NHRA Las Vegas No. 1 qualifiers: Millican, Johnson Jr., Coughlin Jr., Arana Jr. - MotorSportsTalk

NHRA media release

Clay Millican remained a contender for the Top Fuel world championship securing his 10th No. 1 qualifying position on the season Saturday afternoon at the NHRA Toyota Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Tommy Johnson Jr. (Funny Car), Jeg Coughlin Jr. (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana Jr. (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are the No. 1 qualifiers in their respective categories at the fifth of six playoff events during the 2018 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship.

Millican was able to carry his 3.699-second pass at 327.82 mph on Friday night in his Parts Plus/ Great Clips dragster for the second No. 1 position at this event. He will face Greg Carrillo when eliminations begin on Sunday.

“This team is incredible,” said Millican “This is something I would have never dreamed of. So proud of what this team has done all season long. It is amazing.”

Millican trails points leader Steve Torrence who is qualified second. Torrence will face Shawn Reed and can secure his first world championship if he goes one round further than Millican during eliminations.

Johnson earned his third consecutive No. 1 with his pass of 3.879 at 327.82 during the final pass of the fourth qualifying session in his Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T. Johnson has 18 career No. 1 positions and races Jeff Arend.

“Our car has been running so well as of late,” said Johnson. “You want to come into the Countdown and you have to bring everything you got for all the races. You have to perform your best you have all season. We have done that except for Sunday. I’m excited about tomorrow, I don’t know if I will be able to sleep tonight. I’m ready to go.”

Robert Hight, who leads the Funny Car points is qualified seventh and will race Shawn Langdon on Sunday. J.R. Todd trails Hight in the standings, he qualified second and races Richard Townsend.

In Pro Stock, Coughlin powered to his fifth No. 1 position of the season during the first session on Saturday with his pass of 6.628 at 206.95 in his Jegs.com/Elite/Chevrolet Camaro. This is the first time in his career the veteran racer has posted five top positions in a single season. Coughlin is second in the category points and line up against Steve Graham in eliminations.

“It is certainly coming at a great time,” said Coughlin. “As the Countdown narrows tomorrow and two seeks in Pomona, every point counts and every round counts. Right now we are second in the points and have a long way to go to climb up to that top spot and need a lot of help from some of our competitors but to sit on pole here in Las Vegas feels great.”

Points leader Tanner Gray qualified fifth and will face Alan Prusiensky on Sunday.

Arana Jr. moved to the No. 1 position in Pro Stock Motorcycle during the first qualifying position of the day on Saturday with his run of 6.845 at 196.44 on his Lucas Oil Buell. This is the third No. 1 qualifying position for the season, first since the event in Richmond, Va., and the 22nd of his career. He will race Make Paquette when eliminations begin on Sunday.

“We made a really good pass the first session,” said Arana. “Right there that gave us the confidence boost and the momentum to be able to go as fast as we are going. We didn’t have to play catch up or figure out a tune-up. The tune-up we nailed it right away, then we were able to tickle it a little bit. We really feel confident going into race day tomorrow.”

Points leader Matt Smith qualified eighth and will face LE Tonglet who is second in points and qualified ninth. Eddie Krawiec who is third in points qualified second and races Ron Tornow when eliminations begin.

Eliminations for the NHRA Toyota Nationals begin at 11 a.m. PT/2 pm ET on Sunday.

