EVENT RESULTS EVENT NOTEBOOK POINTS AFTER EVENT ROUND-BY-ROUND RESULTS FINAL ROUND RESULTS

EVENT GALLERY

 

SUNDAY - TEAMMATES/OPPONENTS HELP EACH OTHER, DSR BLANKS, ÅLUND WINS PRO STOCK BADDEST RACER DISTINCTION, K&N CHALLENGE REMATCH SET, ASSORTMENT OF PROBLEMS TAKE TOLL ON PRO STOCK’S JOHNSON, AND RACERS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS . . .   

CRAMPTON BECOMES TOP FUEL’S FIFTH DIFFERENT WINNER - Richie Crampton definitely is the man to hang out with at Las Vegas.

He remains perfect in final rounds.

But his third overall Top Fuel victory and first since last September’s U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis wasn’t a matter of luck.

This SummitRacing.com Nationals triumph was a testament to Lucas Oil Dragster crew chief Aaron Brooks’ bang-on tune-up Sunday on a hot 1,000-foot course at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Three of his four opponents smoked their tires, and the other saw his engine misfire at about 600 feet and self-destruct.

As the fifth different Top Fuel winner this season, he denied runner-up Larry Dixon his first victory for Bob Vandergriff Racing and his first since the 2011 Phoenix event.

Crampton used a 3.902-second elapsed time at 301.33 mph to win over a tire-smoking Dixon in the C&J Energy Services/Tiger Dragster. Dixon clocked 4.466, 201.73.

The $50,000 victory puts Crampton in fifth place in the standings as the series heads to the April 24-26 O’Reilly Spring Nationals at Royal Purple Raceway at Baytown, Texas. He’s just 36 points off Antron Brown’s pace and joined Brown, Shawn Langdon, Tony Schumacher, and Spencer Massey as automatic entrants in the $100,000-to-win Traxxas Shootout. That bonus race will go at the U.S. Nationals this Labor Day weekend.

“It’s awesome that we get to run that $100,000 that Traxxas puts up at Indy. I runnered-up at that last year, so I’ve got my sights set on that this year,” Crampton said. “I’m really pumped we got a win and got a slot in that Traxxas Shootout.”

Crampton advanced past Troy Buff, Steve Torrence, and top qualifier J.R.Todd. And he said to stake a victory just five races into the 24-race schedule is “huge.” Besides, he said, “There’s never an easy round, so I knew it was going to be tough.”

The Morgan Lucas Racing driver said, “To be doing as well as we are this early in the season is a huge boost for the entire team. We’re gathering some good momentum. We’ve got a great hot-track race car, and we all know how well Aaron can run when the weather’s cool, as well. He’s just phenomenal right now, one of the best going around. I’m extremely lucky to get to drive such great equipment in my second year. Hopefully we can continue this momentum through the summer months, and we’ll be looking good.

“It was a heck of a day of racing. I had a tough side of the ladder. But they’re all tough in the Mello Yello Series anymore,” he said. “It was just a great day, and Aaron [crew chief Brooks] did a fantastic job. We tested our Lucas Oil/Toyota Dragster here right before Pomona, and it paid off today. Aaron just had this car dialed in today.  It was just so much fun to drive all day.”

Crampton, who for seven years was Morgan Lucas’ clutch specialist, is part of the fabrication team at MLR, and he welds chassis there at the Brownsburg, Ind., shop. That prompted announcer Alan Rinehart pointed out, the last racer to win in a chassis he welded for himself was “Big Daddy” Don Garlits.

Replied Crampton, “That’s pretty good company to be in. We have a fantastic group at MLR. I wouldn’t do anything else but go in and go to work each day with that great group of guys. I’m pretty proud that Aaron Brooks, myself, Jason Rush, we build these race-winning MLR chassis and we can come out here and race with the best of ‘em.”

Crampton repeated his mantra that he is blessed to have the opportunity to work for and earn a promotion from such a high-profile NHRA team.

“I’m from the other side of the world,” the Australia native turned naturalized U.S. citizen said, “so this is like a 6,000-mile hole-in-one for me. I’m extremely lucky, and it speaks volumes about the Lucas Oil family – Forrest, Charlotte, Morgan, and Katie – and the entire team that stood behind Morgan’s decision to give me a crack at it.

“I’ve got some big shoes to fill,” Crampton said, alluding to team owner Morgan Lucas, who stepped away from fulltime driving to immerse himself in the family business and handed the reins to the mechanically gifted Crampton. “Morgan is a hell of a driver, and he’s had a pretty good 10 years in the sport. I don’t want to be the weak link that stopped MLR from continuing to grow and win more races and contend for championships.” 

For the first time in Crampton’s three triumphant weekends, none of the Lucas family was on hand this weekend to see him add a Wally trophy to the ones he earned last season in his rookie-of-the-year performance at Englishtown, N.J., and Indianapolis.

“I did not text Morgan all day long, which is very rare. I usually send him a picture of the E.T. slip after every qualifying run and every round of eliminations so he could see the incrementals. I changed it up a little today. I’m sure he was following along on every social media outlet that he could. I’m sure he knew exactly what was going on. I’ll bet he was pacing around his living room back in Indianapolis, waiting to hear the results of the final. I did manage to peek at my phone and I got a text from him. I know he’s over the moon and extremely proud of Aaron and the entire team.”

And he would have just cause. - Susan Wade

FORCE BREAKS THROUGH FOR FIRST WIN WITH NEW TEAM AT VEGAS - Just four short months ago, 16-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force didn’t even know if he would have the funding to field a full-time team in 2015.

With longtime sponsors Ford and Castrol out, and the new season fast approaching, Force had no choice but to take a long hard look at himself and his entire John Force Racing operation.

Then the pieces started falling into place. First, PEAK Antifreeze. Then came Chevrolet. Couple that with his existing longtime sponsors, and it became clear Force would not only be back in his pursuit of a 17th championship this season, but he would be doing so with some powerful allies in his corner.

But it was not without a cost.

With the wave of change to the team, came a wave of change in personnel. With a sizeable contingent of JFR employees leaving the team, Force was forced to do something that he hasn’t had to do in more than a decade in the world’s fastest sport - start over.

But that is exactly what Force has done, and with a brand new crew, new sponsors and a new pep in his step, Force made a giant step in rebounding from a turbulent offseason by winning the 16th annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals Sunday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. 

Force bested No. 1 qualifier Matt Hagan, defending race winner Alexis DeJoria and finally teammate Robert Hight in recording his 142nd career national event win and first this season. In the final, Force blasted to a finish for the ages in his Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car, beating his longtime teammate with a margin of victory of only two-thousanths of a second at the stripe. Force crossed the finish line with an elapsed time of 4.148 seconds at 312.35 mph, while Hight, in the Auto Club Camaro Funny Car, had a 4.154 at 306.05.

“Today really took the cloud off of me. I had a big cloud over me, but I get up everyday fighting,” Force said. “Right now Robert is my best team. My best team because they are a team that has been together. I have to really get after him just to get close to him and Hagan and Beckman. But the win was good, after all that we have been through.”

Sunday’s victory was Force’s first win since August and his first at Vegas since the fall of 2013. It was also the first win for new crew chief Jon Schaffer. 

The win was also significant in that it was Force’s first victory with Chevrolet in nearly two decades. Force began his career driving for the gold bowtie and he recorded nearly all of his career firsts, including his first national event victory, in a Chevy. Now the team hopes that Chevy will play a major role in the reneissance of John Force Racing.

“My sponsors promised to keep me competitive, where I could win championships and I could build on safety. But I told them, I am starting from scratch,” Force said. “We got the financial back, we have got the teams back, but we are not real fast. We are not like Schumacher, we are not there. We were lucky today. I got some wins with people smoking the tires against me, but I will take luck anytime. It buys us time to learn.

“With Chevrolet coming on board, you can’t race without a manufacturer. You have got no technology, you have got no aero, you are done. And somehow they opened the door, them and Lucas Oil. His family brought us in. I thought I could be out of business, but Robert Hight and I built the gameplan. We have got new stuff we are trying, we are trying it out here and it is starting to work.”

Sunday’s win marked Force’s first trip to the finals this season. Prior to that, Force had only made it out of the first round once in four tries and sat a disappointing 13th in the standings coming into the Las Vegas event. Following the win, Force rocketed up to sixth in the 2015 Funny Car championship.

Force’s afternoon included a DQ from Chad Head in round one, followed by a pair of runs that went up in tire smoke from No. 1 qualifier Matt Hagan and defending race winner Alexis DeJoria. The final between Force and Hight marked the 36th time the two have met in a Funny Car final, with the two veterans splitting their meetings at 18 wins apiece. 

For now, Force will take what he can get from an all-new crew that includes a new crew chief and a sea of young faces. But he was inspired by what he saw on Sunday, especially in coming together to get his car ready for race day with a few gremlins that bit the team early on.

“If you could know what I have been through with these young kids. One kid came from a team that won the alcohol funny car championship last year. Another kid from Pro Mod. We brought them from all walks of life. One of the guys was one of my cooks,” Force said. “I had to build a whole new squad. We even trained at Charlotte. Today, we were late coming out of the pits. I was suited up, on the bike and coming out to the starting line because we thought we were late. They broke the tow strap, banged it. They got out, got another tow strap, banged it. So finally, I said ‘shove the son of a *****.’ So I am in my uniform and I am shoving this thing in my fire suit. They shoved it all the way from the pits. So this team is new.

“Then we fired it, and boy it is pouring smoke out of the puke tank. They went in, Schaffer made a call and said pull the heads, run the valves right now, it has got to be something big. And then they got in there and couldn’t find anything, so they dropped the pan and the front main was burned out. Then it was the motor swap.

“Everybody attacked it. I couldn’t believe those 25 people, but those kids got right in there and got it done. I call them the replacements, like that football team. I walked in that first time and looked at them and thought ‘16-time champ, you are in big trouble.’ But they love me, they don’t care how old I am.”

While not a complete turnaround, Sunday’s win was a step in the right direction for Force and his JFR team as they adjust to a new start, a concept Force is all too familiar with.

“I have been down three different times. Three different times I had a crossroads in my career where I thought it was over. You have got to look at the big picture,” Force said. “The first 15 years of my career I was losing every first round, mostly not qualifying, and then I started hitting. So I know what it is like to go back 15 years. I had to go back 15 years financially and had to go back and start with a brand new team.

“I had these guys with me, some of them for 25 years, but the difference this time was I decided I am going to go with a younger group. I want people in their 40s. I didn’t win a championship until I was 38. I am not saying age slows you down, because I am going to be 66 here in another month, but time will take you out of the game. And if I am going to build for my children, I am going to stay here until I am flat broke.

“I am working on that.” - Larry Crum

ENDERS-STEVENS DOUBLES DOWN FOR SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR IN VEGAS - If Erica Enders-Stevens wasn’t a gambling woman before, perhaps she needs to take up the pastime. 

In the city of bright lights and big money, Enders-Stevens shined the brightest and collected the biggest payday by doubling down for the second straight year at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The driver of the Elite Motorsports Chevy Camaro won both the K&N Horsepower Challenge on Saturday and the Pro Stock main event on Sunday, sweeping the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals for the second straight year.

“I am very proud for Elite Motorsports and Elite Performance. My guys work so hard and continue to give me a consistent racecar, which has been a struggle at the start of this year,” Enders-Stevens said. “I guess we can start saying Vegas is our lucky track. Winning is so dang challenging, and to be able to come here and do what we did yesterday and double-up again today, it is certainly a high pressure situation. But my guys, they thrive on it. They perform very well under pressure and I am so proud of them. I think we have got our hot rod back.”

Enders-Stevens collected her first Wally of the season and the 13th of her career on Sunday, extending her streak at The Strip to three consecutive national event wins, two K&N Horsepower victories and a sterling 18-0 round record at the track since last season. It was also the second consecutive year she has swept the shootout and national event in the same weekend, marking the first double-victory repeat since Bob Glidden accomplished that same feat in 1987-88.

“This one is different because of the K&N Horsepower Challenge worked in there, so it is really neat for us to be able to come here and win,” Enders-Stevens said. “I have said it before, winning is very challenging, so to be able to do it at both Vegas races last year and come back here again show what we are capable of.”

But what really made Sunday’s win so impressive was all that was happening behind the scenes. 

Enders-Stevens spent a majority of the day on Sunday suffering from flu-like symptoms. With a fever, sore throat and chills, she twice had to receive an IV on race day and spent a majority of her time between rounds resting. It was unlike any race she has been a part of, but her team kept her positive and focused on the task at hand.

“I just really had to focus on the mental side of it. Anybody can relate to not feeling well and feeling so bad that you don’t even want to get out of bed or get off the couch, but to have to get in the racecar on a 130 degree racetrack in a 15-layer firesuit, it tests you,” Enders-Stevens said. “I just had to go out there and be positive. I asked my crew chiefs to do their best to pump me up on the radio, so we had some fun out there, and I give them credit for that. They carried me.”

With a fresh round of liquids and the support of her crew, Enders-Stevens entered Sunday’s final in a rematch of the K&N Horsepower Challenge from the day prior, as Enders-Stevens bested Vincent Nobile for the second straight day. While it was the second-straight final between the two, Sunday marked the first time the two have met in a national final.

With the double on the line, Enders-Stevens’ .024 reaction proved the difference as the pair produced identical 6.674-second elapsed times and were separated by only a few feet at the line. Enders-Stevens, who qualified second, produced a 6.674-second lap at 207.25 mph. Nobile, from the 12th position on the ladder, had a 6.674 at 207.91, as a margin of only .016 separated the two young drivers at the stripe.

When asked soon after what her mindset was going into the finals while battling her illness, she had one simple response - “You don’t get sick days here.”

Enders-Stevens also recorded wins over No. 3 qualifier Greg Anderson and Jimmy Alund on her way to the weekend sweep. Her win over Anderson in the semifinals produced another thrilling matchup, as Enders-Stevens won on a holeshot - a 6.673 to a 6.671 - thanks to a near-perfect .001 reaction time.

But the biggest takeaway from Sunday’s victory was the continued growth of her 2014 championship winning team, a team Enders-Stevens truly feels lucky to have on her side.

