EVENT RESULTS (SUN) EVENT NOTEBOOK (SUN) POINTS AFTER EVENT ROUND-BY-ROUND RESULTS SPORTSMAN RESULTS

FRI. GALLERY (POSTED) SAT. GALLERY (POSTED) SUN GALLERY

 

SUNDAY NOTEBOOK -

TODD FINISHES DEAL, WINS AT SONOMA - No more settling for the bridesmaid role for J.R. Todd.

Todd, who drives the Sealmaster Top Fuel dragster for Kalitta Motorsports broke his string of three runner-up finishes this season by taking the title at the Sonoma (Calif.) Nationals.

Todd clocked a 3.745-second elapsed time at 324.83 mph to edge Richie Crampton’s 3.806-second ET at 313.07 mph.

This was Todd’s ninth career Top Fuel NHRA national event victory and first since he beat Shawn Langdon in the finals at Seattle last year. Todd had runner-up finishes at Atlanta, Norwalk and Chicago this season.

Moments after Todd exited his dragster at the top end of the dragstrip he pulled out a painting by Kenny Youngblood of his Sealmaster dragster as a tribute to the late Eric Medlen. Medlen, 33, passed away March 23, 2007, as a result of testing accident March 19 in his Funny Car in Gainesville, Fla.

“Kenny Youngblood, he is a bad a** artist when it comes to drag racing and making art like this that said ‘This win's for Eric!’ and had a picture of my car. Eric Medlen’s mom (Mimi) came up to me right before the final round and handed it (the painting) to me, and asked if I would take it down the track,” Todd said. “I usually don’t like to do that because that is kind of premature celebrating and Richie and those guys got their act together this weekend. It awesome to be able to win here in Sonoma. The last time I won here I got to share it with Eric, so it is pretty special to be able to come back here and do it again 10 years later. I had the picture in my firesuit and a Mark Lyle patch in my pocket. I think Beckman gave it to me at driver intros. I had two angels riding with me (Sunday) and finally got to pick up that little gold man at the end of the day.”

Lyle, NHRA’s chief starter, passed away March 27, 2016 in a swimming accident. He was 59.

Todd’s victory march consisted of wins over Clay Millican, Antron Brown, Doug Kalitta and then Crampton.

“The Western Swing, the last three years has been good to me. This win also has been a long time coming for these Sealmaster Toyota boys. We couldn’t finish the deal in the final round and we finally got it,” Todd said. “Every run I try and do the same thing every time, just go out there and focus on doing my job. I know Richie had not been beat in a final round (seven total) and that was a pretty good stat he had going there. Those guys, they’ve been struggling all year, and he’s one of my good buddies so it was nice to see him in a final round. I had all the faith and confidence in Connie Kalitta and Rob Flynn and all those guys. They make the right calls.”

Todd (Top Fuel) and Medlen (Funny Car) both won at Sonoma in 2006 – and Todd took a moment to address what Medlen meant to him. Medlen grew up in Oakdale, Calif., and Sonoma Raceway was his home track.

“I wish he was still around because there are so many times, for instance the final rounds we were getting beat in, and you get freaked out on yourself, and he was always upbeat and stayed positive and he would be there to cheer you up and keep you positive. It’s nice to come back here to Sonoma and win, a lot of his family and friends were here. John (Eric’s father) was there at the nitro night that we had for Eric Thursday and it was a good show listening to him and Snake (Don Prudhomme) go back and forth. A lot of good memories were told there and it’s definitely cool to win here in front of his family and friends.” Tracy Renck

67-YEAR OLD FORCE DELIVERS A SECOND WIN ON THE WESTERN SWING - John Force is 67 years old, and he clearly has an attitude.

“When these kids come over and say stuff to me, they aren’t hurting my feelings. They aren’t making me mad,” Force said in a video recorded in February, a week before the 2016 season.  

“When a kid says to me, ‘haven’t you proven enough? You look tired.' I have looked tired for the last 20 years.”

“I thrive on this stuff, and when they say this stuff to me, I told a kid the other day, ‘Why don’t you just march across the street and stay over there. You know what kid? I am coming with my s***; that’s what’s coming.”

Well, the competition cannot say the 16-time champion didn’t give ample warning.

Sunday, at the Toyota NHRA Sonoma Nationals, the second stop on the NHRA’s famed Western Swing, Force moved to within one race of making his second clean sweep of the grueling three-race portion of the tour where race teams travel from Denver, to Sonoma, Ca., and conclude in Seattle.

Force beat Ron Capps on both ends of the track, winning his second race of the season and No. 145 of his career. The Peak-sponsored driver recorded a 3.948 elapsed time at 324.59 miles per hour to outrun Capps’ 3.960, 320.13.

The victory moved Force three spots up to fifth in the championship point standings with three races left in the regular season.

“The love of beating the competition, and the cheer of the crowd motivates me when I don’t feel so young,” said Force. “It might sound corny, but it is what is it is. To be able to stand up tall and proud when they have whipped me the last few years … I’m used to winning ten straight and being in the hunt every year.

“Not only do I have to fight my own cars but I have to fight the likes of Ron Capps, Jack Beckman, Tommy Johnson and Matt Hagan. There’s a lot of big money over there [at DSR]. Del Worsham is running unbelievable. Tim Wilkerson, on a budget, can still run with the best. Cruz [Pedregon] is off a little, but he will be back there.  

“I know every time I have to turn on that switch and go after these kids there’s a lot of work to do just to stay in the game. I can run with them now.”

Force won last weekend in the same fashion at the Mile High Nationals in Denver, running good enough to win every time.

“We might have found a tune-up, or stumbled onto something,” Force admitted. “Whatever, when you can come down here and run with them, you leave here feeling pretty good.”

Force opened the day over Alexis DeJoria, who lost control of her Funny Car shortly after launching, and impacted the wall. She was transported to Queen of the Valley Medical Center in nearby Napa, where she was diagnosed with a high-energy fracture of her left pelvis.

Force then eliminated teammate Robert Hight and daughter Courtney Force in the semis.

“I’m proud of racers like Greg Anderson, who went through what he did [with open heart surgery] and returned,” Force said. “Knowing it beats on us, every day and it is hard on us. He’s a kid compared to me. Those kids beat me out here, but I was beaten the first fifteen years of my career. Why should now be any different?”

Except this time, Force was able to deliver a knockout punch. Bobby Bennett

ANDERSON RELISHES THE ROLE OF THE BAD GUY - Somebody has to be the bad guy, and Greg Anderson is all too willing to fill the bill.

“There’s not a person in the pits who wants to see a KB Racing car when they race the rest of the season,” Anderson admitted.

Anderson scored his seventh Pro Stock win of the season, and took over the championship point lead by winning the Toyota NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway. He won an all-KB Racing final by beating teammate and No. 1 qualifier Bo Butner in the final round.

KB Racing has now won 14 of the first 15 races of 2016. This kind of dominance creates disdain as Anderson learned from a race fan on Friday.

Anderson, along with Denver Pro Stock winner Allen Johnson and a handful of nitro racers, shared an elevator ride following a driver’s meeting. A race fan made it in the elevator just as the doors closed.

“I was sitting in the corner, out of sight, when this race fan started talking to Allen Johnson,” Anderson recalled. “They started congratulating Allen, ‘We are so glad you beat KB Racing, we hate those guys.”

“I was in the corner, and the guy looked over at me and said, ‘I’m not ashamed of what I said.”

Anderson looked at the fan and smiled, uttering, “I’m not ashamed either, it’s great to be hated.”

Anderson doesn’t mind beating Butner either, the only winless member of the team.

Butner did what he could do as a driver, leaving the starting line .016 quicker than Anderson, only to have the red Summit Racing Equipment Camaro pass him at the finish line with a 6.580 elapsed time at 210.54. Butner lost despite a respectable 6.622, 210.70.

“He was down at the finish line, and I had to remind him John Force had 11 runner-ups before he got his first win,” Anderson explained. “You’re at three, don’t panic. He has 145 wins now. So what, you have three runner-ups.

“No one is going to hand you a win out here,” Anderson said. “Your turn will always come in due time, and Bo doesn’t want a win handed to him. He’s doing great and is getting better each time out. He’s going to win, and no one is going to hand it to him when he does. You gotta go take them.”

Anderson reached the final round on the strength of round wins over Alan Prusiensky (6.567), Vincent Nobile (6.571) and Shane Gray (6.620) to reach the finals.

As strong as Anderson was all day, eliminations opened on an odd note.

Anderson, while waiting his turn to race in the first round, was struck by a projectile rock from a car doing a burnout. The rock hit him in the temple leaving a visible knot hours later.

“It hit me in the best place, my head, which is like a rock,” Anderson said with a smile. “The crazy thing is anytime I’ve ever suffered an injury, I’ve gone on to win. My wife laughed as she was dabbing the blood, and reminded me, ‘everytime you get hurt you win. Just saying.” Bobby Bennett

TONGLET FINALLY RETURNS TO PSM WINNER’S CIRCLE - Reports of LE Tonglet’s complete demise in NHRA’s Pro Stock Motorcycle class are not true.

Tonglet, the 2010 PSM NHRA world champ, won his first national event since 2011 when he upset Andrew Hines in the finals Sunday at the Sonoma (Calif.) Nationals.

Tonglet clocked a 6.813-second elapsed time at 196.73 mph to defeat Hines’ 6.864-second lap at 194.52 mph.

“Emotions are just high,” Tonglet said. “A lot of people kind of gave up on us, but we never gave up GT (Tonglet, LE’s brother) started coming back and he tuned to the semifinals in Denver (July 24) and I can’t thank him enough for tuning us to the victory here. Kenny Koretsky - thanks for staying onboard with us. This one is for you Kenny!”

This was Tonglet’s 10th career win and first since he beat Hector Arana Jr. in the finals at Brainerd (Minn.) in 2011. This also was Tonglet’s first final-round appearance since he lost to Hines at St. Louis in 2013. Tonglet also won at Sonoma in 2011.

