WILKERSON WOWS HOMETOWN CROWD AS GRUBNIC, LINE, SMITH LEAD PACE

Tim
Wilkerson gave the hometown crowd somethign to cheer for in Funny Car.
He recorded his fourth No. 1 qualifier in seven races.

It’s proving to be a golden season for independent team owner Tim Wilkerson.

Wilkerson earned his fourth No. 1 qualifier in seven races at the 12th
annual O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals presented by Castrol on
Saturday. He’ll face Tony Bartone in the first round when eliminations
at Gateway International Raceway open Sunday.

It was the Springfield, Ill. native’s second top qualifier award at his
hometown track and his 14th career No. 1. Wilkerson drove his Levi, Ray
& Shoup Chevy Impala SS to a 4.744-second pass at 326.16 mph to
pace the field.

John Force has denied Ron Capps a championship many times. In

Ron Capps said anytime you run John Force you end up a footnote in drag racing history.

Sunday’s first round, Capps has the opportunity to return the favor.

Force will have to beat Capps if he wants to win his 1,000th round win.

"The NAPA team did all that hard work to post four good runs in a row
that all went down the track, and we're rewarded by getting 'the Champ'
in the first round," smiled Capps. "You've got to race him eventually,
so I think we're ready.”

John Force Racing [JFR] has confirmed that one of their Funny Cars
will perform a burnout prior to the start of the NASCAR Coca-Cola World
600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway [LMS] later this month.

Former series champion Jay Payne shattered the Gateway International
Raceway elapsed time record Saturday night with a 5.920-second moonshot
that highlighted the opening round of the JEGS ProMod Challenge.
Payne's pass was the quickest of his career and is second only to Josh
Hernandez's 5.914, which was posted last year in Gainesville, Fla.

Should Payne better Hernandez's year-old mark during Sunday's action,
he'll pick up a valuable 20 bonus points in the JEGS standings, which
have tightened considerably in the last seven days. Hernandez himself
will have the first chance to slow Payne and his Valvoline Camaro down
as the two champs tangle in Round 2.

Season-long leader Joe Baker is still on top after beating Taylor
Lastor in Round 1, but Payne, Tony Pontieri, and Eddie Ware could all
pass him Sunday if the wins go their way.

The most interesting match-up of the quarterfinals will pit Pontieri
against Baker with the No. 1 ranking on the line. Pontieri was second
quickest of the first round with a 5.980 so Baker, who got by Taylor
Lastor with a 6.324, will need to rise to the challenge.

Reigning JEGS ProMod Challenge champion Josh Hernandez zipped to a
Gateway International Raceway record of 5.955 seconds at 241.89 mph
Saturday afternoon to secure his second Ohio Crankshaft Low Qualifier
Award of the season. Hernandez is trying to make up for missing the
Atlanta event and his series-leading 10th career pole earns him maximum
points thus far.

"It's a big deal because you get a lot of confidence out of it,"
Hernandez said of his low-qualifying effort. "It also gives you lane
choice, which seems very important here. The left side is definitely
smoother and I'd like to stay over there if possible. At least we know
we'll start on that side."

Roger Richards Photos

One race after placing the first female Funny Car driver into the winner’s circle, the

Melanie Troxel stands on the verge of history by becoming the first female in NHRA Funny Car history to qualify No. 1.

class is on the cusp of declaring its first No. 1 qualifying female.

Melanie Troxel drove the Gotham City Racing Funny Car to the
provisional No. 1 qualifying position with a 4.802 elapsed time at
327.59 miles per hour.

Friday’s positive experience follows consecutive DNQ efforts for Troxel.

“We knew we had way too good of a team to be performing the way we were
performing,” said Troxel. “We knew it was just a matter of time before
things came through for us and it came at a track that’s been good to
me personally.”

Friday's
evening Pro Modified session was marred by two crashes, this was only
one of them. Rick Stivers [left lane] was able to correct his car but
the 2006 Corvette of Alex Hossler wasn't as lucky.  View the full sequence

TROXEL TURNS PERFORMANCE AROUND; GRUBNIC, ANDERSON, ELLIS ALSO LEAD AFTER FIRST DAY OF QUALIFYING

One
race after Ashley Force became the first NHRA Funny Car winner, Melanie
Troxel stands provisionally to become the first female Funny Car low
qualifier.

Melanie Troxel’s black clouds lifted literally and figuratively during Friday qualifying at Gateway International Raceway.

Troxel drove her ProCare Rx Dodge Charger to a 4.802-second pass at
327.59 mph to lead the NHRA POWERade Series Funny Car field into the
second day of qualifying at the O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals
presented by Castrol after early morning thunderstorms.

Her Dodge started to skate on the track but Troxel never lifted off the
throttle for her best run of the year, after making the field only
twice in six races so far this season.

Race fans attending this weekend's 12th annual O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals
at Gateway International Raceway have a unique opportunity to purchase Rob
Geiger's book about late Top Fuel driver Darrell Russell, who lost his life at
this event four years ago. The book, entitled "Darrell Russell: Broad Smile,
Quarter-Miles," is available for sale at Morgan Lucas' merchandise trailer for
$24.95 at this race only. One-hundred percent of the proceeds go to the Drag
Racing Association of Women (DRAW), which helps injured racers and their
families.

Bob Vandergriff, Jr. confirmed he and NASCAR superstar Kevin Harvick are hard at work on

Bob Vandergriff, Jr. confirmed an announcement could be coming soon. (Roger Richards)

a Top Fuel program. However, there’s nothing to announce at this moment.

“We’re working on a lot of things, talking to companies and gauging the
interest,” said Vandergriff. “We are seeing if a particular sponsorship
works and two or three that might add up to one. We are just seeing
which is going to be the best for us in the future. It’s still early
and companies are still making decisions as to what they want to do. We
should have some news soon.”