“I am very blessed to have them. Rick and Rickie Jones have taken me on and we just have this really great bond, and that goes for all of my guys,” Enders-Stevens said. “When we first tested together when I joined Elite Motorsports at the end of 2013, it was just instant team chemistry. What we have together is something that money can’t buy.” - Larry Crum

AIDING AND ABETTING - Robert Hight defeated Cruz Pedregon in Round 2, thanks to help from John Force’s crew chief, Jon Schaffer. Hight said he and his AAA Chevy Camaro team had “a major clutch problem” but received help from Schaffer, who paid no attention to the possibility the two John Force Racing drivers might meet in the final round.  

They did. Force ran away from DeJoria and her wounded Toyota, and Hight made it an all-Chevrolet Funny Car final for the first time since the 2003 Phoenix race. Hight also assured that for the first time since the NHRA visited Las Vegas last October that a Don Schumacher team would not win in Funny Car.

All this came after Force had his own set of troubles before the semifinals and Hight’s team returned the favor of helping them in a pinch.

Evidently something burned up inside Force’s engine after his warm-up, and the young crew scrambled to swap engines in 30 minutes – even with enough time to warm the car up again. This comedy of disasters added another twist as they headed from their pit to the starting line. The tow strap broke, and the crew once again had an extra-effort task before them. They (manually) pushed Force’s car the entire length of the staging lanes and to the starting line.     

NO DSR DOUBLES  . . . OR SINGLES – Don Schumacher Racing had blazed to double-nitro victories at four of the season’s first five races. But the Brownsburg, Ind.-headquartered team had to yield the spotlight this weekend. With lone DSR semifinalist Spencer Massey losing in Top Fuel action to Larry Dixon and last DSR Funny Car hope Tommy Johnson Jr. losing to Robert Hight, the streak was over. It dated back to last Labor Day weekend at Indianapolis, when Morgan Lucas Racing’s Richie Crampton (Top Fuel) and Kalitta Motorsports’ Alexis DeJoria (Funny Car) shut out DSR. 

ONE PROBLEM AFTER ANOTHER – Allen Johnson seemed to be faring well enough all weekend, despite a variety of issues from tires to the new fuel to last-minute problems his crew addressed just before his semifinal run.
 
The two-time K&N Horsepower Challenge winner (2008, 2013) discovered some kind of trouble under the hood as he pulled up to run Vincent Nobile in the semifinal round. Two mechanics squeezed into each side of the Magneti Marelli / Mopar Dodge Dart, appearing to work on the transmission tunnel as the car sat just yards from the starting line. Whatever the crew was working on didn’t get fixed, as Johnson got the nose of the Dart back together and staged his car. But when the Christmas tree flashed green, Johnson went nowhere.
 
Earlier in the day, he had remarked that he was having a tough time adjusting to the new fuel in a variety of conditions. He said, “We just fight it and fight it.”
 
During qualifying, he had his frustrations, as well. He had tire shake, against Nobile, in their first-round match-up of the bonus race. But he rebounded with a clean pass at 6.683 seconds, 207.21mph and made the top half of the ladder at No. 7 (on the strength of his 6.645, 208.39 effort Friday).
 
“It was disappointing to not to battle for another K&N Horsepower challenge win,” Johnson said late Saturday. “But we fought a worn-out set of tires that we didn’t know were worn out. And that bit us the first three [qualifying] runs. We put another set on for the last run, but then the set-up was way conservative. We’ve been a little behind the eight-ball this weekend.” 

BROWN TO RACE THIS WEEKEND - The Matco Tools/U.S. Army/Toyota Dragstger driver won here in 2011 and had a 17-9 advantage against Shawn Langdon when they met in the first round of eliminations. But Brown was the No. 14 qualifier, starting from his lowest position in the order since the U.S. Nationals last September. He lost but will get a chance to race again before all of his competitors. He’ll compete in California this Saturday in Toyota’s pro/celebrity race at the IndyCar Series’ Grand Prix of Wish Foundation. Brown and his Long Beach colleagues will visit Miller Memorial Children’s Hospital this Thursday afternoon.

NO. 1s DROPOUT EARLY – Top qualifiers Matt Hagan (Funny Car) and Jason Line (Pro Stock), both of whom have expressed supreme confidence in their race cars this weekend, were out of contention by the end of the second round. Hagan smoked the tires on his Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger against John Force, and Line fouled out by .009 of a second in his KB/Summit Chevy Camaro, handing Allen Johnson the victory. JR Todd, who led the Top Fuel field, made it as far as the semifinals, but Richie Crampton denied him the final-round berth by a .0114-second victory margin.   

QUOTES: 

 

SATURDAY - TODD, HAGAN, LINE MAINTAIN TOP SPOTS; ENDERS-STEVENS SCORES BACK-TO-BACK CHALLENGE VICTORIES; CAN WE HAVE CRYING IN DRAG RACING?; HADDOCK STILL CHASING HER GOAL; FIRES, MISBEHAVING GENERATORS CAUSE TROUBLES; WHAT’S ON BECKMAN’S HONEY-DO LIST?; ÅLUND’S TRACK RECORD SCRAPPED   

TOP FUEL 

 

WE COULD SEE CRYING IN DRAG RACING - Troy Buff said he hasn’t rehearsed what he would do when he earns a Wally trophy for the first time.

“I don’t know what I’d do if I won a race,” the driver of Bill Miller’s BME Dragster said. “I would be stunned. I’d probably forget to name all my sponsors I’d be so excited.”

Would he cry?

“I might. I really might. I don’t know. I hope I find out someday,” Buff said. “My mom and dad asked me, ‘What would you do if you won?’ I said, ‘I don’t know. I might cry.’ They said, ‘That’s cool. We love it when you’re emotional.’ I said, ‘Aw, I don’t really want to cry on TV.’ ”

Buff’s mother asked one time asked ESPN broadcaster and former nitro-class racer Mike Dunn, ‘Why don’t you ever show Troy on TV?’ And at the time we weren’t doing that well.” Dunn jokingly replied, “Well, he has to crash or cry.  And then we’ll show him.” Buff said, “That’s terrible,” then said, “You know what? I’ll cry. I’d rather do that than crash.”

Tears or no tears, Buff said that in the event of a victory, “I know I’ll be really excited and I will thank everybody. I’d probably be really emotional, because people work so hard to get a win. Just to win first round for us is exciting.”

The most recent time he did that was last fall at Dallas, where he advanced to the semifinal round.

“I’d like to go 3.80s all day Sunday and win the race. I feel like I’ve been due a long time,” Buff, winner of three Top Alcohol Dragster victories, said.

His first step would have to be eliminating Richie Crampton in the first round of eliminations Sunday.

“My crew guys have been saying, “I have a good feeling about this weekend. I was thinking the same thing before I left home,” the Spring, Texas, native said. “We went out and made two decent runs [Friday]. The first run we hazed the tires and threw the belt right off. So it shut off, but it was on a good run. We went back and ran 3.87 [good enough for No. 12 and in the “safe zone” to have a baseline elapsed time for Saturday qualifying] and shut it off early because it dropped the No. 4 cylinder. So if we could make a full run today [Saturday], it should run in the mid-80s easy.”

That didn’t happen in the third overall session. Buff struck the tires. His final attempt took an ugly 11.146 seconds. But he remained 12th and will take on No. 5 Crampton.

Buff hopes that he fares better than he did at Pomona at the season-opener. 

“I almost won at Pomona [in February, at the Winternationals] on a holeshot against Steve Torrence, but he nipped me in the lights. It was a good race, but he beat me. So it wasn’t that good,” Buff said with a laugh. “I told him, ‘I beat you most of the way. But you won when it counted.’ ”

Buff mused that it would be helpful if racers who lose close side-by-sides receive something for their efforts, something like a gift card for a gas station. “A gas card . . . I’d be happy with that,” he said.

HAVING FUN BUT SHE MEANS IT - Jenna Haddock was adamant. She wants that 3.90-second elapsed time, and she wants it this weekend.

“I want it! I want it very badly!” she said, seriously but laughing, like delivering a rock inside a snowball. “I told [crew chief husband Terry], ‘I don’t care what it is. I don’t care if it’s a .99 with a 9 – I want that 3.90. I’ll get it. I want it this race, not ‘eventually.’ Before we go home and we race at home [at Houston, near their home at Temple, Texas, in two weeks], I want it here.”

How can Terry Haddock guarantee her that?

“Oh, you can’t,” Jenna Haddock said, not abandoning reality. “There are always mistakes or problems.”

Then, mock whining, she said, “But I really want it! Can’t I just have it?! If I stomp my feet like a little girl . . .” 

She didn’t get that 3.90 Saturday, and she doesn’t get a first-round shot at it. She didn’t even get a berth in the 16-car field, for her 4.110-second, 295.66-mph clocking left her 17th by .074 of a second. Steve Faria made the field on the bump spot. Steve Chrisman also missed the cut at No. 18.

Haddock said she believes she has been close to her goal several times. What prevented the milestone Friday was, in part, a cockpit canopy that wasn’t latched properly.

“The first pass, it was on a really good pass. It was slow early, but it was doing its job. And the canopy latch wasn’t latched. So it started to come up and I could see and I knew it wasn’t right. I wasn’t sure what was going on, so I lifted. I should have had that 3.90 yesterday,” she said. “I lifted because I didn’t know. It’s better to be safe than to be sorry. If I would have known that everything was OK, I probably would have kept going.

“We’re really trying to limit our errors. Me as a driver, I’m still learning so much. There’s always so much to learn,” Haddock said. “We had a problem with my [cockpit] harness in Phoenix. I didn’t know it was a problem. My HANS device was actually rolling back and touching the roll cage when they would belt me in. So I would feel all the vibrations. My depth perception was off, so I never stayed on the gas. I should have had it [the 3.90 E.T.] then. It’s like I just can’t catch a break.

“We have a new HANS, our rigging’s good, and I can see very well,” she said. “It’s good. It’s going in the right direction.”  

NO HORSE IN K&N CHALLENGE MIX – For the past decade, Dave Connolly has been involved as a driver and/or a crew chief with the K&N Horsepower Challenge and its previous iterations of the Pro Stock class’ bonus race. He shrugged off his absence from the mix of elite doorslammer drivers Saturday as a cost of stepping over to the Top Fuel class. But he certainly has been following developments with the Challenge this weekend.

“In drag racing, you kind of live in the moment,” Connolly said. Then, perhaps channeling The Beatles and their “Eight Days A Week” hit, he said “It’s 8/24 with learning how to drive these Top Fuel cars.”

Even though he’s a Top Fuel driver, Connolly hasn’t completely separated himself from his former Pro Stock team, Gray Motorsports.

“I still go over to the Grays’ trailer and check things out,” Connolly said. “I was up there watching first round of the K&N Shootout. K&N is a huge supporter of mine through the sportsman ranks and everything else, so I think it’s great what they do for the class. Anytime you have the specialty race, racing for an extra $50,000, it puts a little more excitement on the table for Pro Stock.”

He also watched the second/semifinal round at the starting line.

“I still get my Pro Stock fix through the Grays. In the meantime, I still get to drive a Top Fuel car. So life’s good on my end,” he said. – Michael Dennis

TEMPORARY SHUT DOWN - Steve Torrence had a rare problem Friday. The generator quit working for his Top Fuel trailer after the second session of qualifying.

“Well, we had a little issue with the alternator,” Torrence said. “The bracket on the alternator had some problems, caused the alternator to stop working, which caused the fan not to work on the generator, and it overheated. So we had to repair it.”

As if prepping his Capco/Torrence Racing Dragster for two Saturday qualifying weren’t enough to keep the Brownsburg, Ind., team busy.

The Torrence team worked later than usual to repair the generator.

“Shut us down for a little bit,” Torrence said Saturday, “but we were able to use the generator from the second trailer. Just the struggles of being on the road and a long way from home . . . you have to fix everything that you got. Not a big deal. They got it fixed last night and got some rest and came back out today.”

Torrence said he never has had this particular problem before but that it’s not completely unexpected.

“It’s normal with just the wear and tear and maintenance on these things [generators] as much as they run. They start on Thursday or Friday morning. We get here and they run until Monday or when we leave. These things will have minor problems like that, and it’s not that big of an issue,” he said.

The generator failure caused the power to go out. That didn’t allow anything to function, including the trailer door. That meant the team was unable to put the car in the trailer.

“We were a little late putting everything together,” Torrence said, “But these guys [his crew] got it fixed and were here today, ready to continue.” – Michael Dennis

RIGHT COMBO – Spencer Massey still is bugged that he and his Red Fuel Powered by Schumacher Dragster dropped out in the first round at the Charlotte race two weeks ago. And he wasn’t getting the results he wanted throughout much of the weekend – until he laid down a 3.887-second full-boost lap at 323.43 mph on a 120-degree racetrack in the Las Vegas sunshine. He had struggling Friday night session and again early Saturday afternoon, but he found the right touch in the fourth and final qualifying session.

"After smoking the tires last night and again today in the first session, we really needed to get down the track on that last run," Massey said. "We weren't the quickest or fastest of the session but it went down the track and it had good speed. We have the power in this Red Fuel Powered by Schumacher dragster and we won here last fall and we're ready to do it again. We just need to take it one round at a time."

Three of his 18 victories have come at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
 

FUNNY CAR
 

‘WIN AGAIN’ ATOP BECKMAN’S HONEY-DO LIST – Jack Beckman said he had "a little more bounce in my step when I got home from the Four-Wide" at Charlotte two weeks ago and got right on those Honey-Do chores wife Jenna had waiting for him. So replacing burned-out light bulbs and cutting the grass and running to the hardware store back in Norco, Calif., were no big deal, for the Infinite Hero 2015 Dodge Charger driver had just snapped a 54-race winless streak.

"It still hasn't completely sunk in," Beckman said of his 16th victory that lifted him from 14th place to seventh in the standings – and into the top 10 for the first time since last June.

"A lot of it is because many of us drivers lead completely regular lives when we're not in a race car. I have kids, a wife, and do chores around the house when I'm home, because there's a list waiting for me after every race," he said.

"It's not like you get a chance to bathe in the celebration for long. It was fun, because we all went out as a team for dinner that night. I happily missed my flight. It was nice to sit down with everybody and say, 'Job well done,' " the Don Schumacher Racing driver said. "Winning solidified in everybody's mind that we're good enough. And it makes you hungrier. Winning is addicting. Once you do stand on top of that mountain and hold that trophy, you remember how special it feels and you want to do it again – soon."