Tonglet is piloting a Nitro Fish-sponsored Suzuki with motors provided by Vance & Hines.

“To bring home the Wally after beating Eddie and Andrew back-to-back is just huge for our team,” Tonglet said. “We are all weekend warriors we all work 40-plus hours at our real jobs and we come out here to have fun. At one point it wasn’t fun anymore and we had to change some things up and finally were are getting some round wins and it is just great.”

Hines was trying to win his third race in a row. He and his teammate Eddie Krawiec have won six of the eight Pro Stock Motorcycle races this season. Angelle Sampey and Tonglet are the only other winners. Sampey was the champ at the Summernationals in Englishtown, N.J., June 12.

Tonglet qualified No. 4 (6.780) and then proceeded to beat Katie Sullivan, Hector Arana, Eddie Krawiec and then Hines.

“To have everybody on our side of the track was just awesome,” said Tonglet, whose full-time job is as a fireman in Metairie, La. “I don’t know if any other team was on the Harley side, but it makes us feel good that they all like us and it’s just great.”

Although Tonglet was trying to win for the first time in five years, he wasn’t nervous.

“It was just another race,” Tonglet said. “You just try to get up there and think of it as qualifying and my dad (Gary) pats me on the back and each time he says something different and that time he said ‘Get me the F-ing money!’ I do not know if I wanted to hear that rolling into the pre-stage, but that’s what he said. There is no filter with him. GT is doing all the tuning with the fuel and all that and it’s just all working right now. We had some reaction times the last couple of races and it turns out it was the clutch and GT and I told my dad on the flight home from Denver if you do not get this clutch fixed after Sonoma we are taking it out and your off the clutch duty. In Q4 we finally got a good reaction and the bike is leaving good now and I guess we can keep that clutch in. We are going to stick with it and we will give him another shot.”

The disdain for the Harley team of Hines and Krawiec isn’t lost on Tonglet.

“It’s getting a little heated,” Tonglet said. “In the years past, the same teams have been arguing and the class wanted different people to win. Andrew and Eddie won every race but one of them and when it gets like that it kind of gets boring and everyone wants to see different winners. That’s why they are all on our side. They had some words in the pits (Saturday night) and no one wanted them to win.”

IT'S A SELLOUT - NHRA and Sonoma Raceway officials announced a sellout for Sunday’s racing at the Toyota NHRA Sonoma Nationals. Fans from all over the Bay Area and Northern California have filled the grandstands and pit areas under perfect weather conditions during the 15th of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.
 
“It’s been a phenomenal weekend at the track – perfect weather, terrific racing – and we are grateful to all of the guests who turned out to enjoy it with us,” said Steve Page, Sonoma Raceway president and general manager.
 
It is the first Sunday event of the season where a sellout has been announced and it is the fourth sellout of the year. The NHRA Four-Wide Nationals presented by Lowes Foods at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte, N.C., the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway and the NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway in Epping, N.H., featured sellout crowds on Saturday.
 
“Sonoma Raceway always has some of the most enthusiastic and supportive fans of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series,” said Terry Blount, NHRA vice president of communications. “We’re thrilled to say the Toyota NHRA Sonoma Nationals is our fourth sellout of the year, proving the continued success of our 2016 season in the fastest growing motorsport.”

NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series racer Alexis DeJoria, 38, from Austin, Texas, was transported by ground ambulance to Queen of the Valley Hospital, in Napa, Calif., on Sunday after a racing incident in the first round of Sunday’s eliminations at Sonoma Raceway.

DeJoria’s Tequila Patron Toyota Camry Funny Car went out of control and made contact with the left guardrail.

DeJoria exited the vehicle on her own power and was checked by NHRA emergency services before heading to the hospital to be evaluated for back pain.

SATURDAY NOTEBOOK – FAST FRIDAY LEADS TO REASONABLE SATURDAY


A HARLEY KIND OF DAY - ​Andrew Hines raced to his second career NHRA Pro Bike Battle win during the Toyota NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway on Saturday. Hines, received a $7,500 payday in the all-star bonus race featuring the top eight Pro Stock Motorcycles in the category.
 
In other racing, Steve Torrence (Top Fuel), Del Worsham (Funny Car), Bo Butner (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) earned No. 1 qualifying positions at Sonoma Raceway and will lead their classes into Sunday’s 11 a.m. eliminations at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event.
 
Hines on his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson defeated Hector Arana, Jr., Matt Smith and his teammate Krawiec for the win. This was a rematch of the final in 2015 when Hines was defeated by his teammate. This year, Hines was victorious with a winning run of 6.755 seconds at 197.31 mph to the trailing run by Krawiec of 6.811 at 195.73.
 
“The guys did a great job giving me a V-Rod strong enough to go out there and give me a chance to win that final round,” Hines said. “I popped that clutch and saw Eddie’s bulb go off first and I thought I was done because we can see a hundredths of a second on the tree but big congrats for everybody doing a great job out here.”

DEL HOLDS ON - Del Worsham in his DHL Toyota Camry raced to the Funny Car No. 1 qualifying spot with a run of 3.868 at 327.43 on Friday evening. This is his second No. 1 this season.
 
“Today was warmer than last night and yesterday so Q3 we didn’t get down the track and adjusted for it,” said Worsham. “Q4 we adjusted and ran a pretty good run so I feel good about tomorrow.”
 
Worsham, the defending Funny Car world champion, has raced to two final round appearances this season but has yet to win. His team surged at the end of last season in his title run and is seeking the same results this season.
 
“Around March or April we started making adjustments on the car working with Toyota and their aerodynamics people and all their engineers,” Worsham continued. “Also our people at Kalitta and we definitely have a faster car than we had a couple of months ago.”

THE ENGLISHTOWN FACTOR - Drag racing success is aided by keeping a detailed notebook.

Jon Oberhofer knows this very well. The co-crew chief with Rob Boninfante for the Del Worsham-driven Toyota Camry said Friday's incredible 3.868, 327.43 was largely due to similarities in the conditions between the Englishtown race and this one at Sonoma.

"In Englishtown, we made some changes to the car with the headers and we were getting it, but we have a problem with the front end coming off the ground, so we just figured out a way to keep the front end down, and then we applied those settings to this run," Oberhofer said. "We should've run better than that in Englishtown and we would've run better than that in Chicago also, but we had some other things to do.  

"You're filling the database, and then you're able to go back and look at your notes from the previous runs and hopefully capitalize on them.  That's the only thing that we've done is make some changes, get driveability back to the car and that's the way it went."

Clearly, Oberhofer believes, keeping the front end down is the key to getting the most from a laid-back header combination.

"It drastically changes the aerodynamics on the car, and you don't have the downforce like you do on the other style headers," said Oberhofer. "It's a different mindset not just bolting things on - you have to listen to what it's telling you."

Multiple aspects of the tune-up and the car are affected by the simplicity of running the headers at different angles.   

"The lay back ones just make the car think it's lighter," said Oberhofer. "It's easier obviously to accelerate a lighter car.  It's heavier than what we had with the other headers.  We're probably 30-40 pounds heavier total on the car, but it thinks it's lighter."

STILL THE ONE - No one had a record-setting run on Saturday leaving Steve Torrence to earn his eighth No. 1 qualifying position of the season with the run of 3.671 at 325.69. Torrence, behind the wheel of his Capco Contractors/Torrence Racing dragster has been the quickest Top Fuel car in the last eight qualifying sessions and 11 of the last 12. He will race Steve Haddock on Sunday.
 
“Hats off to my team and that is what has put me there,” said Torrence. “Those guys are the Mack truck and I’m just the little bulldog on the hood is how I feel. I’m sitting in that thing and riding it down through there and you see 67 or you see 331 and it is unbelievable. I may be dreaming, but don’t pinch me, don’t touch me, I don’t want to wake up.”

CAT’S IN THE CRADLE - Cameron McMillen, the three-year-old son of Top Fuel driver Terry McMillen, has the art of drag racing publicity firmly in his grasp.

Cameron has been stealing all of his old man's television time as of late.

"It's really frustrating," Terry said with a smile.  "The TV cameras come down here today looking for him; they didn't come looking for me.  I think It's pretty awesome because there are a lot of good things, and the news is in our sport.  We need to keep bringing youth in.  He's a future Junior Dragster driver, and it's all about the youth.

"I'm 61 years old, and we need to bring some kids into the sport.  If he gets to do that and has the opportunity, then it's all been really cool. Right now he's signing more autographs and getting more TV time than I do.  At our rate, I'm in the back burner, and he's got the forefront."

In a day and age when it becomes increasingly challenging to get youth interested in drag racing, Terry understands Cameron's enthusiasm is special.
 
"It's really amazing to me because he knows every driver and he knows every car," Terry explained. "He can tell you where any part is on the car, he'll show you where the blower is, the intake manifold.  He's got all this knowledge already and it's just awesome.  The only thing that I haven't gotten him schooled up on yet is Competition Plus but I can guarantee that he'll be there."

 

IT'S HER HOT ROD NOW - After switching cars at the rate of a person changing underwear, Top Fuel racer Leah Pritchett now has a dragster to call her own. The more runs she makes, the more her tuners Joe Barlam and Mike Guger and dialing in the intricacies of the former Shawn Langdon back-up dragster.

"We are only five races into the season with this car instead of 13," Pritchett explained. "We threw the kitchen sink at it last night.  I've always heard Don Schumacher telling the chiefs when to throw down and stuff like that. I was there and I heard it so I thought we're going to do it and get after it."

Instead, the Mopar/Pennzoil dragster failed to deliver a home run Friday evening.

"When we got back, and I was like, 'Wow that was disappointing," Pritchett said. "The good news about that is our [clutch] discs and the way we're running them and how we've got them set up show another. When you're finally able to see something happen and not work properly that gives light on how to fix it.  

"Even though we didn't put up the quickest numbers on the board last night, we did learn, and that's what we're constantly doing.  We're exceeding expectations that not only we set for ourselves but what the entire DSR organization is, and they're pretty high, so that's what we shoot for."

