DOUG KALITTA EARNS TOP FUEL NO. 1 QUALIFIER AT SEARS CRAFTSMAN NHRA NATIONALS

Gary Scelzi, Kurt Johnson and Andrew Hines lead their categories

MADISON, Ill. – POWERade Series Top Fuel points leader Doug Kalitta earned the No. 1 qualifying position at the Sears Craftsman NHRA Nationals with a 4.564-second pass in the fourth and final round of qualifying Saturday night at Gateway Raceway.

The other top qualifiers are Gary Scelzi in Funny Car (4.797 seconds, 325.14 mph), Kurt Johnson in Pro Stock (6.750, 204.14) and Andrew Hines in Pro Stock Motorcycle (7.114, 186.72).

It was the third No. 1 qualifier this season and 26th in his career for Doug Kalitta, who is a three-time and back-to-back winner at the Sears Craftsman Nationals, the 12th of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Series.

“I’ve been very fortunate here,” said Kalitta, who drives the Mac Tools dragster. “If I ever figure it out, I’ll let you know.”

Kalitta will enter final eliminations today beginning at 4:30 p.m. with a 62-point lead over the U.S. Army dragster driven by Tony Schumacher (qualified second), and a 68-point lead over the Miller Lite dragster driven by Larry Dixon (qualified fourth).

“The car was strong,” Kalitta said. “We had a nice car and we ended up with a nice run.”

As good as Kalitta has been at Gateway Raceway, Scelzi has been even better in his Mopar/Oakley Dodge Stratus with four wins overall, three in Top Fuel and one in Funny Car.

“This has got to be the absolute best I’ve done at any race track, even Pomona, but tomorrow’s going to be anyone’s game,” Scelzi said.

“We went for the pole tonight, that was the plan,” he said.

Kurt Johnson, who earned his first No. 1 qualifying position of the season the previous weekend at the K&N Filters NHRA Supernationals, set the number in his Friday night run and it held up all day Saturday.

Johnson, who drives the ACDelco Chevy Cobalt, is coming off of a weekend in which he had the top car through qualifying and won two rounds before he spun his tires against his father Warren Johnson in the semifinals.

“It’s all hills and valleys out here so you’ve got to take it while you can get it,” said Johnson, who is currently in fifth place in the POWERade series Pro Stock standings.

Hines’ Vance & Hines Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson was the top motorcycle all weekend as he turned in the best run in all four rounds of qualifying.

“If we can keep it up this weekend, we will be a tough team to beat,” Hines said.

MADISON, Ill. -- First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for the Ninth annual Sears Craftsman NHRA Nationals at Gateway International Raceway, the 12th of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday.

Top Fuel -- 1. Doug Kalitta, 4.564 seconds, 325.85 mph vs. 16. Mike Strasburg, 4.959, 286.92; 2. Tony Schumacher, 4.580, 328.30 vs. 15. Tim Gibson, 4.956, 228.85; 3. Morgan Lucas, 4.588, 323.19 vs. 14. Mitch King, 4.874, 281.13; 4. Larry Dixon, 4.601, 322.58 vs. 13. Scott Weis, 4.752, 293.54; 5. Brandon Bernstein, 4.602, 326.79 vs. 12. T.J. Zizzo, 4.747, 300.40; 6. Rod Fuller, 4.604, 318.77 vs. 11. Bobby Lagana Jr., 4.707, 319.14; 7. David Grubnic, 4.607, 322.34 vs. 10. Cory McClenathan, 4.694, 322.73; 8. Scott Kalitta, 4.616, 322.65 vs. 9. Doug Herbert, 4.683, 301.20.

Funny Car -- 1. Gary Scelzi, Dodge Stratus, 4.797, 325.14 vs. 16. Terry Haddock, Chevy Camaro, 5.001, 310.63; 2. Ron Capps, Stratus, 4.799, 323.35 vs. 15. John Force, Ford Mustang, 4.931, 309.98; 3. Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.808, 316.82 vs. 14. Phil Burkart, Toyota Celica, 4.919, 303.84; 4. Cruz Pedregon, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.834, 317.79 vs. 13. Jeff Arend, Monte Carlo, 4.912, 315.19; 5. Eric Medlen, Mustang, 4.842, 316.30 vs. 12. Gary Densham, Monte Carlo, 4.904, 318.17; 6. Whit Bazemore, Stratus, 4.847, 320.66 vs. 11. Tony Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.902, 314.97; 7. Del Worsham, Monte Carlo, 4.855, 313.07 vs. 10. Tony Bartone, Monte Carlo, 4.893, 305.70; 8. Tim Wilkerson, Monte Carlo, 4.863, 317.79 vs. 9. Tommy Johnson Jr., Monte Carlo, 4.887, 318.32.

Pro Stock -- 1. Kurt Johnson, Chevy Cobalt, 6.750, 204.14 vs. 16. Kenny Koretsky, Dodge Stratus, 6.817, 201.61; 2. Greg Anderson, Pontiac Grand Am, 6.756, 204.01 vs. 15. Jim Yates, Grand Am, 6.814, 201.97; 3. Warren Johnson, Grand Am, 6.757, 203.89 vs. 14. Larry Morgan, Stratus, 6.809, 202.97; 4. Jason Line, Grand Am, 6.771, 203.16 vs. 13. Dave Howard, Cobalt, 6.803, 202.52; 5. Richie Stevens, Stratus, 6.772, 203.43 vs. 12. Greg Stanfield, Chevy Cavalier, 6.798, 202.79; 6. Dave Connolly, Cobalt, 6.778, 203.28 vs. 11. Rickie Smith, Cavalier, 6.797, 202.73; 7. Jeg Coughlin, Stratus, 6.785, 203.19 vs. 10. V. Gaines, Stratus, 6.797, 203.00; 8. Ron Krisher, Cobalt, 6.793, 202.64 vs. 9. Allen Johnson, Stratus, 6.796, 202.06.

Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 7.114, 192.71 vs. 16. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 7.305, 183.29; 2. Antron Brown, Suzuki, 7.120, 189.26 vs. 15. Hector Arana, Suzuki, 7.303, 186.07; 3. Ryan Schnitz, Buell, 7.146, 190.78 vs. 14. Mike Berry, Suzuki, 7.252, 185.31; 4. Chip Ellis, Buell, 7.158, 187.44 vs. 13. Michael Phillips, Suzuki, 7.250, 184.27; 5. Angelle Sampey, Suzuki, 7.162, 185.87 vs. 12. Matt Smith, Suzuki, 7.248, 185.69; 6. GT Tonglet, Harley-Davidson, 7.175, 186.92 vs. 11. Geno Scali, Suzuki, 7.241, 186.72; 7. Chris Rivas, Buell, 7.178, 186.07 vs. 10. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.233, 186.02; 8. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 7.197, 187.47 vs. 9. Shawn Gann, Suzuki, 7.220, 185.38.