Friday’s top qualifiers in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway had so much fun that day that their runs held up to pace their respective classes after Saturday’s final two rounds of qualifying.
Shawn Langdon enters Sunday’s final eliminations No. 1 in Top Fuel, while other No. 1’s are Ron Capps (Funny Car), Chris McGaha (Pro Stock) and Michael Ray (Pro Stock Motorcycle).
Langdon’s 3.753-second run at 321.81 mph in his Al-Anabi Racing dragster on Friday held up during Saturday’s final two rounds of qualifying to set the pace in Top Fuel.
“We’ve had a really good car this year in qualifying,” Langdon said. “The Al-Anabi team has done an excellent job qualifying, getting towards the top, and we were able to get a couple of No. 1 qualifiers.
“Today, it was just very critical to make good runs in the lanes just because of having the four-wide, where you make one run in each lane.”
Although it was his 15th career No. 1 qualifying position, the defending 2013 NHRA Top Fuel champion has struggled to reach the finals in the first five races this season. He’s still seeking his first win of 2014.
“It’s just a matter of getting the consistency back in the car, and that’s something we’ve been striving to do,” Langdon said. “Since we’ve been kind of assessing everything from the beginning of the year, our problem has been smoking the tires on Sunday, so getting the consistency back in the car is a big thing for us right now.”
With the unique four-car, side-by-side racing – hence why it’s called the Four-Wide Nationals – Langdon will race Steve Torrence, Spencer Massey and Terry McMillen in Sunday’s first round of eliminations.
In Funny Car, Capps’ run of 4.059 seconds at 314.24 mph on Friday held up Saturday, giving Capps the No. 1 spot for Sunday’s finals.
“Today was quite a bit different,” said Capps, who earned his first No. 1 of the season and 16th of his career. “It will be nice conditions for the fans but track-wise a little warm, and that’s great to have a crew chief like Rahn (Tobler).
“I’ve bragged about it before. I have loved and love working with crew chiefs that are old school. You know, they go back and look at the parts and analyze things and look at the big picture. Tobler’s a good guy to have at a Four-Wide with all that’s going on.”
Capps will face Del Worsham, Alexis DeJoria and Chad Head in Sunday’s opening round of eliminations.
In Pro Stock, once again Friday’s best speed and time held up during Saturday’s qualifying. McGaha’s run of 6.523 seconds at 213.10 mph earned him the second No. 1 qualifying position of his career.
“I know there were a lot of doubters who didn’t think that we could have instant success, but I don’t think we’d have done this deal if we didn’t think we’d be where we are now,” said McGaha, who will face Jimmy Alund, V Gaines and Larry Morgan in Sunday’s first round of eliminations.
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Ray earned his second No. 1 qualifying spot in the last three races, having also been No. 1 at Gainesville. His 6.816 seconds run at 197.02 mph on Friday couldn’t be topped by his challengers on Saturday. Ray will face Mike Berry, Chaz Kennedy and Katie Sullivan in the first round.
“We came out this morning with a tune-up that we’d use for eliminations and I had the best sixty-foot time of my career with a 1.045 and that’s really hauling the mail,” said Ray. “The way I look at it if I am on my game there not a bike out there that is going to beat me.”
Interestingly, while they didn’t earn the No. 1 qualifying spots, Brittany Force (Top Fuel, 325.61 mph), Courtney Force (Funny Car, 316.01 mph) and Erica Enders-Stevens (Pro Stock, 213.13 mph) all had the top speeds in their respective classes.
All three are hoping to reach a historic milestone of 100 wins by female drivers in NHRA history. The mark heading into this weekend was 98 wins, with Alexis DeJoria (Funny Car) and Enders-Stevens the last females to win a national event in their respective classes, having done so two weeks ago at Las Vegas.
Final eliminations for Sunday’s race begin at Noon ET on Sunday.
Here are the first-round pairing for eliminations for the Fifth annual NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway, the fifth of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.
