or watch the time fall to his closest competitors. He was willing to bet Kalitta, Dixon, Schumacher, McClenathan or any of the other top names would find the combination to knock him off the top spot in the final session of qualifying.

It didn't happen, which saved Brown from losing the farm.

Pro Extreme veteran Hugh Scott suffered a patented Hugh Scott accident today, crashing off the starting line of his lone qualifying attempt for the inaugural ADRL Texas Drags at Houston Raceway Park (HRP).

The Attitude Apparel team of Rodger Brogdon and Steve Kent have signed Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Craig Treble to the ‘Pistonator’ team for the balance of the 2010 season and the NHRA Countdown to 1 championship.

Treble, who started the 2010 season riding for Don Schumacher, found himself back on board his own bike after Schumacher shut down the Pro Stock bike team and put the operation up for sale. The talented rider from Indiana will run the final eight races of the season showcasing the Attitude Apparel motorsports clothing line that features the fan favorite ‘Pistonator’ has the company logo.