NHRA back after 4 1/2 months: Line, B. Torrence, Hagan, Oehler win in Indy

By Jul 12, 2020, 10:21 PM EDT
NHRA
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Billy Torrence (Top Fuel), Matt Hagan (Funny Car), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Ryan Oehler (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were victorious in Sunday’s finals as the NHRA returned to racing for the first time in 4 ½ months.

Drag racing has been shut down since late February due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This weekend’s E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway in suburban Indianapolis not only brought racers back to the drag strip, it also attracted paying fans in the stands.

Of note, John Force Racing’s four drivers – team founder and 16-time Funny Car champ John Force, defending Funny Car champ Robert Hight and Top Fuel drivers Brittany Force and Austin Prock – did not compete in the event.

With the entry deadline set for Monday, John Force has not issued any statement on whether the team will take part in this coming weekend’s next event, the Lucas Oil Summernationals, once again in Indianapolis. NBC Sports has asked for a statement from Force, but he has declined comment.

Here’s the highlights from Sunday’s finals:

In Top Fuel: Billy Torrence (3.802 seconds, 322.34 mph) – father of two-time reigning champ Steve Torrence – earned his sixth career win, defeating Doug Kalitta (3.852 seconds, 307.86 mph).

Torrence reached the final round by knocking off Terry Totten, T.J. Zizzo, and son Steve to reach the final round match vs. Kalitta.

“These boys worked so hard to give me a competitive car,” Billy Torrence said. “If you can’t have fun doing this, you can’t have fun doing anything.

“For the people that come out here to put these events on and for all the people trying to keep all of us safe and all, just thank you.”

Even though he fell short, Kalitta still became the only driver in Top Fuel, Funny Car or Pro Stock to reach the final round in each of the season’s first three races.

Also of note in Top Fuel:

* Making his first race since the end of the 2018 season, eight-time champ Tony Schumacher lost to Leah Pruett in the first round. Still, it was a good weekend for Schumacher, who proposed to his longtime girlfriend Summer Penland on Saturday. Schumacher returns to the track next weekend to race again.

* Cory McClenathan’s dragster broke in his first-round elimination match vs. T.J. Zizzo. McClenathan will return next weekend in what potentially will be the final race of his storied career.

In Funny Car: Hagan (4.328 seconds, 215.00 mph) defeated Don Schumacher Racing teammate Tommy Johnson Jr. (5.854 seconds, 117.84 mph) to earn the two-time world champ his 34th career NHRA win.

Hagan defeated son and father Daniel and Tim Wilkerson, as well as another DSR teammate and new points leader Jack Beckman, to meet Johnson in the final round.

“We’re so glad to be doing this here with NHRA and fans in the stands,” Hagan said. “I can’t just say enough about NHRA and this team. These guys are my family and what an amazing job by my crew chief Dickie Venables. He’s dangerous when you give him a couple laps.”

In Pro Stock: The final round was a battle of drivers slated to retire at season’s end as Jason Line (6.647 seconds, 207.21 mph) defeated five-time champ Jeg Coughlin (6.658 seconds, 206.76 mph).

It was Line’s 51st career win. He defeated Alan Prusiensky, Alex Laughlin and KB Racing teammate Greg Anderson before meeting Coughlin in the final round.

“I wish I could see my dad’s face because he’s big into streaks and it was very important to him that I win one race every race that I’ve done this, and we got it done today,” Line said.

Even with the loss, Coughlin took over the Pro Stock points lead.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle: Oehler (6.974 seconds, 194.16 mph) earned his first career win to defeat former champ Matt Smith (10.126 seconds, 83.38 mph). Of note, Oehler had a near-perfect .010 reaction time at the starting line.

After qualifying fifth, Oehler defeated Marc Ingwersen, Scotty Pollacheck and Hector Arana Jr. to advance to the final round for the first time in his career.

