BRAINERD, Minn. - For one day anyway, the canopy vs. no canopy debate ended in a virtual tie.
Tony Schumacher was the provisional No. 1 qualifier in Top Fuel on Friday at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals, but not by much. Schumacher's enclosed cockpit U.S. Army dragster ran an identical elapsed time to Antron Brown's Mac Tools rail with an open cockpit, but Schumacher's slight speed advantage gave him the provisional pole.
"It takes some getting used to," Schumacher said of the canopy. "It's phenomenal, it's safe. We've been looking forward to this for a long time. The Army team did a great job of building this car.
"I have a cockpit on my car, Antron doesn't and we run the exact same number."
Other provisional No. 1s were Tim Wilkerson in Funny Car, Erica Enders in Pro Stock and Hector Arana Sr. in Pro Stock Motorcycle.
Schumacher and Brown ran identical 3.791-second passes, but Schumacher ran 323.97 mph to Brown's 323.74 mph.
"The advantage this car has is life expectancy," Schumacher said. "We're trying to make this car be the future (of safety). For the car to go fast and not miss a beat, it's a perfect situation."
Wilkerson has admittedly spend most of the season babying his Levi, Ray and Shoup Ford at events this season. That stops this weekend. Wilkerson let it all hang out and ran a 4.049-second lap at 307.16 mph to end Friday at the top of the heap.
"Because you don't want to make a mistake, you end up a little bit backwards and a little bit soft," Wilkserson said. "My wife and I talked about that on the way here: 'How did we do so well in our '08 season?' You know how did well? We didn't care: 'Really, don't make a big deal out of this. Run as good as you can every weekend and quit being a sissy. Just go out there and hit the thing hard. Mark McGwire doesn't walk up there and go, 'I'm going to get a single.' We've changed our mentality."
Enders, fresh off a win in Seattle last time out, guided her KLR Group Chevy to a best pass of 6.550 seconds at 210.37 mph.
"The guys back at the shop have been doing a lot of hard work on R&D stuff in the engine department," Enders said. "It's showing on the scoreboard. I'm really proud of them, and the hard work is starting to pay off. It couldn't be coming at a better time.
"This morning, we kind of just wanted to get down the race track and gather everything and see where we stood. Tonight, we tried to swing for the fence, and it worked."
If it holds it would be Enders' first No. 1 of the season.
"There's certainly no lack of confidence in my guys," Enders said. "We run early tomorrow, so it'll probably be a little bit cooler. We put a hundredth on A.J. tonight. I don't know what kind of run he made; ours was pretty good, but we do have room for improvement. We'll set up tomorrow like we're defending it and see if we can stay on top."
Arana is no stranger to the to the No. 1 qualifier position and he's in line after a best lap of 6.884 seconds at 192.63 mph aboard the Lucas Oil Buell.
"I was surprised my first run was an .88," Arana said. "I just couldn't believe it. But the bike hooked up and left good. I'm really pleased with the preparation of this track. But it's always been great over here.
"There's something special over here. It's not just the track, but the people working the track, the Safety Safari, the fans – it's just like the whole attitude is different. It seems like they're more relaxed, like we're supposed to enjoy this. That's the feeling that I get. I'm having a great time and things are just falling into place."
Saturday's two qualifying sessions get under way at 11:30 a.m. CDT from Brainerd International Raceway.