Top Fuel — 1. Shawn Langdon, 3.753 seconds, 324.12 mph vs. 16. Terry McMillen, 5.591, 120.19 vs. 8. Steve Torrence, 3.818, 322.81 vs. 9. Spencer Massey, 3.827, 321.42; 2. J.R. Todd, 3.781, 325.06 vs. 15. Bob Vandergriff, 4.949, 145.08 vs.7. Doug Kalitta, 3.816, 322.42 vs. 10. Pat Dakin, 3.841, 313.15;; 3. Khalid alBalooshi, 3.793, 324.98 vs. 14. Sidnei Frigo, 4.481, 180.07 vs. 6. Tony Schumacher, 3.815, 321.73 vs. 11. Richie Crampton, 3.855, 305.22; 4. Antron Brown, 3.794, 320.89 vs. 13. Clay Millican, 3.904, 292.58; 5. Brittany Force, 3.800, 325.61 vs. 12. Leah Pritchett, 3.856, 318.77.
Funny Car — 1. Ron Capps, Dodge Charger, 4.059, 314.24 vs. 16. Chad Head, Toyota Camry, 4.381, 219.86 vs. 8. Del Worsham, Camry, 4.097, 300.80 vs. 9. Alexis DeJoria, Camry, 4.113, 308.43; 2. Robert Hight, Ford Mustang, 4.074, 311.99 vs. 15. Tony Pedregon, Camry, 4.206, 286.80 vs. 7. Matt Hagan, Charger, 4.088, 310.91 vs. 10. Jack Beckman, Charger, 4.119, 303.84; 3. Tommy Johnson Jr., Charger, 4.079, 310.55 vs. 14. Jeff Arend, Charger, 4.145, 306.05 vs. 6. Courtney Force, Mustang, 4.086, 316.01 vs. 11. John Force, Mustang, 4.130, 304.39; 4. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 4.080, 311.70 vs. 13. Cruz Pedregon, Camry, 4.136, 305.98 vs. 5. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.084, 312.06 vs. 12. Blake Alexander, Charger, 4.132, 302.62.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Dale Creasy Jr., 4.439, 259.41.
Pro Stock — 1. Chris McGaha, Chevy Camaro, 6.523, 213.10 vs. 16. Larry Morgan, Ford Mustang, 7.142, 196.30 vs. 8. Jimmy Alund, Camaro, 6.550, 212.39 vs. 9. V. Gaines, Dodge Avenger, 6.560, 212.63; 2. Erica Enders-Stevens, Camaro, 6.524, 213.13 vs. 15. John Gaydosh Jr, Pontiac GXP, 7.093, 201.43 vs. 7. Allen Johnson, Dodge Dart, 6.546, 212.49 vs. 10. Jonathan Gray, Camaro, 6.564, 211.93; 3. Dave Connolly, Camaro, 6.531, 212.59 vs. 14. Justin Humphreys, Mustang, 6.676, 208.36 vs. 6. Jason Line, Camaro, 6.542, 212.73 vs. 11. Vincent Nobile, Camaro, 6.577, 211.46; 4. Shane Gray, Camaro, 6.534, 212.79 vs. 13. Robert Patrick, Mustang, 6.616, 209.43 vs. 5. Jeg Coughlin, Dart, 6.538, 212.69 vs. 12. Rodger Brogdon, Camaro, 6.577, 211.06.
Pro Stock Motorcycle — 1. Michael Ray, Buell, 6.816, 197.02 vs. 16. Katie Sullivan, Suzuki, 6.961, 190.83 vs. 8. Mike Berry, Buell, 6.873, 193.29 vs. 9. Chaz Kennedy, Buell, 6.874, 195.31; 2. Hector Arana Jr, Buell, 6.825, 196.27 vs. 15. Jim Underdahl, Suzuki, 6.956, 194.46 vs. 7. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.873, 195.19 vs. 10. Angie Smith, Buell, 6.875, 194.02; 3. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.842, 197.48 vs. 14. Hector Arana, Buell, 6.954, 193.99 vs. 6. Matt Smith, Buell, 6.856, 198.32 vs. 11. Shawn Gann, Buell, 6.892, 195.59; 4. Scotty Pollacheck, Buell, 6.843, 197.91 vs. 13. Jerry Savoie, Suzuki, 6.915, 192.82 vs. 5. John Hall, Buell, 6.846, 196.07 vs. 12. Adam Arana, Buell, 6.900, 194.10.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Steve Johnson, 6.998, 191.08; 18. Elvira Karlsson, 7.007, 190.00; 19. Freddie Camarena, 7.030, 193.88; 20. Justin Finley, 7.096, 192.91; 21. Joe DeSantis, 7.164, 186.54; 22. Junior Pippin, 7.331, 186.23.
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