“We’ve been hunting for this for a long time,” Oehler said. “This has been my dad’s dream and we just keep working every day. Just to have it all come together for my dad, my mom, my wife, my team, I love it all.”

The NHRA returns to Indy this coming weekend for another two-day show before the series takes two weeks off and returns in August to begin 13 consecutive race weekends in a row.

Here are the statistics from Sunday’s racing:

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FINAL FINISHING ORDER:

TOP FUEL: 1. Billy Torrence; 2. Doug Kalitta; 3. Steve Torrence; 4. Antron Brown; 5. Leah Pruett; 6. T.J. Zizzo; 7. Shawn Langdon; 8. Clay Millican; 9. Doug Foley; 10. Justin Ashley; 11. Lex Joon; 12. Tony Schumacher; 13. Terry McMillen; 14. Luigi Novelli; 15. Cory McClenathan; 16. Terry Totten.

FUNNY CAR: 1. Matt Hagan; 2. Tommy Johnson Jr.; 3. Tim Wilkerson; 4. J.R. Todd; 5. Jack Beckman; 6. Jonnie Lindberg; 7. Alexis DeJoria; 8. Blake Alexander; 9. Ron Capps; 10. Cruz Pedregon; 11. Daniel Wilkerson; 12. Mike McIntire; 13. Dale Creasy Jr.; 14. Alex Miladinovich; 15. Bob Bode; 16. Paul Lee.

PRO STOCK: 1. Jason Line; 2. Jeg Coughlin; 3. Greg Anderson; 4. Erica Enders; 5. Aaron Stanfield; 6. Matt Hartford; 7. Alex Laughlin; 8. Chris McGaha; 9. Bo Butner; 10. Troy Coughlin Jr.; 11. Kenny Delco; 12. Kyle Koretsky; 13. Deric Kramer; 14. Val Smeland; 15. Alan Prusiensky; 16. Bruno Massel.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE: 1. Ryan Oehler; 2. Matt Smith; 3. Andrew Hines; 4. Hector Arana Jr; 5. Scotty Pollacheck; 6. Eddie Krawiec; 7. Angelle Sampey; 8. Angie Smith; 9. Steve Johnson; 10. John Hall; 11. Jerry Savoie; 12. Marc Ingwersen; 13. Kelly Clontz; 14. Ron Tornow; 15. David Barron; 16. Chris Bostick.

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FINAL RESULTS:

TOP FUEL: Billy Torrence, 3.802 seconds, 322.34 mph def. Doug Kalitta, 3.852 seconds, 307.86 mph.

FUNNY CAR: Matt Hagan, Dodge Charger, 4.328, 215.00 def. Tommy Johnson Jr., Charger, 5.854,117.84.

PRO STOCK: Jason Line, Chevy Camaro, 6.647, 207.21 def. Jeg Coughlin, Camaro, 6.658, 206.76.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE: Ryan Oehler, EBR, 6.974, 194.16 def. Matt Smith, EBR, 10.126, 83.38.

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FINAL ROUND-BY-ROUND RESULTS:

TOP FUEL: ROUND ONE — Shawn Langdon, 3.789, 315.19 def. Justin Ashley, 3.960, 256.99; Clay Millican, 3.845, 314.17 def. Doug Foley, 3.878, 310.13; T.J. Zizzo, 3.778, 326.40 def. Cory McClenathan, Broke; Antron Brown, 3.997, 242.71 def. Terry McMillen, 6.659, 89.70; Doug Kalitta, 3.847, 311.56 def. Lex Joon, 4.045, 230.02; Steve Torrence, 3.758, 325.92 def. Luigi Novelli, 11.809, 66.62; Billy Torrence, 3.768, 326.32 def. Terry Totten, Foul – Centerline; Leah Pruett, 3.817, 262.03 def. Tony Schumacher, 4.108, 253.14; QUARTERFINALS — Brown, 3.780, 316.01 def. Millican, 4.145, 222.80; Kalitta, 3.803, 321.58 def. Pruett, 3.813, 319.14; B. Torrence, 3.774, 324.75 def. Zizzo, 3.822, 319.14; S. Torrence, 3.760, 324.75 def. Langdon, 3.828, 316.38; SEMIFINALS — Kalitta, 3.794, 319.07 def. Brown, 5.565, 125.00; B. Torrence, 3.801, 322.42 def. S. Torrence, 4.216, 210.24; FINAL — B. Torrence, 3.802, 322.34 def. Kalitta, 3.852, 307.86.

