2011 NHRA SRE NATIONALS - EVENT RESULTS

Summit_Nationals-4c-2

EVENT GALLERY

SUNDAY FINAL - NEFF WINS HIS THIRD RACE OF THE SEASON; WORSHAM, NOBILE, KRAWIEC ALSO WINNERS IN NORWALK
winners2

Mike Neff raced to his third win of the season Sunday as racing came to an end at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio.
neff2

Del Worsham, Vincent Nobile, and Eddie Krawiec also won in their respective categories at the 10th of 22 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

Neff drove his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang to a 4.211-second run at 289.94 mph past Ron Capps in the final round to collect his third win of the season and fourth career win. It was also Neff’s fifth final-round appearance in the past six races.

“I feel fortunate to get another win,” Neff said. “I can’t thank my team enough. My car had been getting real fast in the right lane, chopping the tire pretty good at about 80 feet. It got worse in the second round. I lost lane choice to Cruz (Pedregon) in the semi’s, and I thought, ‘Good, because I would have taken the left lane anyway.’ It’s one of those things where you can look real stupid picking the left lane in the final, because everyone was winning out of the right.”

Neff kept the points lead with his win, while runner-up finisher Capps moved up from ninth to sixth in the point standings.

In Top Fuel, after collecting the No. 1 qualifier on Saturday, Worsham powered his Al-Anabi dragster to his fourth win of the season. Worsham posted an impressive time of 3.905 at 298.14 past runner-up Spencer Massey to collect his 29th career win.

“It’s pretty amazing to go to five final rounds in the first 10 races and win four,” said Worsham. “It’s the kind of season that anybody would dream of, and it’s amazing to get it in my 21st season of racing. I have pretty high expectations, and I expect this team to compete for a championship, but I thought we’d get rolling and have to get things ironed out before we got in our groove. It shows what kind of team Sheik Khalid (Al-Thani), Alan Johnson, Brian Husen, and Jason McCulloch put together. I’m a lucky passenger in this car.”

The win kept Worsham in the No. 1 spot in the point standings while runner-up Massey strengthened his second spot in the standings with his third final round appearance in four races.
worsham

Rookie sensation held off a hot-charging Larry Morgan to collect the win in Pro Stock. Nobile drove his Mountain View Tires Dodge Avenger to a 6.615 at 208.26 mph to collect his second win of the season and move up to third-place in the point standings.

“This is seriously a nonstop dream, and I’m waiting until I wake up from it, but it’s still going,” said Nobile. “We’re just going to take it one race at a time. Yes, we’re doing very well, but it’s still real early in the season. I believe there’s still six more races until the Countdown actually begins, so we’re just going to take it one step at a time and hopefully get a few more wins before the Countdown starts.”

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Krawiec held off Matt Smith in the final round to get the win. Krawiec drove his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson to a 7.077 run at 187.81 to get his second win of the season and ninth of his career.

“It’s awesome to be back in the No. 1 spot,” said Krawiec, who moved into the points lead with the win. “I want it. I’m not going to exaggerate. I want to hold that No. 1 spot all year long. My goal coming into this season was to see if and hope that Wally had 15 brothers. I’ve got two of them so far, and I’m just going to continue doing what I’ve been doing and just try and improve on my riding itself, and hopefully, more wins will come.”

NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing will return July 7-10 for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill.

a d v e r t i s e m e n t

Click to visit our sponsor's website

SATURDAY - ANDERSON WINS SECOND CONSECUTIVE K&N HORSEPOWER CHALLENGE; HIGHT, WORSHAM, ENDERS, ARANA JR. NO. 1 IN NORWALK
KN2

Greg Anderson raced to his second consecutive K&N Horsepower Challenge win, the special Pro Stock race-within-a-race bonus event Saturday at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio.
hight

Robert Hight, Del Worsham, Erica Enders, and Hector Arana Jr. also raced to the No. 1 qualifying spots in their respective categories at the 10th of 22 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

Anderson drove his Summit Racing Pontiac GXP to an impressive 6.587-second run at 209.17 mph in the final round to hold off Mike Edwards and pick up the win and $50,000 paycheck that comes along with it. It was Anderson’s fourth K&N Horsepower Challenge win in nine career appearances.

“Four titles at the K&N (Horsepower) Challenge is just cool,” said Anderson. “It’s a beautiful trophy, and it’s just a neat, neat deal, and $50,000 cash, that’s just so exciting for us. It seems like back in the day when I worked with Kurt (Johnson) and I worked with Warren (Johnson), it seemed like Kurt was winning every year they had this event. It’s taken a lot of years to try and get close to him, and now we’ve tied him, and now, obviously, the next goal is to try and go ahead of him. But we’re just going to enjoy the moment right now.”

Hight followed up his recent win in Bristol by taking the No. 1 qualifying spot in Funny Car when he drove his Auto Club Ford Mustang to a 4.065 run at 306.53. It’s Hight’s first No. 1 qualifier of the season, 39th of his career and third at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park.

“18 races without being the No. 1 qualifier is a long time for this team,” said Hight. “In all honesty, it’s paid off. Jimmy Prock likes to swing for the fences, but he’s been more focused on consistency. We looked back at what we’ve done in the past, and we’ve won more rounds when we’ve had a car that goes down the track every run.”
worsham

Hight will face off against Jeff Arend in the first round of eliminations, while teammate and current points leader Mike Neff will face two-time world champion Tony Pedregon.

In Top Fuel, Worsham powered his Al-Anabi Racing dragster to the top of the field. Worsham drove to a 3.798-second run at 318.54 mph to take his third No. 1 qualifier of the season and eighth of his career.

“It was a great run,” said Worsham. “I only qualified No. 1 five times before this season, and we’ve done it three times this season alone. It’s pretty exciting driving for Al-Anabi, Shiekh Khalid (Al Thani), Alan Johnson, and Brian (Husen).”

Worsham will face Luigi Novelli in the first round of eliminations Sunday, while defending event winner and Bristol winner Larry Dixon will face Bob Vandergriff.

Enders held off a competitive class to take the top spot in Pro Stock. Enders drove her ZaZa Energy Chevy Cobalt to a 6.585 run, a new track record, at 209.10 to earn her second No. 1 qualifier of the season and third of the season.

“The run we made out there today was awesome,” said Enders. “We laid down a pretty stout run. I knew it when I let the clutch out. It just carried the front end real nice. Earlier this morning, our first run, we knew we had to get down the racetrack considering we were only going to get two (rounds).”

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, rookie rider Arana Jr. raced to the No. 1 qualifying position. Arana Jr. rode his Lucas Oil Buell to a 6.887 at 191.59 run to take his first career No. 1 qualifier and a career best for time.

“It’s just an amazing feeling to be No. 1,” said Arana Jr. “We’ve been struggling the first couple of races this season, and as you can see, we finally got our stuff together. This weekend, I have a brand new motor in my bike, and that was the first pass down the track when I ran the .88, and her name is Gracie after my mother. She’s doing good so far.”

Eliminations begin Sunday at 11 a.m.

a d v e r t i s e m e n t