FRIDAY'S RESULTS
Top Fuel
1. Tony Schumacher, 3.791 seconds, 323.97 mph; 2. Antron Brown, 3.791, 323.74; 3. Morgan Lucas, 3.800, 322.81; 4. Spencer Massey, 3.837, 319.14; 5. Shawn Langdon, 3.848, 318.09; 6. Clay Millican, 3.858, 317.94; 7. Khalid alBalooshi, 3.862, 283.25; 8. Brandon Bernstein, 3.872, 306.12; 9. Cory McClenathan, 3.895, 309.20; 10. Steve Torrence, 3.896, 308.99; 11. Terry McMillen, 3.907, 294.75; 12. David Grubnic, 3.914, 303.09. Not Qualified: 13. Scott Palmer, 3.946, 290.63; 14. Keith Murt, 3.950, 301.47; 15. Chris Karamesines, 3.959, 294.50; 16. Tim Cullinan, 3.983, 291.57; 17. Bruce Litton, 3.995, 247.97; 18. Doug Kalitta, 4.042, 233.20; 19. Bob Vandergriff, 4.402, 184.88; 20. Dom Lagana, 5.789, 110.81; 21. Luigi Novelli, 7.753, 82.77.
Funny Car
1. Tim Wilkerson, Ford Mustang, 4.049, 307.16; 2. John Force, Mustang, 4.067, 311.85; 3. Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger, 4.073, 310.48; 4. Cruz Pedregon, Toyota Camry, 4.076, 311.85; 5. Matt Hagan, Charger, 4.087, 304.94; 6. Alexis DeJoria, Camry, 4.090, 308.92; 7. Mike Neff, Mustang, 4.090, 306.12; 8. Johnny Gray, Charger, 4.098, 311.20; 9. Jim Head, Toyota Solara, 4.119, 306.19; 10. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 4.132, 308.21; 11. Courtney Force, Mustang, 4.138, 310.41; 12. Ron Capps, Charger, 4.138, 302.41. Not Qualified: 13. Robert Hight, 4.146, 303.37; 14.Jeff Arend, 4.160, 297.61; 15. Bob Bode, 4.171, 297.61; 16. Tony Pedregon, 4.184, 295.08; 17. Todd Lesenko, 4.230, 285.95; 18. Dale Creasy Jr., 4.234, 288.39.
Pro Stock
1. Erica Enders, Chevy Cobalt, 6.550, 210.50; 2. Allen Johnson, Dodge Avenger, 6.560, 210.87; 3. Mike Edwards, Pontiac GXP, 6.573, 210.41; 4. Vincent Nobile, Avenger, 6.576, 209.56; 5. Greg Anderson, Chevy Camaro, 6.582, 210.54; 6. Ron Krisher, GXP, 6.583, 209.43; 7. V. Gaines, Avenger, 6.584, 209.75; 8. Ronnie Humphrey, GXP, 6.585, 209.30; 9. Jason Line, Camaro, 6.590, 209.07; 10. Jeg Coughlin, Avenger, 6.597, 209.79; 11. Warren Johnson, GXP, 6.601, 209.20; 12. Mark Martino, GXP, 6.604, 209.56. Not Qualified: 13. Rodger Brogdon, 6.624, 208.14; 14. Chris McGaha, 6.633, 207.75; 15. Shane Gray, 6.635, 207.50; 16. Larry Morgan, 6.637, 208.46; 17. Mark Hogan, 6.722, 205.07; 18. Kurt Johnson, 7.410, 196.59.
Pro Stock Motorcycle
1. Hector Arana, Buell, 6.884, 192.82; 2. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.887, 193.57; 3. Hector Arana Jr, Buell, 6.905, 192.71; 4. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.909, 192.77; 5. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 6.918, 192.30; 6. LE Tonglet, Suzuki, 6.948, 192.08; 7. Scotty Pollacheck, Buell, 6.952, 189.71; 8. John Hall, Buell, 6.964, 190.86; 9. Michael Ray, Buell, 6.966, 190.03; 10. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.978, 190.94; 11. Matt Smith, Buell, 6.980, 188.15; 12. Jim Underdahl, Suzuki, 6.981, 192.25. Not Qualified: 13. Mike Berry, 6.987, 190.59; 14. Shawn Gann, 7.002, 191.35; 15. Chip Ellis, 7.032, 189.18; 16. Michael Phillips, 7.104, 190.65; 17. Buddy Robinson, 7.431, 177.14.