FUNNY CAR: ROUND ONE — J.R. Todd, Toyota Camry, 4.391, 275.11 def. Alex Miladinovich, Camry, 5.067, 160.98; Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger, 4.099, 250.60 def. Mike McIntire, Camry, 4.506, 203.55; Tommy Johnson Jr., Charger, 3.896, 324.90 def. Ron Capps, Charger, 3.956, 294.24; Jonnie Lindberg, Ford Mustang, 3.965, 322.65 def. Bob Bode, Mustang, Broke; Alexis DeJoria, Camry, 4.009, 315.05 def. Dale Creasy Jr., Charger, 4.567, 228.27; Matt Hagan, Charger, 4.025, 315.27 def. Daniel Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.238, 249.44; Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.005, 319.82 def. Cruz Pedregon, Charger, 4.096, 280.31; Blake Alexander, Mustang, No Time Recorded def. Paul Lee, Charger, Foul – Centerline; QUARTERFINALS — Todd, 4.128, 278.86 def. DeJoria, 4.697, 162.12; Johnson Jr., 3.963, 318.32 def. Alexander, Broke; T. Wilkerson, 3.982, 321.12 def. Lindberg, 3.990, 318.99; Hagan, 3.949, 321.19 def. Beckman, 3.969, 316.90; SEMIFINALS — Johnson Jr., 3.959, 319.29 def. Todd, 9.211, 77.50; Hagan, 3.959, 322.34 def. T. Wilkerson, 4.349, 211.43; FINAL — Hagan, 4.328, 215.00 def. Johnson Jr., 5.854, 117.84.

PRO STOCK: ROUND ONE — Alex Laughlin, Chevy Camaro, 6.634, 206.42 def. Deric Kramer, Camaro, 6.658, 206.51; Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.644, 207.27 def. Kenny Delco, Camaro, 6.654, 206.57; Aaron Stanfield, Camaro, 6.620, 206.64 def. Kyle Koretsky, Camaro, 6.654, 208.17; Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.630, 206.07 def. Val Smeland, Camaro, 6.712, 205.10; Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.603, 207.43 def. Troy Coughlin Jr., Ford Mustang, 6.648, 206.10; Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.615, 206.70 def. Bo Butner, Camaro, 6.647, 207.50; Jason Line, Camaro, 6.615, 206.83 def. Alan Prusiensky, Dodge Dart, 7.062, 159.21; Jeg Coughlin, Camaro, 6.622, 206.70 def. Bruno Massel, Camaro, 7.093, 155.60; QUARTERFINALS — Coughlin, 6.651, 206.99 def. C. McGaha, 6.773, 206.83; Enders, 6.621, 207.02 def. Stanfield, 6.647, 207.11; Line, 6.609, 207.59 def. Laughlin, 6.674, 206.20; Anderson, 6.620, 207.75 def. Hartford, 6.648, 206.76; SEMIFINALS — Coughlin, 6.651, 207.05 def. Enders, 6.723, 206.45; Line, 6.622, 207.34 def. Anderson, 6.683, 208.14; FINAL — Line, 6.647, 207.21 def. Coughlin, 6.658, 206.76.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE: ROUND ONE — Hector Arana Jr, 6.942, 194.66 def. John Hall, Suzuki, 6.978, 191.43; Angelle Sampey, Harley-Davidson, 6.925, 192.69 def. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.920, 191.84; Angie Smith, 6.971, 193.65 def. Jerry Savoie, Suzuki, 7.012, 192.36; Ryan Oehler, 6.921, 196.33 def. Marc Ingwersen, 7.077, 189.73; Scotty Pollacheck, 6.948, 196.42 def. Kelly Clontz, Suzuki, 7.149, 188.04; Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.890, 194.55 def. Ron Tornow, 7.172, 184.93; Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.887, 195.53 def. David Barron, 7.341, 176.26; Matt Smith, 6.855, 197.71 def. Chris Bostick, Suzuki, 7.963, 166.21; QUARTERFINALS — Oehler, 6.942, 194.41 def. Pollacheck, Foul – Red Light; Hines, 6.927, 193.65 def. A. Smith, 6.956, 195.48; Arana Jr, 6.928, 194.16 def. Krawiec, 6.873, 195.53; M. Smith, 6.856, 197.36 def. Sampey, Foul – Red Light; SEMIFINALS — Oehler, 6.901, 195.39 def. Arana Jr, 6.984, 192.91; M. Smith, 6.943, 195.42 def. Hines, 6.943, 193.68; FINAL — Oehler, 6.974, 194.16 def. M. Smith, 10.126, 83.38.

