AJ has a record night in wine country
Craig Wack, Senior Editor
Saturday, 17 July 2010
As the racing Friday night at the NHRA Fram-Autolite Nationals fell further and further behind, Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson knew the possibility for a special run was becoming more real.
As the sun dipped behind the hills around Infineon Raceway (and the track temperatures fell along the way) Johnson guided the Mopar Dodge Avenger to a track record pass to capture the provisional No. 1 qualifier.
“Those were the best conditions we’ve had in a while,” Johnson said. “The track was awesome, the air was awesome and we made a decent run.”
Other provisional No. 1s were Jack Beckman in Funny Car, Matt Smith in Pro Stock Motorcycle and Larry Dixon, who along with the rest of the Top Fuel field had the second qualifying run called off because it was too close to the hard 10 p.m. PDT curfew.
Johnson tore off a pass of 6.545 seconds at 210.77 mph, which was the track record for both ET and speed. Jeg Coughlin Jr.’s JEGs.com Chevy Cobalt held the record for about a minute with his 6.552 at 210.31 mph.
“The (Saturday) morning session is normally the best session for (Pro Stock),” Johnson said. “Will it get better because we were running late? I don’t know. It’ll have to get pretty good.”
Beckman thought for sure that this pass of 4.063 at 311.56 mph in the Valvoline Dodge Charger would not hold up because there were so many good cars that followed his run.
“We ran OK during the day session and that put us toward the front,” Beckman said. “We knew the track would get a little bit better after we went out there. When you get out of the car (after a good run), you realize there’s still five really good pairs of car behind us. It’s almost like we tipped our hand on what the track could handle.”
But Gary Densham suffered an engine explosion that blew the body of his car into about 20 pieces. That caused a cleanup delay that helped Beckman and was the final nail in the coffin for the second Top Fuel run.
“Densham was the next car up and he blows the body off the car,” Beckman said. “During that delay you wonder, does the track get better or worse? A pair at a time you hear (the other cars) go a little further and shut off. I was very surprised we outlasted those 10 cars.”
Dixon said the whole Top Fuel field was excited for the opportunity for a crack at those conditions, but those are the breaks.
“That first run was a great run, but, gosh, I was disappointed that we didn’t get a chance to get on it,” Dixon said. “The sessions got backed up, and to make it fair for everybody they decided not to run any of the Top Fuel cars.
“We’ve had years where we’ve got all but a couple pairs run, and if you are one of those pairs, it ain’t that cool.”
In the heat of the day, Dixon ran a 3.839 second pass at 317.79 mph in the Al-Anabi Racing dragster.
Smith, who is tuning three motorcycles this weekend, got his own Al-Anabi Racing Buell to zip down the track in the late afternoon sun with a 6.912 at 191.32 mph.
“When we got up to lanes I thought we could run a 6.91 or 6.92,” Smith said. “The track kept getting tighter and the air got better. I’ve got my hands full this weekend with three bikes, but all-in-all I’m happy with the way things went.”
Qualifying for the Fram-Autolite Nationals continues at 11:45 a.m. PDT on Saturday. Eliminations begin on Sunday.
FRIDAY’S RESULTS
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.
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