Always the philosopher, Beckman said, "Keeping a level head through the lean times might take some of the sharp peaks off the great times, but it's the only way to exist in drag racing, where there is one winner and one loser on every run down the track. I never felt sorry for myself, because I realized how incredibly lucky I am to get a paycheck for doing something I've wanted to do since I was a kid.

"I still felt very fortunate through those 54 races, and I did my best to stay positive all the time," he said.

Beckman’s quest for back-to-back victories – and his first winning streak in 29 months – will begin Sunday against first-round opponent Cruz Pedregon.

SACRIFICING - Terry Haddock passed up his chances to make two Friday passes in his Patriot Toyota Funny Car, electing to focus on wife Jenna’s Patriot Dragster and some of the problems she was encountering. The couple had planned to run each car in the opening qualifying session. After dedicating more time than they had planned to issues with the dragster, they kept his Funny Car from the mix.  

So when he came to the starting line Saturday for the first time this weekend, he knew he had to make his opportunity count. But about 50 feet after the launch, his engine let go and flames peeked from beneath the body. Haddock quickly stopped the car and was pushed from the track, without an elapsed time to show for his effort. That left him no choice but to go for broke in the final session. However, he made his own choice – not to make an attempt.       

SMOKIN’ HOT - Alexis DeJoria had been excited to return to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway as the Funny Car winner of this event. She wanted to be hot once again. She was fourth in the order through each session, so her Patrón XO Cafe Incendio Toyota Camry was hot. But things started out a little too toasty in her pit before qualifying even began.

A fire broke out inside DeJoria’s hauler Thursday morning. The source and extent of the fire are unclear.

The car wasn’t damaged, thanks to some quick help from other Kalitta Motorsports crew members and fellow racer Cruz Pedregon’s team. Pedregon’s team grabbed the car body and took it to their Snap-on Tools Toyota pit for safekeeping. They also moved their own hauler to give fire trucks room to maneuver around DeJoria’s transporter.  

DeJoria needs to be hot in the first round of Sunday eliminations against off-track friend Courtney Force if she is to score back-to-back spring Las Vegas victories.

“Wow- what a turnaround from Charlotte,” DeJoria said. “We definitely did well these qualifying sessions. We got down the track every time, and on this last qualifying run, we were best of the session and picked up three bonus points. We’re starting in the No. 4 spot headed into Sunday, and I feel really good about this race and hopefully we can go back-to-back and win another Wally here in Vegas.”

RACE CAR REMBRANDT - Not everybody has an eye for the subtleties of how a race car is painted, noticing all the details, as well as the overall professional appearance. Two-time Funny Car champion Tony Pedregon does.

After he and wife Andrea tuck sons Desi, 9, and Neco, 7, into bed in the evening, he works on perfecting the meticulous specifics of the appearance of his American Racing Toyota Camry body and any others at his shop at Brownsburg, Ind.

It’s a matter of professional pride, he said. Besides, the artist in him prevents him from trusting just any old fellow with a paintbrush to dictate the image his Funny Car conveys.

Performance plays a part in his decision to lather the livery on his car by himself, in his painstaking way. Paint, perhaps surprisingly, adds eight pounds to a car he said already is the heaviest in the Funny Car class. But it’s worth it to him, he said, so much so that he carefully searches where in the vehicle he can trim unnecessary poundage.

Pedregon does the bodywork, filler, sanding, priming, clear-sealing, something no other pro-class drag racer does. The result is a perfect show-car look, exactly what Pedregon said it should be in this high-stakes chase for sustainable marketing partners who desire a crisp, sophisticated appearance. It’s an anomaly in this motorsports venue, a clear contrast to the easier and certainly acceptable vinyl wraps that dominate the scene.

Pedregon qualified 12th and will race No. 5 Del Worsham in Round 1 Sunday.
 

PRO STOCK


ENDERS-STEVENS CASHES IN WITH SECOND STRAIGHT K&N HORSEPOWER CHALLENGE WIN

NO TRACK RECORD – In a bit of a disappointing twist for Jimmy Ålund Saturday, NHRA officials invalidated his Friday speed. The 210.93-mph posting had been declared the track record. But officials said the timing data “was not valid.” The Findlay Chevrolet Camaro driver kept his elapsed time, though. 
 

QUICK TAKES:

 

QUOTES:

 

 

FRIDAY - TODD, HAGAN, LINE TOP PRO CHARTS FRIDAY; RACERS TALK CELEBRITIES, VOODOO, SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS, INSPIRATIONS, ODDS-MAKING, PLEASANT APRIL FOOL’S DAY SURPRISES, SCARFACE, K&N CHALLENGE, LARRY MORGAN'S EXPLODING CELL PHONE 

TOP FUEL 

200TH TRY - Despite 52 IHRA victories, the most of any racer in that sanction in any class, Clay Millican was the lone racer in the Four-Wide Top Fuel final round who was looking for his first NHRA trophy. But as he goes about qualifying for his 200th NHRA start, he said he's encouraged by what he has seen in the season's first four events – except for his tire-smoking finish at zMAX Dragway.

"Going to the final was just another step in our plan to put this team in contention for the championship at the end of the year," the driver of Stringer Performance's Parts Plus/ Great Clips Dragster said. "Internally, we really look at Charlotte as our second race of the season, because we spent the first two races testing. We've still got a few bugs that have bitten us to work out, but overall this team is making big strides towards being the best out there."

A $10 part malfunctioned, ruining his .046-second reaction time that signaled his chance to finish at least second in the final quad after a turnaround time of only 52 minutes.

"I found out in Charlotte that it was my 199th start, and Vegas will be my 200th. I'm really bad at keeping those stats on myself, because right now my focus is on looking forward to the next race," Millican said. "One day I'll look back when I'm done driving and Google myself to see all of these milestones. Right now my trophies are the mile markers I know, and I'm focused on adding to that collection."

He's tied with John Force, Tony Schumacher, and Scott Geoffrion at nine finals before a first victory. That's second only in the NHRA record book to Millican's former boss, Bob Vandergriff.  

HONEY, UMMM, I KNOW I SAID . . . - Uh-oh . . . Pressure is on this weekend for two-car team owner and Funny Car driver Terry Haddock. And it’s not from the pressure of competing in the ultra-competitive Funny Car class or even for overseeing wife Jenna's first competitive appearance at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the Patriot Dragster. It's from what he promised her.

"We expect to do well," Jenna Haddock said before qualifying opened Friday, "and I'm hoping to get that elusive 3.9[-second elapsed time]. Terry promised me he would give it to me right out of the box. If we could run 3.98 four times, I'll be so happy."

Her E.T. in the opening session wasn’t exactly a 3.9-second one. However, she started the day with a 4.399-second at 190.40 mph that gave her the tentative No. 12 spot in the order. By the end of Friday qualifying, she was 17th among 18 Top Fuel racers. She smoked the tires right away on the second pass and posted only 9.91 at 75 mph.

"We try to make progress every time we make a pass," she said. "I know we can't run 3.70 every time yet, but we're determined to learn how."

She made her first passes in a dragster at this track, and she said she has a special place in her heart for this facility. "I am super-excited about this weekend," Jenna Haddock said. "I love this track. This is where I climbed into a Top Fuel dragster for the first time, so I feel familiar with it. Part of being a rookie is that there are tracks that you have never been down, which can be a disadvantage. I already know that it's a long track and it's uphill, which makes me feel like I'm ahead of the game. Plus it's a good facility, so I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do."

HE’S A SUCKER FOR ‘SWEET-EYED KIDS’ – Lucas Oil Dragster driver Richie Crampton said his visit Thursday morning to Children's Hospital of Nevada at University Medical Center “was definitely an eye-opener, as a new parent.” But he said he thoroughly enjoyed his time with the youngsters.

“There were so many sweet-eyed kids. They and their families are going through a lot of stuff. But there were so many high-spirited young characters that it was a really enjoyable time for me,” Crampton said.

It was his their hospital visit, and he gave high marks to the staff there: “The staff there is so caring and friendly. We just had a great time.”

Fans might wonder if such a potentially emotional off-track activity might put a racer in an offbeat frame of mind. Crampton said it doesn’t affect him that way but that he isn’t the focus in these visits.

“It does, but you go in there knowing that,” he said. “I’m not concerned about what I feel afterward. I just hope I can bring a little joy into their day and keep their spirits up.”

FROM ACCIDENTAL ACROBAT TO KEYNOTE SPEAKER – Larry Dixon got plenty of national exposure last month following his injury-defying qualifying accident at Gainesville. But the Bob Vandergriff Racing Top Fuel driver has a chance to reinforce the quality of the safety innovations and improvements that protected him. He'll be the keynote speaker next Saturday for the Stand 21 Safety Foundation's "Racing Goes Safer" Seminar at Long Beach, Calif. It's part of the IndyCar Series' Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

“I wish my name hadn’t have come up, just because of everything I went through,” Dixon, who has attended the Stand 21 Safety Foundation seminar before, said. “But to be able to brag on how far the safety’s come and the 15 years between incidents. I’m honored from that standpoint and really looking forward to telling my side of the story. This just came about in the past few days, so I don’t have any [remarks] prepared, but I will when I get there.”

Joining Dixon will be Dr. Edward Potkanowicz, assistant professor of exercise physiology at Ohio Northern University "The Heat of Competition: Basics of Heat Stress"); Mike Hurst, SFI Foundation technical manager ("Unwise Undergarment Choices"), Performance Prime founder Dr. Jacques Dallaire ("Distracted Driving: Improving Your Mindset"); the Snell Foundation's Ed Becker ("SA2015 – What You Need to Know: General Helmet Advancements and Testing"); off-road racing champion Martin Christensen, owner of All-German Motorsports ("The Desolate Desert: Racing Safety in Remote Environments); and Porsche Owners Club President Andrew Weyman ("Safety at Club Racing Events").
 
ON THE CELEBRITY CIRCUIT - Charlotte winner Antron Brown was in demand on the West Coast this past week. He attended the news conference for the April 18 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Pro/Celebrity Race that is a prelude to the IndyCar Series race on the 1.97-mile street course through downtown Long Beach, Calif.

The Matco Tools/U.S. Army/Toyota Dragster driver will and 17 others will race in 210-horsepower Scion FR-S race-prepped cars to benefit "Racing for Kids," a Detroit-based non-profit foundation that supports children's hospitals and focuses attention on the health-care needs of children.

Among the celebrities who'll be on-track with Brown at Long Beach are athletes Willie Gault, the former NFL wide receiver (Bears and Raiders) and Olympic athlete, and Dara Torres, the 12-time Olympic medalist who in 2002 was the first female celebrity to win the Toyota Pro/Celebrity race. Hollywood is sending Brett Davern, last year's event winner, along with "Terminator 2" stars Alfonso Ribeiro (two-time event winner and winner of "Dancing With The Stars") and Robert Patrick; Mekhi Phifer, of "ER" notoriety and the film "Insurgent;" Donna Feldman ("The Fashion Team"); Edy Ganem ("Devious Maids," "Ana Maria in Novela Land"); James Maslow (Nickelodeon's "Big Time Rush," "Sequestered," "Dancing With The Stars" finalist); Nathan Kress ("iCarly"); Raul Mendez ("El Señor de los Cielos," soon-to-be-released film "Texas Rising"); and Joshua Morrow ("The Young and the Restless").

Joining them will be 2013 race winner Rutledge Wood, co-host of "Top Gear USA" and an auto-racing analyst on Fox Sports 1, and Steve Mason, ESPN Radio host of the "Mason & Ireland Show." From the music world come Mark McGrath, lead singer of Sugar Ray, and John Rzeznik, guitarist and frontman of the Goo Goo Dolls. Rounding out the field is the Grand Prix Foundation of Long Beach charity auction winner Dave Pasant, a retired insurance executive and an executive producer of the Adam Carolla's recently released film "Road Hard."

Brown started listing nearly every one of his fellow celebrity racers and said, “They’re all good people. It’s so cool, because you can develop so many relationships and friendships. I did school with them for three days, and we did Press Day for a whole day. Just great, great people, and it’s for a great cause, Racing For Kids. There should be some good times with them.”

As for the cars they’ll be driving, Brown said, “They get you a little bit when you go in the turn, but you’re only going about 115-20 down the straightaway, so it’s not like racing a Top Fuel car.”

Brown will be in the Pro Division, which will start 30 seconds behind the others. 

Fans can follow the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on Facebook at GrandPrixLB, Twitter @ToyotaGPLB (#TGPLB) and Instagram at ToyotaGPLB.
 
ODDS ARE HE'D BE A SHARP BOOKIE – If Shawn Langdon had to do something other than drive Alan Johnson's Knuckle Sandwich / AJPE Dragster – and without additional funding from Toyota Motor Sales, USA, he might have been forced into that two weeks ago – he might have turned out to be a savvy Las Vegas bookmaker.
 
"If I were an odds-maker looking at this weekend's race," he said, "I would have to give us pretty good odds. From the odds-maker's standpoint, I'd probably give us 3-1, but if I was putting up the money on the other side, I'd only give it 1-1. I have a lot of confidence in the Knuckle Sandwich/AJPE team, and I am confident our Toyota team will rebound after Charlotte and take the win.  I would definitely not bet against us."
 
Langdon, who won the Winternationals to kick off the season and led the standings until the Four-Wide race, said he has been eager to return to the Western U.S.
 
"We're definitely excited to get back out to Las Vegas. We started off the year pretty well on the West Coast," he said before racing began Friday. "So it'll be nice to get back out to conditions that are similar to what we raced in earlier this year. We definitely had a tough race in Charlotte. We had some conditions in Charlotte we weren't really used to, and we just didn't adapt well. Losing those two qualifying sessions Friday afternoon [to rain] really hurt us. But we've put that behind us. Now that we have some funding from Toyota to keep the car out there for now, I think we can focus a little better on improving our tune-up. We're focused on the way we ran the first three races of the season. We’re going to work with that and try to get the car back in the winners circle.
 
"Las Vegas has always been a good track for Alan Johnson Racing," Langdon said, referring to Top Fuel victories with Larry Dixon in the spring of 2010 and with Del Worsham in the fall of 2011. (Alan Johnson also won here four times in the fall with Tony Schumacher when he was working at DSR.) 
 
"I haven't won [at Las Vegas] yet, but I'm eager to get in the winners circle here," he said. "We tested at Las Vegas the first week of February this year, so we have a little bit of an idea what to expect. We just need to take what we learned in testing, apply it this weekend, and hopefully get into the winners circle."
 
Langdon expressed his gratitude for Toyota's contribution: "Toyota has had a long-standing relationship with Alan and Alan Johnson Racing for the last 15 years or so, and we all really appreciate their increased support of our race team. We're excited to have them on board and to keep this Knuckle Sandwich/AJPE Toyota out there. We still need to find a primary sponsor, but Toyota's increased support gives us some breathing room. We are very thankful for their help." 

LIVING TRIBUTE - JR Todd is carrying on the nose of his Red Line Oil Dragster this weekend a tribute to college basketball player Lauren Hill, a young lady from his hometown of Lawrenceburg, Ind. She gained national attention for her courage to continue playing basketball for Mt. St. Joseph’s College at Cincinnati in spite of her diagnosis of a rare form of inoperable brain cancer, while raising awareness of and funds to fight Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma. Hill passed away Friday at age 19. The ribbon on the race car bears Hill’s name, her uniform number (22), her “Never Give Up” motto, and “Fight Against Brain Cancer.”

She helped start her non-profit foundation, The Cure Starts Now. And she had said, “I’m spreading awareness and teaching people how to live in the moment because the next moment’s not promised. Anything can happen at any given moment. What matters is right now.”   

Todd already had planned – at the urging of his public-relations representative, Cody Poor – to make a bungee jump from the top of the Las Vegas skyline icon to celebrate his one-year anniversary with Kalitta Motorsports. And the gesture is right in line with the spirit and bravery of Hill, who played high-school basketball at Todd’s alma mater.

"Jumping off the top of the Stratosphere was one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. When the opportunity comes, you have to jump at the chance to do it,” he said. “It was cool but doesn't compare to being able to drive this Red Line Oil Top Fuel Dragster. It was a different sensation but fun to do." 

OUT OF TOP 12 - Missing the top-12 cutoff Friday and knowing their numbers will be tossed out overnight are, in order, Terry McMillen, Steve Faria, Antron Brown, Steve Chrisman, Jenna Haddock, and Larry Dixon. 

FUNNY CAR 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWEET 47 - Tommy Johnson Jr. turned 47 years old this past Monday. And he said he's hoping a second spring Las Vegas victory might ease the sting of seeing that many candles on his birthday cake.

"There are certain races you go into with a little more confidence, and any race at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway seems to be that way for me," the Make-A-Wish Dodge driver from the Don Schumacher Racing organization said.

"This has been a good race for me, as far as results, and to have this spring race fall right around the time of my birthday just makes it that much more special. At this point in my life, I try to forget my birthday," he said, "but having a trophy in hand at the end of the weekend would sure make it OK."

Johnson won this race in 2001 and advanced to the final round in 2002 and 2006.

IT'S MAYBE NOT SO DUMB AFTER ALL – A few years ago at Houston, John Force found himself in a tizzy for awhile as the victim of an April Fool's Day prank perpetrated by his daughters and wife. He spouted off then that "April Fool's Day is dumb. It ain't like it's 'Warshington's' Birthday or nothin'."

This year he participated in a promotion for his new automaker, Chevrolet, that might have changed his mind. The entire John Force Racing team of drivers participated in the Chevrolet Best Day Ever promotion April 1st. As part of a national initiative to give "regular people" a little something special, the racers handed out free $50 gas cards at the Union 76 gas station in their Yorba Linda, Calif., hometown. Chevrolet made a two-minute viral video of the giveaway and aired the segment as part of a day-long celebration as it dubbed April 1st the #BestDayEver for people across the country.

"Giving away the gas cards was a lot of fun," the 16-time Funny Car champion and the NHRA's most successful driver said. "Chevy asked Robert, Brittany, Courtney, and me to have some fun with the people, and we had a great time. I was washing people's windshields and Ashley's company, John Force Entertainment, put the whole movie together for Chevy. We were in our uniforms with all our logos, and people were just shocked and so happy when we walked up to fill up their gas tanks, thanks to Chevrolet," Force said.

NO VOODOO FOR THIS GIRL – Courtney Force's fiancé, IndyCar Series veteran Graham Rahal, filmed a TV feature segment at a voodoo shop in New Orleans in the days leading up this weekend's inaugural Grand Prix of Louisiana.

She called The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway "a familiar and lucky track." Her 325.37-mph speed on her No. 1 qualifying run here last April remains the track record. And she was calm all week before the opening day of qualifying. So maybe she doesn’t need any mystic help.

“I guess he’s trying to change his luck,” she said of Rahal, who despite his pedigree and driving skill continues to look for his first victory in seven seasons, since the 2008 Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

“He said he got a collection of things . . . not for me. I told him, ‘Do not bring a voodoo doll anywhere near me. I don’t want anything to do with that.’ I told him, ‘Unless you win the race this weekend. [If so] you can leave it in your locker. I asked him if he learned to read some tarot cards, but he didn’t get that far. He took a collection of good-luck things home. So I’m curious to see if it works, she said. “If it does, maybe I’ll go find one here in Vegas.” 

The Traxxas Chevy Camaro driver enjoys her positive memories of racing here.

"It's really cool to . . . remember the feeling and excitement after running it. I was proud that my team could put a speed on the board like that. Maybe we can even break our personal best this weekend," Force said.

In the last three years, Force has competed at The Strip six times and never has qualified lower than No. 6, which came during her rookie season (2012). In the last two years, she has not qualified lower than No. 3 and has earned the top spot once. But she said she feels no added pressure to repeat that.

"I don't see any added pressure for qualifying this weekend. We have qualified very well at The Strip in the past, and we just hope to continue doing that. Personally, this track one of my favorites. I'm fortunate my team knows how to get my car to run great here. We are familiar with the track surface and conditions," Force said.

She’s 14th in the lineup and will start with a fresh slate of numbers Saturday.

NEW CAR FOR CAPPS – Gatornationals Funny Car winner Ron Capps has a new NAPA Dodge Charger chassis he showed off Friday, and he already is thanking Don Schumacher Racing fabrication manager Joe Fitzpatrick and fabricators Dan Murphy, Tom Patsis, Travis Orr, and Jeremy Washburn from the Brownsburg, Ind., shop. That's because it was so impressive in testing March 30 at Charlotte in its maiden runs.

He said crew chief Rahn Tobler also was pleased with what he saw. And Capps said, "When you get a brand new car and it runs 300 miles an hour right out of the box, it reminds me how good our fabricators are back at DSR."

It didn’t go even half of 300 miles an hour in Friday’s first session and was last among the 16 competitors. He rebounded in the later session with a 4.075-second run at 316.15 mph that improved him to seventh place overnight.

Capps’ back-up car will be the one that took him to the winners circle at Gainesville.

Capps has won 43 NHRA Funny Car trophies, five of them at Las Vegas. But only one came from this spring event (in 2009). He entered this weekend in third place, just 26 points out of first.

'SET TO ROCK 'N' ROLL' - Cruz Pedregon has two memorable characters with him this weekend at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway: Scarface and El Guapo. They're two of his trusty Snap-on Toyota Camry bodies. And crew chief Chris "Warrior" Kullberg backed up Pedregon's declaration that "the crew has things well in order."

Kullberg said, "The Snap-on Toyota had a stress fracture in the body from a burst panel issue at the last race. So we took care of that back at the shop." He restocked the inventory, including Scarface and El Guapo (Spanish for "The Handsome One").