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UPDATED POINT STANDINGS:

TOP FUEL: 1. Doug Kalitta, 310; 2. Steve Torrence, 199; 3. Billy Torrence, 190; 4. Leah Pruett, 189; 5. Antron Brown, 174; 6. Brittany Force, 153; 7. Shawn Langdon, 144; 8. Clay Millican, 142; 9.Justin Ashley, 140; 10. Austin Prock, 131.

FUNNY CAR: 1. Jack Beckman, 278; 2. Tommy Johnson Jr., 276; 3. Matt Hagan, 238; 4. Tim Wilkerson, 179; 5. John Force, 173; 6. Ron Capps, 159; 7. Alexis DeJoria, 154; 8. Bob Tasca III, 149; 9. J.R. Todd, 141; 10. Robert Hight, 100.

PRO STOCK: 1. Jeg Coughlin, 297; 2. Jason Line, 289; 3. Erica Enders, 282; 4. Kenny Delco, 165; 5. Bo Butner, 162; 6. Chris McGaha, 158; 7. Alex Laughlin, 157; 8. Greg Anderson, 143; 9. Matt Hartford, 139; 10. Aaron Stanfield, 125.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE: 1. Ryan Oehler, 115; 2. Matt Smith, 101; 3. Andrew Hines, 78; 4. Hector Arana Jr, 73; 5. Eddie Krawiec, 63; 6. Scotty Pollacheck, 55; 7. Angie Smith, 54; 8. Angelle Sampey, 52; 9. Steve Johnson, 33; 10. (tie) John Hall, 32. Marc Ingwersen, 32. Jerry Savoie, 32.

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‘It’s gnarly, bro’: IndyCar drivers face new challenge on streets of downtown Detroit

By Jun 2, 2023, 7:32 PM EDT
IndyCar Detroit downtown
James Black/Penske Entertainment
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DETROIT – It was the 1968 motion picture, “Winning” when actress Joanne Woodward asked Paul Newman if he were going to Milwaukee in the days after he won the Indianapolis 500 as driver Frank Capua.

“Everybody goes to Milwaukee after Indianapolis,” Newman responded near the end of the film.

Milwaukee was a mainstay as the race on the weekend after the Indianapolis 500 for decades, but since 2012, the first race after the Indy 500 has been Detroit at Belle Isle Park.

This year, there is a twist.

Instead of IndyCar racing at the Belle Isle State Park, it’s the streets of downtown Detroit on a race course that is quite reminiscent of the old Formula One and CART race course that was used from 1982 to 1991.