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SUNDAY’s FIRST-ROUND PAIRINGS FOR ELIMINATIONS:

TOP FUEL: 1. Clay Millican, 3.699 seconds, 327.82 mph vs. 16. Greg Carrillo, 3.939, 305.98; 2. Steve Torrence, 3.702, 333.33 vs. 15. Shawn Reed, 3.876, 295.34; 3. Brittany Force, 3.723, 330.88 vs. 14. Mike Salinas, 3.824, 280.72; 4. Leah Pritchett, 3.731, 322.65 vs. 13. Troy Buff, 3.804, 308.57; 5. Antron Brown, 3.741, 322.88 vs. 12. Blake Alexander, 3.800, 321.12; 6. Doug Kalitta, 3.742, 326.00 vs. 11. Richie Crampton, 3.799, 318.39; 7. Billy Torrence, 3.760, 327.90 vs. 10. Terry McMillen, 3.784, 326.32; 8. Scott Palmer, 3.768, 326.48 vs. 9. Tony Schumacher, 3.772, 330.15. Did Not Qualify: 17. Terry Haddock, 4.018, 295.21; 18. Terry Totten, 4.788, 155.31.

FUNNY CAR: 1. Tommy Johnson Jr., Dodge Charger, 3.879, 327.82 vs. 16. Jeff Arend, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.119, 302.35; 2. J.R. Todd, Toyota Camry, 3.911, 327.19 vs. 15. Richard Townsend, Camry, 4.060, 308.50; 3. Jack Beckman, Charger, 3.922, 327.19 vs. 14. Jim Campbell, Charger, 4.054, 312.06; 4. Bob Tasca III, Ford Mustang, 3.924, 321.65 vs. 13. Jonnie Lindberg, Mustang, 4.050, 314.24; 5. John Force, Chevy Camaro, 3.926, 330.55 vs. 12. Ron Capps, Charger, 3.971, 315.71; 6. Courtney Force, Camaro, 3.926, 328.46 vs. 11. Cruz Pedregon, Camry, 3.968, 323.04; 7. Robert Hight, Camaro, 3.927, 328.38 vs. 10. Shawn Langdon, Camry, 3.965, 319.67; 8. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 3.932, 319.90 vs. 9. Matt Hagan, Charger, 3.949, 322.65. Did Not Qualify: 17. Gary Densham, 4.192, 273.33; 18. Bob Bode, 4.253, 265.74; 19. Jeff Diehl, 4.911, 165.11.

PRO STOCK: 1. Jeg Coughlin, Chevy Camaro, 6.628, 206.73 vs. 16. Steve Graham, Camaro, 6.715, 205.13; 2. Jason Line, Camaro, 6.628, 206.61 vs. 15. Kenny Delco, Camaro, 6.693, 205.51; 3. Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.629, 206.26 vs. 14. Fernando Cuadra, Camaro, 6.686, 206.26; 4. Drew Skillman, Camaro, 6.631, 206.86 vs. 13. Vincent Nobile, Camaro, 6.653, 203.89; 5. Tanner Gray, Camaro, 6.631, 205.79 vs. 12. Alan Prusiensky, Dodge Dart, 6.650, 205.79; 6. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.633, 207.91 vs. 11. Deric Kramer, Camaro, 6.650, 206.70; 7. Bo Butner, Camaro, 6.636, 207.56 vs. 10. Alex Laughlin, Camaro, 6.643, 205.63; 8. Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.636, 206.70 vs. 9. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.638, 205.57. Did Not Qualify: 17. Val Smeland, 6.762, 203.12; 18. Joey Grose, 6.803, 202.27; 19. Tom Huggins, 6.816, 202.64.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE: 1. Hector Arana Jr, EBR, 6.845, 196.44 vs. 16. Mark Paquette, Buell, 6.990, 189.52; 2. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.859, 195.65 vs. 15. Ron Tornow, Buell, 6.987, 189.98; 3. Hector Arana, EBR, 6.863, 194.88 vs. 14. Ryan Oehler, Buell, 6.980, 193.49; 4. Chip Ellis, Harley-Davidson, 6.899, 194.60 vs. 13. Kelly Clontz, Suzuki, 6.972, 190.97; 5. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.911, 193.43 vs. 12. Scotty Pollacheck, Suzuki, 6.963, 190.89; 6. Angie Smith, Buell, 6.921, 191.19 vs. 11. Angelle Sampey, Buell, 6.953, 191.73; 7. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.926, 189.39 vs. 10. Jerry Savoie, Suzuki, 6.953, 191.87; 8. Matt Smith, EBR, 6.931, 195.17 vs. 9. LE Tonglet, Suzuki, 6.931, 194.32. Did Not Qualify: 17. Karen Stoffer, 6.991, 190.51; 18. Katie Sullivan, 7.000, 192.74; 19. Cory Reed, 7.020, 190.59; 20. Freddie Camarena, 7.040, 191.57; 21. Anthony Vanetti, 7.153, 184.09; 22. Maurice Allen, 7.195, 184.39.