"The car is ready for the warmer temps we usually see in Vegas," Pedregon said. "The [crew has] been working on a camshaft issue that came up at the Four-Wide, but we're better than ever and all set to rock 'n’ roll," he said. "We love the track and the energy. It's time for us to make something happen in Vegas."

The 35-time winner has qualified in the top five at three of the four events this season and in the top half at every one, with a No. 1 start at Gainesville. However, he hasn't won yet in 2015. He hasn't advanced past the second round and is eight in the standings.
 
"There's no big adjustments we have to make," he said. "We just have to race smarter, like we've tried to do, and minimize some of the self-inflicted wounds. The class is stacked, and we like our chances with all things being equal. We just need to cut it loose."
 
He was 12th on the grid early Friday, but brother Tony Pedregon bumped him out by a mere .011 of a second in the evening session. He’ll have to start all over with official numbers, as will Courtney Force, Jeff Arend, and Gary Densham.   

EAGER TO GET IN GROOVE – Robert Hight went to six straight final rounds in the first seven races last year and won four of them. So naturally he's antsy to get that first victory of this season for his Auto Club Chevy Camaro team and his 35th overall. And he has lucky vibes about Vegas.

"There are just some tracks where you feel really comfortable. Las Vegas is one of those tracks for me and for Mike Neff. We were on a hot streak last year and came up a little short in the final [against Alexis DeJoria]. We ran strong on race day, but we just got out run in the final by a great E.T. in the other lane. This is the fifth race of the season, and we have two semifinal finishes so far. We want to get that first win of the season."

Hight is fifth in the Funny Car standings, just nine points away from fourth place, so it isn’t like he's in desperate mode. With three different Funny Car winners so far this year, no one is dominating, and Hight is only four rounds out of the No. 1 position.

He has won at this venue four times and has qualified No.1 here four times at this race and seven times totally.

"This is a great track for performance. We have always run quickly here, and I think we will run quickly this weekend," he said before claiming the tentative No. 7 spot early Friday with a 4.255-second elapsed time at 295.59 mph. He had said, "We are going to focus on making a great run in the first qualifying session and building off of that." Hight will start Saturday qualifying in 10th place.

He and Neff and the team stayed at zMAX Dragway at Charlotte for a few test passes, and, Hight said, "We are not lost or anything like that. We just seem to be a little off. I have so much confidence after talking with Neff in Charlotte."

Hight's most recent victory came 15 races ago, at Denver. 

PRO STOCK   

50,000 SHADES OF GREEN FOR GRAY? - For Shane Gray, having "IDG" splashed on his Chevy Camaro means extra motivation to win.

"We're grateful to IDG for sticking with us for this race," he said. "It was a real neat deal to have so many of the folks who work with IDG at the race in Charlotte, and now we're hoping that having that IDG wrap on our Chevrolet Camaro will maybe bring us a little bit of luck. It has been a little while since we've been able to celebrate, and I think this weekend would be as good a time as any to put a few smiles on some faces."

This weekend, "IDG" could stand for "Instant Double Gratification." Gray, like younger brother Jonathan, has a chance to pocket the $50,000 winner's share of the K&N Horsepower Challenge purse and the $25,000 SummitRacing.com Nationals winner's loot, along with two trophies. Either would be a first-time bonus-race victor.

Shane Gray is the No. 1 seed. Jonathan Gray earned the No. 7 berth. The eight-driver race-within-a-race showcases the class' top seven qualifiers in the past year, along with the eighth eligible racer who's the winner of an online selection contest.

"We're very fortunate to be in the position that we're in heading into this race," Shane Gray said. "I've never won the K&N Horsepower Challenge before, but thanks to all of my guys here with me at the track and back at the engine shop, we have the best shot we've probably ever had."

Brother Jonathan Gray said, "I'm real excited to race the K&N Horsepower Challenge. I think that one of the Gray Motorsports Camaros could win that deal. It could be me, or it could be Shane. My confidence level has increased, and I think that our guys have found something with the race cars."

He said he won't let the bright lights and the temptations of "that other Strip" here distract him.

"This is the first time, really, since the first of the year that I've felt like we were in a position to really win the race – and we have a legitimate shot at winning two races this weekend. I'm not much of a gambler, so I'm [here] strictly to race and to do what I need to do to win. You have two opportunities to win this weekend, and you need to be focused and have your act together. My plan is to stay focused."

Gray Motorsports associate Larry Morgan won the Pro Stock trophy at the most recent race, at Charlotte, and Jonathan Gray said, "Larry is going to have a lot of momentum, as well. I think that [among] the three of us, we can do some damage."

The Gray brothers had mixed results Friday. Shane Gray fared better, moving up in the order from ninth to sixth. Jonathan never budged from last place all day.  

BACK  IN THE USA – At the start of the year, Swedish Pro Stock racer Jimmy Ålund had committed to only the first four races on the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. Thanks to some creative and generous sportsman racers, as well as logistical help from KB Racing and backing from Findlay Chevrolet of Las Vegas, the nine-time FIA/European champion is continuing his U.S. tour this weekend.

Ålund, of Norrkóping, Sweden, registered his career-best speed (214.01mph) at the most recent race, and that trusty Chevy Camaro is in Las Vegas, thanks to the KB crew, which loaded it onto its hauler in Mooresville, N.C., and carried it here.

Ryan Priddy, a sportsman racer from California who works on the Camaro of fellow KB Racing-powered Vincent Nobile, volunteered his truck and trailer for Ålund's use this weekend. It's a bonus for Priddy, for he'll be racing his own car here next weekend in the NHRA regional event.

When Priddy suggested it, Ålund said, "I started to think, 'Maybe it's doable. But there was another problem. My guys couldn't take any more time of work. Then I came up with a brilliant idea: Bo Butner and his mechanic, Darrell Herron. They're going to work on this race car when I leave. I thought, 'What the heck?  I like those two guys. They're really good people, and we get along really well.' I asked them, 'If I bring this race car to Vegas, would you guys like to race together with me?' They said, 'Bring it to Vegas. We'll be there.' "

Butner, 40, is scheduled to make his Pro Stock debut in the KB Racing Camaro that Ålund drives. The 2006 Competition Eliminator national champion and four-time divisional champ from Floyds Knobs, Ind., made his first Pro Stock runs at Charlotte after the Four-Wide Nationals and earned his license. He won the Factory Stock Showdown earlier this month at Gainesville, Fla.

But Ålund isn't quite ready to hand over the keys to Butner.

"I'm excited because Summit Racing Equipment sponsors my race car in Europe," Ålund said, "and this is a great opportunity for me to participate in a race that they sponsor – and it takes place at Ken and Judy Black's home track. We're going to have fun. I'm looking forward to working with Bo and Darrell, too. It will be a good weekend. We're so grateful to have Findlay Chevrolet on the door of our Chevrolet Camaro and that we can race in Las Vegas."

He showed his gratitude by setting the track speed record – 210.93 mph – in Friday’s opening session. He’s no better than ninth with two more sessions scheduled for Saturday.
 
BACK TO SQUARE ONE - Starting all over with fresh elapsed times Saturday will be Pro Stockers Matt Hartford, Jeff Isbell, Joey Grose, Vincent Nobile, and Jonathan Gray. 

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