Formula One competed in the United States Grand Prix from 1982 to 1988. Beginning in 1989, CART took over the famed street race through 1991. In 1992, the race was moved to Belle Isle, where it was held through last year (with a 2009-2011 hiatus after the Great Recession).

The Penske Corp. is the promoter of this race, and they did a lot of good at Belle Isle, including saving the Scott Fountain, modernizing the Belle Isle Casino, and basically cleaning up the park for Detroit citizens to enjoy.

The race, however, had outgrown the venue. Roger Penske had big ideas to create an even bigger event and moving it back to downtown Detroit benefitted race sponsor Chevrolet. The footprint of the race course goes around General Motors world headquarters in the GM Renaissance Center – the centerpiece building of Detroit’s modernized skyline.

INDYCAR IN DETROIT: Entry list, schedule, TV info for this weekend

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Motor City is about to roar with the sound of Chevrolet and Honda engines this weekend as the NTT IndyCar Series is the featured race on the nine-turn, 1.7-mile temporary street course.

It’s perhaps the most unique street course on the IndyCar schedule because of the bumps on the streets and the only split pit lane in the series.

The pit lanes has stalls on opposing sides and four lanes across an unusual rectangular pit area (but still only one entry and exit).

Combine that, with the bumps and the NTT IndyCar Series drivers look forward to a wild ride in Motor City.

“It’s gnarly, bro,” Arrow McLaren driver Pato O’Ward said before posting the fastest time in Friday’s first practice. “It will be very interesting because the closest thing that I can see it being like is Toronto-like surfaces with more of a Long Beach-esque layout.

“There’s less room for error than Long Beach. There’s no curbs. You’ve got walls. I think very unique to this place.

PRACTICE RESULTS: Speeds from the first session

“Then it’s a bit of Nashville built into it. The braking zones look really very bumpy. Certain pavements don’t look bumpy but with how the asphalt and concrete is laid out, there’s undulation with it. So, you can imagine the cars are going to be smashing on every single undulation because we’re going to go through those sections fairly fast, and obviously the cars are pretty low. I don’t know.

“It looks fun, man. It’s definitely going to be a challenge. It’s going to be learning through every single session, not just for drivers and teams but for race control. For everyone.

“Everybody has to go into it knowing not every call is going to be smooth. It’s a tall task to ask from such a demanding racetrack. I think it’ll ask a lot from the race cars as well.”

The track is bumpy, but O’Ward indicated he would be surprised if it is bumper than Nashville. By comparison to Toronto, driving at slow speed is quite smooth, but fast speed is very bumpy.

“This is a mix of Nashville high-speed characteristics and Toronto slow speed in significant areas,” O’Ward said. “I think it’ll be a mix of a lot of street courses we go to, and the layout looks like more space than Nashville, which is really tight from Turn 4 to 8. It looks to be a bit more spacious as a whole track, but it’ll get tight in multiple areas.”

The concept of having four-wide pit stops is something that excites the 24-year-old driver from Monterey, Mexico.

“I think it’s innovation, bro,” O’Ward said. “If it works out, we’ll look like heroes.

“If it doesn’t, we tried.”

Because of the four lanes on pit road, there is a blend line the drivers will have to adhere to. Otherwise, it would be chaos leaving the pits compared to a normal two-lane pit road.

“If it wasn’t there, there’d be guys fighting for real estate where there’s one car that fits, and there’d be cars crashing in pit lane,” O’Ward said. “I get why they did that. It’s the same for everybody. I don’t think there’s a lot of room to play with. That’s the problem.

“But it looks freaking gnarly for sure. Oh my God, that’s going to be crazy.”

Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing believes the best passing areas will be on the long straights because of the bumps in the turns. That is where much of the action will be in terms of gaining or losing a position in the race.

“It will also be really easy to defend in my opinion,” Palou said. “Being a 180-degree corner, you just have to go on the inside and that’s it. There’s going to be passes for sure but its’ going to be risky.

