Kalitta joins exclusive 2010 Top Fuel win club
Sunday, 25 July 2010
Allen Johnson raced to his first Pro Stock victory of the season and his third win in the last four years Sunday at Bandimere Speedway to finish off a successful weekend for his team at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals.
Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel), Robert Hight (Funny Car) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also were winners at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event.
Johnson took his eighth career Pro Stock win from the No. 1 qualifying position when he outran Jeg Coughlin Jr. in the final round. Johnson powered his Mopar Dodge Avenger to a 6.974 second run at 198.26 mph to finish in front of Coughlin, whose JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt slowed at mid-track and posted a 7.858 at 135.09 mph.
"We’ve got an awesome setup for this track," Johnson said. "The engine guys do an unbelievable job on the motors for this place. I’d like to race every race here. To go up against Jeg in the final, I knew I had to be on my game. Fortunately I was able to do it today."
Johnson continued to solidify his claim to second place in the final regular season Pro Stock points order with his effort this weekend and is showing that he will be one of the top challengers for the Pro Stock championship in the playoffs.
"We’ve got to continue this pace and be aggressive and go toward that championship and hopefully pull it off," Johnson said.
Kalitta scored his first win of the season in Top Fuel and joined uncle Connie Kalitta and late cousin Scott Kalitta as winners at the high-altitude drag strip. Kalitta posted a 3.963 at 308.35 in his Kalitta Motorsports dragster to beat Brandon Bernstein, who trailed with a 4.003 at 297.35 in his Copart/Lucas Oil dragster.
"Seeing that win light come on down there was real special and a great relief," Kalitta said. "This facility gets better and better. I am so glad to finally get a win here. We’ve been close a bunch of times and finally got it done today."
Hight earned his fourth victory of the season and 18th of his career in Funny Car as he outran team owner John Force in the final round. Hight’s Auto Club Ford Mustang finished in 4.215 at 296.05, just ahead of Force’s Castrol GTX High-Mileage Mustang, which ran 4.386 at 284.99.
"It’s a great win for us and we only have one more race to go before the Countdown," Hight said. "It is definitely a turnaround from last year when we went into Brainerd and wasn’t even qualified for the Countdown."
Hight took his second Bandimere win and closed the gap between series leader Force, who is now just 28 points ahead.
"This is the best season I’ve ever had," Hight said. "I’ve never won four races in a season. John and I are only separated by a little over one round and I am sure he’ll be ribbing me about it the next two weeks. You can see how bad John wants to win. He’s definitely on a mission. I am sure he’s happy for us, but you know he wanted to win."
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Hines claimed his third win of the season and 21st of his career by defeating Karen Stoffer in the final. Hines rode his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson to a 7.342 at 178.02 to hold off Stoffer’s GEICO Powersports Suzuki, which clocked a 7.402 at 175.94.
"My riding has really come around in the last three or four races," said Hines, who defeated rookie LE Tonglet, Jim Underdahl and top qualifier Michael Phillips in the first three rounds. "Every round we had to scratch for it. Karen is a tough competitor and she’s got her motorcycle turned around. The Suzuki’s were dominant all weekend, but our V-Rod was able to beat them today all four rounds."
Hines, a California native who spent all of his teenage years in Trinidad, Colo., says winning his second race at Bandimere is very special to him.
"I grew up three hours south of here and spent ages 10 to 20 here," Hines said. "I know this place as my home. To come back here and get a win on the mountain says a lot about my team. We didn’t have the best motorcycle all weekend, but we were able to get the job done."
The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series continues Aug. 12-15 at Brainerd (Minn.) International Raceway with the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals, the final race of the Countdown to 10, NHRA's regular season. The Countdown to 1, NHRA’s six-race championship playoffs, starts Sept. 1-6 with the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.
Final results from Denver:
Top Fuel:
ROUND ONE -- Brandon Bernstein, 3.962, 301.54 def. Cory McClenathan, 3.988, 310.55; Steve Torrence, 3.936, 306.19 def. Bob Vandergriff, 3.987, 291.32; Larry Dixon, 3.963, 301.27 def. Morgan Lucas, 6.285, 102.06; Antron Brown, 3.945, 308.07 def. Terry Haddock, 4.337, 241.50; Doug Kalitta, 3.920, 311.63 def. Terry McMillen, 4.066, 289.38; David Grubnic, 3.880, 314.17 def. Steven Chrisman, 4.214, 281.42; Tony Schumacher, 3.950, 313.00 def. Mike Strasburg, 4.410, 214.66; Rod Fuller, 3.981, 304.25 def. Shawn Langdon, 3.995, 305.29.
QUARTERFINALS -- Dixon, 3.966, 301.94 def. Schumacher, 4.005, 292.01; Bernstein, 3.975, 303.03 def. Brown, 4.035, 300.00; Kalitta, 3.936, 310.48 def. Torrence, 4.341, 252.57; Fuller, 4.549, 191.21 def. Grubnic, 4.630, 220.58;
SEMIFINALS -- Bernstein, 4.003, 300.13 def. Dixon, 4.440, 195.14; Kalitta, 3.967, 306.40 def. Fuller, 4.007, 302.82;
FINAL -- Kalitta, 3.963, 308.35 def. Bernstein, 4.003, 297.35.
Funny Car:
ROUND ONE -- Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger, 4.238, 295.92 def. Ashley Force Hood, Ford Mustang, 4.203, 299.40; Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.319, 286.25 def. James Day, Dodge Stratus, 6.700, 97.18; Del Worsham, Toyota Camry, 4.267, 298.67 def. Jeff Diehl, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.451, 277.54; John Force, Mustang, 4.221, 296.24 def. Paul Lee, Chevy Impala SS, 4.293, 290.13; Matt Hagan, Charger, 4.231, 294.18 def. Jack Wyatt, Stratus, 4.598, 259.96; Ron Capps, Charger, 4.204, 299.73 def. Tony Pedregon, Impala, 4.365, 272.83; Cruz Pedregon, Toyota Solara, 4.191, 301.20 def. Jeff Arend, Solara, 4.626, 206.51; Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 4.285, 294.37 def. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 5.241, 145.99;
QUARTERFINALS -- Hagan, 4.276, 289.69 def. Beckman, 4.336, 285.53; Hight, 4.251, 293.54 def. Capps, 4.235, 296.11; C. Pedregon, 4.282, 299.20 def. Worsham, 4.436, 295.53; Force, 4.280, 293.66 def. Tasca III, 4.292, 291.32;
SEMIFINALS -- Force, 4.287, 294.24 def. C. Pedregon, 4.793, 195.85; Hight, 4.218, 296.50 def. Hagan, 4.237, 290.51;
FINAL -- Hight, 4.215, 296.05 def. Force, 4.386, 284.99.
Pro Stock:
ROUND ONE -- Greg Anderson, Pontiac GXP, 7.029, 195.82 def. V. Gaines, Dodge Avenger, foul; Vinnie Deceglie, Avenger, 7.022, 197.19 def. Kurt Johnson, Chevy Cobalt, 7.040, 196.04; Shane Gray, GXP, 6.993, 196.19 def. Warren Johnson, GXP, 7.053, 196.07; Mike Edwards, GXP, 7.005, 196.19 def. Rodger Brogdon, GXP, 7.046, 195.87; Jeg Coughlin, Cobalt, 6.985, 196.93 def. Erica Enders, Ford Mustang, 11.138, 79.42; Ron Krisher, Cobalt, 7.014, 195.68 def. Jason Line, GXP, 7.027, 196.53; Allen Johnson, Avenger, 6.973, 197.83 def. Bob Yonke, GXP, 7.035, 195.51; Johnny Gray, GXP, 7.010, 196.47 def. Larry Morgan, Mustang, 7.028, 196.76;
QUARTERFINALS -- J. Gray, 7.024, 196.73 def. Edwards, foul; S. Gray, 7.033, 195.76 def. Krisher, 7.029, 195.79; Coughlin, 7.008, 196.44 def. Deceglie, 7.027, 197.02; A. Johnson, 6.998, 197.59 def. Anderson, 7.056, 194.80;
SEMIFINALS -- Coughlin, 6.999, 196.27 def. S. Gray, foul; A. Johnson, 6.997, 197.45 def. J. Gray, 7.033, 196.70;
FINAL -- A. Johnson, 6.974, 198.26 def. Coughlin, 7.858, 135.09.
Pro Stock Motorycle:
ROUND ONE -- Matt Smith, Buell, 7.326, 180.69 def. Hector Arana, Buell, 7.353, 181.25; David Hope, Buell, 7.360, 177.28 def. Shawn Gann, Buell, 7.404, 176.12; Craig Treble, Suzuki, 7.325, 180.84 def. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 7.281, 180.96; Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 7.283, 180.77 def. Angie Smith, Buell, foul; Jim Underdahl, Suzuki, 7.367, 165.46 def. Mike Berry, Buell, 7.473, 174.64; Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.288, 183.39 def. Katie Sullivan, Suzuki, foul; Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 7.302, 180.14 def. LE Tonglet, Suzuki, 7.407, 168.94; Michael Phillips, Suzuki, 7.310, 181.96 def. Redell Harris, Buell, 7.536, 175.78;
QUARTERFINALS -- Phillips, 7.289, 181.37 def. M. Smith, 7.344, 179.42; Hines, 7.350, 177.98 def. Underdahl, foul; Johnson, 7.328, 181.28 def. Hope, 7.398, 175.27; Stoffer, 7.320, 179.56 def. Treble, 7.409, 176.60;
SEMIFINALS -- Stoffer, 7.484, 175.34 def. Johnson, 7.847, 135.28; Hines, 7.355, 177.95 def. Phillips, foul;
FINAL -- Hines, 7.342, 178.02 def. Stoffer, 7.402, 175.94.
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