INDIANAPOLIS — The first Indy 500 victory for Josef Newgarden also was the richest in race history from a record 2023 purse of just more than $17 million.

The two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion, who continued his celebration Monday morning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway earned $3.666 million for winning the 107th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

The purse and winner’s share both are the largest in the history of the Indianapolis 500.

It’s the second consecutive year that the Indy 500 purse set a record after the 2022 Indy 500 became the first to crack the $16 million mark (nearly doubling the 2021 purse that offered a purse of $8,854,565 after a crowd limited to 135,000 because of the COVID-19 pandemic).

The average payout for IndyCar drivers was $500,600 (exceeding last year’s average of $485,000).

Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Roger Penske, whose team also fields Newgarden’s No. 2 Dallara-Chevrolet, had made raising purses a priority since buying the track in 2020. But Penske but was unable to post big money purses until the race returned to full capacity grandstands last year.

The largest Indy 500 purse before this year was $14.4 million for the 2008 Indy 500 won by Scott Dixon (whose share was $2,988,065). Ericsson’s haul made him the second Indy 500 winner to top $3 million (2009 winner Helio Castroneves won $3,048,005.

Runner-up Marcus Ericsson won $1.043 million after falling short by 0.0974 seconds in the fourth-closest finish in Indy 500 history.

The 107th Indy 500 drew a crowd of at least 330,000 that was the largest since the sellout for the 100th running in 2016, and the second-largest in more than two decades, according to track officials.

“This is the greatest race in the world, and it was an especially monumental Month of May featuring packed grandstands and intense on-track action,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said in a release. “Now, we have the best end card possible for the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500: a record-breaking purse for the history books.”

Benjamin Pedersen was named the Indy 500 rookie of the year, earning a $50,000 bonus.

The race’s purse is determined through contingency and special awards from IMS and IndyCar. The awards were presented Monday night in the annual Indy 500 Victory Celebration at the JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis.

The payouts for the 107th Indy 500:

1. Josef Newgarden, $3,666,000
2. Marcus Ericsson, $1,043,000
3. Santino Ferrucci, $481,800
4. Alex Palou, $801,500
5. Alexander Rossi, $574,000
6. Scott Dixon, $582,000
7. Takuma Sato, $217,300
8. Conor Daly, $512,000
9. Colton Herta, $506,500
10. Rinus VeeKay, $556,500
11. Ryan Hunter‐Reay, $145,500
12. Callum Ilott, $495,500
13. Devlin DeFrancesco, $482,000
14. Scott McLaughlin, $485,000
15. Helio Castroneves, $481,500
16. Tony Kanaan, $105,000
17. Marco Andretti, $102,000
18. Jack Harvey, $472,000
19. Christian Lundgaard, $467,500
20. Ed Carpenter, $102,000
21. Benjamin Pedersen (R), $215,300
22. Graham Rahal, $565,500*
23. Will Power, $488,000
24. Pato O’Ward, $516,500
25. Simon Pagenaud, $465,500
26. Agustín Canapino (R), $156,300
27. Felix Rosenqvist, $278,300
28. Kyle Kirkwood, $465,500
29. David Malukas, $462,000
30. Romain Grosjean, $462,000
31. Sting Ray Robb (R), $463,000
32. RC Enerson (R), $103,000
33. Katherine Legge, $102,000

*–Broken down between two teams, $460,000 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, $105,500 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports