ENNIS, Texas -- Three-time Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher raced to
his 10th No. 1 qualifying position of the season Saturday at the
O'Reilly Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec at the Texas
Motorplex.

A cooling afternoon rain shower made Saturday's two qualifying sessions
much better than Friday's pair, with most teams improving, most
noticeably in the final session. Aside from Schumacher's No. 1 effort of
4.520 seconds at 321.12 mph in his U.S. Army dragster, Robert Hight
posted a Funny Car-leading 4.742 in his Auto Club Ford Mustang and Greg
Anderson recorded a 6.696 in his Summit Racing Pontiac GTO to set the
pace in Pro Stock.

ENNIS, Texas -- Three-time Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher raced to
his 10th No. 1 qualifying position of the season Saturday at the
O'Reilly Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec at the Texas
Motorplex.

A cooling afternoon rain shower made Saturday's two qualifying sessions
much better than Friday's pair, with most teams improving, most
noticeably in the final session. Aside from Schumacher's No. 1 effort of
4.520 seconds at 321.12 mph in his U.S. Army dragster, Robert Hight
posted a Funny Car-leading 4.742 in his Auto Club Ford Mustang and Greg
Anderson recorded a 6.696 in his Summit Racing Pontiac GTO to set the
pace in Pro Stock.

Schumacher earned one point on NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Top Fuel
leader Doug Kalitta, who qualified second with a 4.535 in his Mac Tools
dragster.

"I'm sure he wanted to be No. 1 as much as we did," Schumacher said. "I
saw him down there and he told me 'Good job.' That's a great car over
there. We're going to battle down to the end. Doug's a great driver and
I have a ton of respect for him. He'll get up in the morning and be over
this little disappointment and be ready to race."

Hight will get his eighth chance of the season to become the first low
qualifier in Funny Car to win a race. Friday leader Mike Ashley slipped
to third with a 4.799 at 314.53 mph in his Torco Racing Fuels Dodge
Charger.

"I didn't know if it would hold because there were some good cars behind
us but it did so we're happy," Hight said. "I'm still on cloud nine from
winning Indy so the ride continues here. Jimmy (Prock, crew chief) has
so much confidence in his tune-up and once he makes a decision he's
committed to it."

The monster match-up of the season is slated for Sunday's 11 a.m.
opening round as Funny Car points leader Ron Capps will face
second-place qualifier John Force. Capps, who leads Force by 17 points
in the season standings, qualified 11th with a 4.865 in his Brut Charger
to Force's 4.825 in his Castrol GTX Mustang.

The final Pro Stock session featured a lot of movement in the 16-car
order. Anderson was able to improve for the fourth consecutive session,
posting a 6.696 at 205.60 mph in his Summit Racing Pontiac GTO to lead
the class into eliminations for the fifth straight race and the 11th
time this season.

"We need every scrap and every point we can get," said Anderson, whose
qualifying effort earned him one point on teammate and current points
leader Jason Line. "Great job by the guys back in the shop. All their
long hours are really paying off and they've given Jason and me a pair
of great horses to ride."



First-round pairings for professional eliminations
Sunday at the 21st annual O'Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals presented by
Castrol Syntec at Texas Motorplex, the 19th of 23 events in the $50
million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in
qualifying, which ended Saturday.

Top Fuel -- 1. Tony Schumacher, 4.520 seconds, 325.22 mph vs. 16. Joe
Hartley, 4.703, 297.61; 2. Doug Kalitta, 4.535, 324.59 vs. 15. Andrew
Cowin, 4.686, 318.92; 3. J.R. Todd, 4.541, 322.50 vs. 14. Hillary Will,
4.668, 317.57; 4. Rod Fuller, 4.554, 324.28 vs. 13. Bob Vandergriff,
4.658, 314.68; 5. David Baca, 4.610, 322.27 vs. 12. Melanie Troxel,
4.657, 319.52; 6. David Grubnic, 4.611, 322.11 vs. 11. Alan Bradshaw,
4.645, 319.60; 7. Brandon Bernstein, 4.617, 329.26 vs. 10. Doug Herbert,
4.641, 306.88; 8. Morgan Lucas, 4.637, 297.35 vs. 9. Troy Buff, 4.641,
325.69.

Funny Car -- 1. Robert Hight, Ford Mustang, 4.742, 324.75 vs. 16. Del
Worsham, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.934, 308.71; 2. Tommy Johnson Jr., Monte
Carlo, 4.778, 324.90 vs. 15. Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger, 4.895,
313.58; 3. Mike Ashley, Dodge Stratus, 4.799, 314.53 vs. 14. Tim
Wilkerson, Monte Carlo, 4.893, 312.13; 4. Tony Pedregon, Monte Carlo,
4.812, 321.96 vs. 13. Phil Burkart, Monte Carlo, 4.891, 311.49; 5. Eric
Medlen, Mustang, 4.822, 318.39 vs. 12. Tony Bartone, Monte Carlo,
4.873, 313.00; 6. John Force, Mustang, 4.825, 317.72 vs. 11. Ron Capps,
Charger, 4.865, 317.27; 7. Scott Kalitta, Toyota Solara, 4.837, 311.99
vs. 10. Gary Scelzi, Charger, 4.856, 321.04; 8. Cruz Pedregon, Monte
Carlo, 4.850, 313.37 vs. 9. Jim Head, Stratus, 4.855, 312.71.

Pro Stock -- 1. Greg Anderson, Pontiac GTO, 6.696, 205.60 vs. 16. Dave
Northrop, Dodge Stratus, 6.762, 204.17; 2. Jason Line, GTO, 6.713,
205.07 vs. 15. V. Gaines, Stratus, 6.750, 205.16; 3. Greg Stanfield,
GTO, 6.722, 205.54 vs. 14. Tom Martino, GTO, 6.745, 204.11; 4. Tommy
Lee, Chevy Cobalt, 6.722, 204.98 vs. 13. Larry Morgan, Stratus, 6.742,
204.57; 5. Kurt Johnson, Cobalt, 6.724, 204.91 vs. 12. Dave Howard,
Cobalt, 6.739, 205.16; 6. Steve Schmidt, Cobalt, 6.726, 205.29 vs. 11.
Dave Connolly, Cobalt, 6.737, 204.76; 7. Jim Yates, GTO, 6.726, 204.54
vs. 10. Mike Edwards, GTO, 6.730, 205.63; 8. Allen Johnson, Stratus,
6.728, 204.39 vs. 9. Richie Stevens, Stratus, 6.728, 203.77.