“Turn 1, if someone dives in, you end up in the wall. They’re not going to be able to pass you on the exit, so maybe with the straight being so long you can actually pass before you end up on the braking zone.”

Palou’s teammate, Marcus Ericsson, was at the Honda simulator in Brownsburg, Indiana, before coming to Detroit and said he was shocked by the amount of bumps on the simulator.

Race promoter Bud Denker, the President of Penske Corporation, and Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix President Michael Montri, sent the track crews onto the streets with grinders to smooth out the bumps on the race course several weeks ago.

“They’ve done a decent amount of work, and even doing the track walk, it looked a lot better than what we expected,” Ericsson said. “I don’t think it’ll be too bad. I hope not. That’ll be something to take into account.

“I think the track layout doesn’t look like the most fun. Maybe not the most challenging. But I love these types of tracks with rules everywhere. It’s a big challenge, and you have to build up to it. That’s the types of tracks that I love to drive. It’s a very much Marcus Ericsson type of track. I like it.”

Scott Dixon, who was second fastest in the opening session, has competed on many new street circuits throughout his legendary racing career. The six-time NTT IndyCar Series champion for Chip Ganassi Racing likes the track layout, even with the unusual pit lane.

“I don’t think that’s going to be something that catches on where every track becomes a double barrel,” Dixon said. “It’s new and interesting.

“As far as pit exit, I think Toronto exit is worse with how the wall sticks out. I think in both lanes, you’ve got enough lead time to make it and most guys will make a good decision.”

It wasn’t until shortly after 3 p.m. ET on Friday that the IndyCar drivers began the extended 90-minute practice session to try out the race course for the first time in real life.

As expected, there were several sketchy moments, but no major crashes during the first session despite 19 local yellow flags for incidents and two red flags.

Rookie Agustin Canapino had to cut his practice short after some damage to his No. 78 Dallara-Chevrolet, but he was among many who emerged mostly unscathed from scrapes with the wall.

“It was honestly less carnage than I expected,” said Andretti Autosport’s Kyle Kirkwood, who was third fastest in the practice after coming off his first career IndyCar victory in the most recent street race at Long Beach in April. “I think a lot of people went off in the runoffs, but no one actually hit the wall (too hard), which actually surprised me. Hats off to them for keeping it clean, including myself.

“It was quite a bit less grip than I think everyone expected. Maybe a little bit more bumpy down into Turn 3 than everyone expected. But overall they did a good job between the two manufacturers. I’m sure everyone had pretty much the same we were able to base everything off of. We felt pretty close to maximum right away.”

Most of the preparation for this event was done either on the General Motors Simulator in Huntersville, North Carolina, or the Honda Performance Development simulator in Brownsburg, Indiana.

“Now, we have simulators that can scan the track, so we have done plenty of laps already,” Power told NBC Sports. “They have ground and resurfaced a lot of the track, so it should be smoother.

“But nothing beats real-world experience. It’s going to be a learning experience in the first session.”

As a Team Penske driver, Power and his teammates were consulted about the progress and layout of the Detroit street course. They were shown what was possible with the streets that were available.

“We gave some input back after we were on the similar what might be ground and things like that,” Power said.

Racing on the streets of Belle Isle was a fairly pleasant experience for the fans and corporate sponsor that compete in the race.

But the vibe at the new location gives this a “big event” feel.

“The atmosphere is a lot better,” Power said. “The location, the accessibility for the fans, the crowd that will be here, it’s much easier. I think it will be a much better event.

“It feels like a Long Beach, only in a much bigger city. That is what street course racing is all about.”

Because the track promoter is also the team owner, Power and teammates Scott McLaughlin and Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden will have a very busy weekend on the track, and with sponsor and personal appearances.

“That’s what pays the bills and allows us to do this,” Power said.

Follow Bruce Martin on Twitter at @BruceMartin_500