Friday Results
Jack Beckman is in position to earn his first No. 1 qualifier of the season at the halfway point of qualifying at the 23rd annual FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals.
The other provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the 15th of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Series season were Larry Dixon (Top Fuel), Allen Johnson (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle).
Because of a late delay in the night qualifying session, the second Top Fuel qualifying session was cancelled due to curfew and that left Dixon, who paced the field with a 3.839-second pass at 317.79 mph in the first session, as the overnight leader.
"We only got that one session in, but I’m glad it was a good one for us. It was a great run (but) gosh, I was disappointed we didn’t get another shot at it. Bummer," said Dixon, who drives the Al-Anabi dragster.
Beckman paced the Funny Car field early with a 4.063-second pass at 311.56 mph in his Valvoline/MTS Dodge Charger and he had to wait out five pairs before it was official. It would be just the third No. 1 of his career.
"I told the crew guys, ‘I try never to get emotionally wrapped up in this deal, but man would it be cool if everybody else smoked the tires and we ended up No. 1," Beckman said. "I was very surprised that we outlasted those 10 cars (and) I think tomorrow it’s going to be extremely difficult for someone to get in under that."
In Pro Stock, Allen Johnson led the field with a 6.545 at 210.77 in his Team Mopar Dodge Avenger that set both ends of the track record. If it holds up, it would be his third No. 1 of 2010 and the 10th of his career.
"The conditions to 300 feet … that was the best conditions we’ve seen in awhile," Johnson said. "The track’s awesome. The air’s awesome and I made a ‘decent’ run. Hopefully that’ll hold."
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Matt Smith claimed the provisional pole on the Al-Anabi Buell with a 6.912-second pass at 191.32 mph.
"Right now I’m happy. Our Al-Anabi V-Twin is running awesome and I can’t say enough for it," Smith said. "The morning will be a fast session because we usually have a tailwind. If we have a tailwind and the air is this good, you’ll see some 87s or 88s."
Qualifying at the 23 annual FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals concludes with the third and fourth sessions on Saturday when the fields will be set for Sunday’s final eliminations.
Results Friday after the first one of four rounds of qualifying for the 23rd annual FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway, 15th of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Qualifying will continue Saturday for Sunday’s final eliminations.
Top Fuel — 1. Larry Dixon, 3.839 seconds, 317.79 mph; 2. Antron Brown, 3.863, 315.86; 3. Doug Kalitta, 3.899, 309.49; 4. Brandon Bernstein, 3.914, 305.29; 5. Tony Schumacher, 3.926, 305.98; 6. Steve Torrence, 3.943, 305.08; 7. Morgan Lucas, 3.966, 294.88; 8. Rod Fuller, 3.977, 293.98; 9. Troy Buff, 3.981, 259.81; 10. Shawn Langdon, 3.987, 288.64; 11. Mike Strasburg, 4.051, 300.33; 12. Terry McMillen, 4.066, 282.01. Not Qualified: 13. Cory McClenathan, 6.338, 91.85; 14. Terry Haddock, 6.734, 100.69; 15. David Grubnic, 6.852, 89.23; 16. Bob Vandergriff, 9.059, 75.35; 17. Steve Faria, 9.393, 86.53.
Funny Car — 1. Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger, 4.063, 311.56; 2. Gary Densham, Chevy Impala, 4.103, 300.26; 3. John Force, Ford Mustang, 4.104, 307.30; 4. Cruz Pedregon, Toyota Solara, 4.112, 304.19; 5. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 4.130, 304.39; 6. Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.172, 301.87; 7. Ashley Force Hood, Mustang, 4.187, 292.77; 8. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.188, 293.09; 9. Matt Hagan, Charger, 4.202, 284.93; 10. Del Worsham, Toyota Camry, 4.213, 282.13; 11. Ron Capps, Charger, 4.223, 284.51; 12. Jeff Arend, Solara, 4.253, 286.13. Not Qualified: 13. Paul Lee, 4.274, 284.15;
14. Tony Pedregon, 4.415, 257.09; 15. Brian Thiel, 4.442, 276.92; 16. Melanie Troxel, 4.496, 262.79; 17. Jeff Diehl, 8.068, 82.34; 18. Grant Downing, 8.107, 79.69.
Pro Stock — 1. Allen Johnson, Dodge Avenger, 6.545, 210.77; 2. Jeg Coughlin, Chevy Cobalt, 6.552, 210.31; 3. Ron Krisher, Cobalt, 6.565, 209.14; 4. Greg Anderson, Pontiac GXP, 6.570, 209.72; 5. Mike Edwards, GXP, 6.574, 210.28; 6. Johnny Gray, GXP, 6.575, 209.59; 7. Bob Yonke, GXP, 6.584, 208.68; 8. Kurt Johnson, Cobalt, 6.595, 208.78; 9. V. Gaines, Avenger, 6.598, 208.78; 10. Greg Stanfield, GXP, 6.599, 209.07; 11. Shane Gray, GXP, 6.613, 208.33; 12. Jason Line, GXP, 6.615, 209.98. Not Qualified: 13. Erica Enders, 6.638, 207.43; 14. Warren Johnson, 6.640, 208.88; 15. Rodger Brogdon, 6.643, 208.39; 16. Larry Morgan, 6.659, 207.15; 17. Vinnie Deceglie, 6.671, 208.20; 18. Gordie Rivera, 6.789, 203.95; 19. Jim Cunningham, 6.799, 201.79.
Pro Stock Motorcycle — 1. Matt Smith, Buell, 6.912, 191.32; 2. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 6.919, 192.58; 3. Michael Phillips, Suzuki, 6.926, 193.99; 4. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.928, 192.14; 5. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.934, 192.71; 6. Hector Arana, Buell, 6.936, 192.69; 7. Jim Underdahl, Suzuki, 6.965, 191.70; 8. David Hope, Buell, 6.989, 187.60; 9. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.994, 189.82; 10. LE Tonglet, Suzuki, 7.010, 188.31; 11. Angie Smith, Buell, 7.030, 188.83; 12. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 7.045, 188.73. Not Qualified: 13. Mike Berry, 7.087, 184.07; 14. GT Tonglet, 7.097, 183.74; 15. Larry Cook, 7.101, 183.54; 16. Freddie Camarena, 7.146, 188.02; 17. Shawn Gann, 7.157, 185.79; 18. Katie Sullivan, 7.318, 180.07; 19. James Surber, 7.382, 181.35; 20. Chris MacLaurin, 7.477, 178.90; 21. Scotty Pollacheck, 10.682, 74.80; 22. Redell Harris, 26.215, 259.21.