Pritchett said she feels more comfortable in the car than she ever has.

"To be honest, when I raced this car in Atlanta I didn't have quite the perfect fit for it," Pritchett admitted. " I got comfortable these last couple of races and now I'm able to get into that zone of, 'this is my hot rod and I'm fixing to lay the smackdown,' instead of worrying about a bunch of different things.  

"We're almost solid.  Every race that we've had we still have had a rotating crew, we've yet to have a solid crew.  There are three to four that are in and out.  We've got some interns from Western Tech, we've got some people from hospitality but what stays the same is our two crew chiefs and two other guys that we rotate in and out."  

SWITCHING UP - John Force made a switch on Saturday that brought the “magic” back to his PEAK Chevrolet Camaro team. After qualifying concluded on Friday Force’s crew chief Jon Schaffer met with the most recent Mile High Nationals winner and discussed the possibility of switching back to the Realtree PEAK Camaro body for the rest of the race and possibly the last race of the Western Swing. The team was spending a disproportionate amount of time repairing the body after each run due to the stress exerted hitting speeds over 300 mph in under four seconds.

After receiving permission from the PEAK marketing team the crew brought out the camo body and proceeded to make their quickest run of the weekend in the final qualifying session. It was a strong 3.89 second run in the heat that propelled Force to the No. 6 qualifying position. The ten-time finalist and seven-time winner will face Alexis DeJoria in the first round.

“(Crew chief) Jon Schaffer is doing a really good job and working with everybody," said Force. "We put the Peak/Realtree body back on it because we crashed the other Chevrolet Camaro body.   We came here with Auto Club to Southern California and I am really excited about the fans in the stands.  It’s unbelievable that you pack it in here for us because the race teams love you.   Coca-Cola and Mello Yello, God bless you for what you do for NHRA."

WILLING PARTICIPANT - Somebody needed to do it, and Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson was all too willing to oblige.

After 14 races of domination by KB Racing, Johnson felt it was imperative to defend his turf.  Johnson had won the Mile-High Nationals six out of the last eight seasons.  KB Racing's triple threat had won 14 straight.

"Somebody needed to beat them and it might as well have been me," said Johnson. "Up there on the mountain, we weren't the fastest car as we normally are but we got a couple of breaks and that magic that we have up there seemed to take over and things happened over there to affect us over here.  All the stars were aligned.  I can't explain it, It's all really determination and the want to.  I had the want to, and it worked for me a couple of runs with the car that needed to run."

Ten races into the incredible KB Racing run of success, Johnson made his point clear. At first, their domination was intimidation, but later it became a personal challenge to cease their steamrolling of the field.

"Everybody put their heart and soul into it and it worked," Johnson admitted.

This week racing drops 5,000-plus feet to sea level. Johnson believes it will not be business as usual.

"I think they're still going to have an .01 on everybody, but it's not 4-5 like they did," Johnson said. "We all make good runs, I think they're probably going to have .01, maybe .02, now people have a little bit of confidence and that works on the starting line."

MONSTER MOVE - Brittany Force and the Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster team jumped from the No. 10 spot to the No. 6 spot. Force crossed the finish line 3.728 seconds at 325.85 mph after she hit the throttle in her 10,000 hp Monster Energy dragster. The two-time 2016 winner was looking at starting from the bottom half of the field for the third time in four seasons at Sonoma Raceway but moved into the top half and will face T.J. Zizzo in the first round.

“It is always good to end qualifying on a good note. Tomorrow’s conditions will be very similar to this afternoon.  That was an important run for us. It went right down the race track. We have T.J. Zizzo in the first round, and we have never raced him before,” said Force. “Our goal will be to get that first round win and then go more rounds after that. Brian Husen and Alan Johnson have given me a great race car, and I am excited to get to the race tomorrow with this Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster.”

Force has never faced Chicagoan Zizzo in eliminations, and the fourth-year pro has also never won at Sonoma Raceway.

CONSISTENCY COUNTS - TJ Zizzo might not be the quickest and fastest in Top Fuel this weekend, after making his best run on Friday with a 3.807-second pass at 317.34. However, when it comes to consistency, it's hard to beat his 3.839 and 3.834 second elapsed times during Saturday's qualifying.

Zizzo faces No. 6 qualifier Brittany Force in the first round of eliminations Sunday.

"We're in great shape," Zizzo said. "The car hasn't run this good in three years. Tomorrow, we face Brittany Force and she's a good competitor with a good race car. It'll be fun. There's no doubt about that."

LAST MINUTE HEROICS - For Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Angie Smith, four qualifying sessions are overrated. Give her the Q-4 and she will be just fine.

Smith was the third alternate with one last shot and delivered in the clutch with her best run ever aboard a Victory Gunner.
 
"I think from now on I'm just gonna do Q4," Smith joked after her impressive 6.880-second pass at 194.41 mph. "I'm just going to sit out Friday's two sessions and Saturday's first one and just roll out for Q4.
 
"This was so stressful. First, Matthew's bike didn't shift in the Pro Bike Battle (contested right before the final qualifying session), so when he got back to the pit we had to change his valve springs and we were on the fence as to whether to pull his transmission or not. I was helping the guys do that, and they only gave us 15 minutes to turn his bike around for Q4. That's almost impossible.
 
"I jump in and start helping, and it seemed like a minute later they call us to the staging lanes. We didn't even have a fuel-injection map for my bike. Then we are rolling up there, and my beautiful new helmet hit the ground and it was just total chaos. I was sitting there in the staging lanes going, 'Do I even need to make this pass?' "
 
Smith understood she had a job to do and simply did it.
 
"I told myself, 'I've got a job to do. and I just have to go out there and go A to B. If I can do my job and go A to B and shift on time, then I've done all I can do at this point.'
 
"I'm excited because this give us a lot of momentum. Probably the motor we had in the first three passes might not have been up to par. Maybe it was hurt; I don't know. I'm just glad we made the decision to change it, and I think we have a great tune-up for race day tomorrow because this is the first pass on this motor, and usually they get better and better."

LAST MINUTE HEROICS, PT. 2 - For the second straight NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event, Antron Brown led by crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald used the final qualifying session to move up to the No. 2 seed for the Sunday's championship eliminations.
 
Brown was No. 9 at week ago near Denver when he went to the starting line to close out qualifying on Saturday. This time in the Toyota Sonoma NHRA National near San Francisco he was sitting No. 8 just before he produced a time of 3.710 seconds at 323.27 mph.
 
"That run was just a clutch run right there and it sets us up for race day," said Brown, who is atop the standings with a 57-point lead over Doug Kalitta.
 
"Tomorrow's going to be a cooler day and you're going to see some more runs like that.
 
"We knew the track was going to get cool but, the thing about it is, this is what our team is really good at - they work hard and they never quit," said Brown, who's chasing his record-tying fifth Sonoma event title.
 
"They have that soldier mentality where they won't fail and they won't quit. Brian and Mark and all these Matco/U.S. Army/Toyota boys just keep digging and they learn something with everything we do."

 

ANGELLE RECORDS PERSONAL BEST - During Saturday’s first session, Angelle Sampey ran the best she ever has in her 20-year career when she crossed the finish line with a 6.752, 198.12 mph; she would also collect two more bonus points for that run as well.
 
“I didn’t think it was going to be that fast,” Sampey confessed. “When I released the clutch, the bike drove to the left and I jumped off the right and fixed it and went straight down the boulevard. I thought with that little correction, it hurt my time a little bit. The real fast ones don’t feel that fast and the ones that feel really fast end up being slower. I thought it was maybe an 80-82. I ran the best pass of my career and I was mad because it was one thousandths short of being No. 1.”
 
Sampey finished up qualifying with a 6.819, 195.22 in the heat of the day. After four rounds of qualifying, Sampey remained in the No. 2 spot and will have a first round matchup against Angie Smith.
 
“I’m feeling very confident,” she said. “I was really focusing on my reaction times during qualifying. The bike is running fast and I’ve made a couple mistakes here and there but I can work on those things tomorrow. I think we have the bike to win."

FRIDAY NOTEBOOK – FAST FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS UP SONOMA SCOREBOARD

THE NIGHTCAP FROM THE CAPCO - Steve Torrence saved his best for last with a 3.671 second elapsed time at 325.69 mph in his Capco Contractors dragster. The time bettered Brittany Force’s previous national mark by five-thousandths of a second and was also a track record, one of three set during the fast evening of nitro class qualifying.
 
It will be Torrence’s fourth No. 1 in the last five races if the time holds through Saturday’s two rounds of qualifying (1:10 and 4:15 p.m.).
 
“You gotta really hit the nail on the head to make a run like that,” Torrence said. “When conditions get tight like this, you can go out there and miss it just a little bit. When it made it through [half track] I did the best I could to keep it in the groove. When I looked up going through the lights and pulled the chutes and saw that sixty-something come on the board, I just started hollering because I knew it was fast. It was the quickest I’ve ever been. I jumped out of the car and I don’t even know what I said down there.”
 
With nine races left in the season, should Torrence grab his eighth No. 1 tomorrow, Tony Schumacher’s record of 13 in a single season (2006) will be well within reach.
 
“Seven number ones in one season has surpassed what I had done in the rest of my career,” Torrence said. “We’re still a one car team and we’re standing toe-to-toe with the big dogs and I don’t think they are liking it too much. The way these Capco guys have prepared this car and stuck together as a team and just the unity the way they are working together is second to none. It takes that caliber of a team to produce what they are doing. This is just the fruits of their labor. We are going to try and continue to march forward and not count what we’ve accomplished until the end of the year and we’ll see where we stand then.” 

DEL DOES IT AGAIN - Defending Funny Car world champ Del Worsham sped to a track record time of 3.868 at 327.43 in his DHL Toyota Camry, also the fourth quickest run in NHRA history. 
 
“That was a pretty good run,” Worsham said. “We were trying to run our best run as a team and we definitely achieved that. It’s a cool weekend and we are sponsored by Toyota and this is their race. To come out here and qualify No. 1 for them is exciting. For our entire team it was a great run and we are looking forward to Sunday.”
 
Six Funny Cars bettered the 3.921 ‘jaw-dropping’ national record time that Jack Beckman posted here one year ago and five of the runs were in the 3.8-second zone. Worsham said with warmer temps called for tomorrow he doesn’t expect his time to be challenged, but at the same time he’s learned that every team in the pits have to wait until the final car runs before it’s a lock for anybody.
 
“The last 12 months, starting at this race a year ago, in Funny Car have been amazing and crazy and have surprised me a million times with quick E.T.s,” Worsham said.  “We’ll have to wait and see. You don’t know how late we will be running tomorrow and what kind of delays we might have. But I definitely feel good about our chances of holding on to it.”

WILKERSON’S NEWER GIRL - When Tim Wilkerson decided to retire his older chassis he revealed the car's name was Bessie. Bessie was set aside for a newer and more innovative model from chassis builder Murf McKinney. He named Bessie's replacement Jamie.

Two crashes in one season and Wilkerson believes he should have named her Christine, after the fictional demon-possessed car portrayed in the Steven King thriller.

Wilkerson arrived in Sonoma with a brand new chassis from Murf McKinney. The new car arrived in Sonoma late Wednesday night, and he worked long hours to get the car ready to roll for Friday's Q-1 session.
 
“We had both cars parked next to each other so we could strip the parts from one car and put it back together on the new car," Wilkerson explained.  

Wilkerson's new car, unnamed at this point, ran a "soft" 3.98 in its maiden voyage.
 
Wilkerson won the NHRA Sonoma Nationals twice: 2004 and 2009. In 2011 he was the runner-up. He’s looking to put the Levi, Ray & Shoup Mustang back in the Winner’s Circle.
 
JUST LIKE HOME - Many racers have their reasons for enjoying the Sonoma experience; Top Fuel racer TJ Zizzo probably has one of the more original reasons.

“You know why I love California so much?" Zizzo asked. "Specifically, the Sonoma area? It’s not the great weather, it’s not the beautiful women, it’s not the wine drinking, it’s the beautiful countryside. The countryside totally reminds me of Sicily. (Sicily) is where my dad (team owner Tony Zizzo) grew up, it’s where my grandma lived, it’s where I visited as a kid and as an adult. That’s why I love Sonoma, California, so much and am looking forward to going back.”

Zizzo, who pilots the Rust-Oleum Top Fuel dragster,  is looking to build off what they learned at Route 66 Raceway a couple weeks ago in their 2016 debut.

"I think our expectations are similar to what the fans expected in Chicago," he said. "We expect our car to race well, but most importantly, we have a plan. Our plan is to use what we learned in Joliet, which was a lot, on how to keep this race car together and now start applying some clutch. The lesson in Joliet was how to keep the cylinder heads on the race car. But now, we’re going to learn how to apply clutch sooner and if we can do that, we’ll be in very good shape.

"The plan for the first round of qualifying is a 660-foot shut-off to see if we can get the clutch to move in and come in sooner in the run and we can make more eighth-mile mile per hour. By Q3, we’re expecting a career-best mile per hour. That’s what we expect, to run in the 3.70s at more than 320 miles per hour.”

BO KNOWS NO. 1 - Bo Butner, who drives the third team car for the KB Racing team, was quickest in Pro Stock, clocking a 6.553 at 210.28 in his Jim Butner Auto Chevy Camaro.
 
“We are still testing, trying new things and getting ready for the Countdown,” Butner said. “We have a great crew and I have yet to see another team work as hard as our guys.”
 
The second year pro has excelled on qualifying days, as he hasn’t qualified outside the top five all season. However, he’s feeling heavy expectations for when he might grab that elusive first victory. He’s posted three runner-up finishes this season and four in his career.
 
“Every race I have one of the fastest cars on race day and I just pull up against someone who hammers me [on the Christmas Tree],” Butner said. “It’s a right place, right time kinda sport. I definitely have the car. I’ve been trying some things on the reaction time. I think it’s coming. I would just as soon wait till the Countdown to do it though.”

MAKING PROGRESS - Two-time Pro Stock champion Erica Enders understood switching manufacturers coupled with adjusting to the new fuel injection combination was going to make for a challenging title defense season. Last weekend in Denver, she saw a light at the end of a tunnel, and it wasn't an oncoming train, either.
 
Enders qualified a season-best second and reached the quarterfinals last weekend.
 
Qualifying this high was a major step forward in what has been a frustrating year where she remains outside of the top 10 in the points standings after winning 15 races over the past two seasons,
 
“We definitely need to make up some ground in the points,” said Enders, who sits in 11th place and is nine points out of 10th. “With four races left before the Countdown starts, we are the one car sitting on the outside looking in, but only by a few points. If we have truly turned the corner, it's coming at a perfect time.”

HAIRCUTS FOR HUMANITY - Clay Millican's sponsor Great Clips is sponsoring haircuts for charity this weekend. While most of his pre-race haircuts happen in an area salon, this weekend Millican will be getting his ears lowered at the racetrack.

Great Clips stylists will be in Sonoma this weekend by providing haircuts to spectators in exchange for a charity donation. This will be Great Clips' first foray into cutting hair at the straight line track after performing the haircuts previously at NASCAR venues.
 

ANTRON’S DRIVE FOR FIVE AT SONOMA - No driver in major American motorsports has enjoyed more success over the past five and a half years than Toyota Top Fuel driver Antron Brown - and nowhere has Brown had more success than Sonoma Raceway.  After winning four races (2009, 2011, 2012 and 2015) at the track since 2009, the driver of the Matco Tools Toyota dragster and defending Sonoma winner will be in a ‘drive for five’ at this year’s Toyota NHRA Sonoma Nationals.  Beginning in 2011, not only has he won two NHRA world championships, but he’s also won 32 races – more than the next two highest Top Fuel drivers combined (30) - including three this season.  Brown is the current Top Fuel point leader heading into Sonoma.
 
“Having four wins in Sonoma, this is going to be our drive for five.  The track has always had a special place in our hearts. To go for five in the last eight years is going to be incredible. But, we can't go in there thinking we'll do well just because we've run well there in the past. We have to go in there with our head right and take it one step at a time. Hopefully, if we take that approach, it will get us out there in front. We’re going to give it all we’ve got and see if we can bring it home.”

CALIFORNIA GIRL TASTES SONOMA - This season has been one of firsts for Top Fuel driver Leah Pritchett.

Pritchett was scheduled to run a full 24-race season, but instead adopted a nomadic lifestyle when team owner Bob Vandergriff Jr. unexpectedly retired from racing and parked his team.

Most recently Pritchett was the beneficiary of a newly signed marketing partnership with Mopar and Pennzoil via Don Schumacher Racing.
 
"I've never, ever taken anything down the Sonoma track - not a racecar, not a scooter, not a Razor. Nothing," said the 28-year-old native of Redlands, Calif.  "I've only been there twice in my life and that was as a crew member for Melanie Troxel and Brian Fields on their Funny Car teams. It seems odd that I haven't raced at Sonoma considering I'm a Southern California girl."

DOWN, BUT NOT OUT - The 2016 season has been more frustrating than two-time Funny Car champion Cruz Pedregon could have imagined in January.
 
Pedregon currently ranks outside the top 10, and understands with four races left in the regular season he's going to need a major move to somewhat salvage a tough season.
 
“My favorite fighter was Muhammad Ali (and) I feel like this time right now for me and our team is like Ali-Frazier 1,” said Pedregon, who is currently 12th in the Funny Car points standings. “Joe Frazier hit Ali with a big left hook right on the chin and (knocked) him down. Ali took a breath and got right back up and that's what we have to do, just take a deep breath and get up, and keep fighting for these round wins and points.”
 
Pedregon has suffered through a winless stretch dating back to Englishtown in 2014. He advanced to a final round in Charlotte earlier this year but has struggled to build consistency, falling in the first round in eight of the past nine races.
 
“The most frustrating part about the entire thing is just not having the runs we all know we are capable of running,” Pedregon said. “We are a 3.90s car, we are a 3.80s car, and we just haven't been able to completely show our full potential. It also frustrates me for our team. I have the best group of guys I've ever had work on my car. There is no quit in them and even when they are frustrated like me they put their heads down and work harder because they want to win, they want to show people what we have here and I think that speaks to the core leadership on our team.”
 
Pedregon is currently 188 points behind Alexis DeJoria for the final spot in the Countdown to the Championship.
 
“Every qualifying session, every round of racing means something,” Pedregon said. “If you feel as if you’re under pressure people tend to tense up and lose focus and miss their mark. You can control only what you can control and that's all you can do. (In) 1992 I won five straight races to clinch a title and in 2008 I won four. That's not because I felt the pressure of needing to win, it was the mentality of going out and everyone doing the same routine over and over, like chopping a tree down. I believe in my team and in my race car.”

 

GATOR, GATOR - Louisiana alligator farmer Savoie led the 16-bike Pro Stock Motorcycle field with a 6.839 at 194.46 on his White Alligator Racing Suzuki. The effort continues Savoie’s strong performance history at Sonoma, where he has been runner-up the last two years and No. 1 qualifier in 2014.
 
“I don’t know if it is a confidence thing or the crew chief has a handle on the tune-up,” Savoie said about his success at this track. “The Suzukis run well at sea level. We don’t run that good at Denver because of the altitude. When you hit that home run at sea level [the Suzukis] really run good. We missed it on the first run really bad, but the second one was right where we needed to be. Looking at all the data, we thought we could run an .81 to be honest with you.”
 
Savoie says his team is trending much like last year, when they got hot near the end of the season and contended for the series crown, but eventually finished third.
 
“This is the time of the year when we usually turn it on,” Savoie said. “Tim (Kulungian, crew chief) is really good and he’s the smudge king. I am feeling confident that we will be good the rest of the season.”