Scelzi, Capps in Field But Force Fails to Qualify on First Attempt as Funny Car Championship Chase Nears Close
Fuller, Hight, Enders, and Schnitz lead qualifying at Auto Club NHRA Finals
POMONA, Calif. – Gary Scelzi and Ron Capps are qualified but John Force remains on the outside looking in after one qualifying session Thursday at the Auto Club NHRA Finals at historic Pomona Raceway.
The three drivers will settle the tightest Funny Car points chase in NHRA history during Sunday’s 11 a.m. eliminations at the $1.7 million race, the final of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.
Among the championship contenders in Funny Car, Capps qualified third in his Brut Dodge Stratus, while Scelzi drove his Mopar/Oakley Stratus to a sixth-place effort. Force was 19th overall, outside the 16-car starting order, after his Castrol GTX Start Up Ford Mustang lost traction at the start of his run.
Qualifying continues with one session Friday (2 p.m.) and two sessions on Saturday (11 a.m. and 2 p.m.). Entering this weekend’s event, Scelzi holds a two-point lead over Capps and is 28 in front of 13-time world champ Force.
“We know we’re in the show,” said Scelzi, who hopes to join Kenny Bernstein as the only drivers to win POWERade world championships in both Top Fuel and Funny Car. “Everything is good. Don’t worry about Force. He’s going to be fine, too. He’s playing with us.”
Capps is looking for his first world championship title after finishing second two times.
“It was nice to go down there side-by-side and to get in the show,” Capps said. “Force can go for the record, but over here we wanted to get in the show, for all of us.”
Force said early in the week that his team’s strategy was going to be to take some extra weight off his car and go for the national performance record, worth 20 bonus points.
“The conditions weren’t where we wanted ‘em and that’ll hurt us tomorrow because it’ll put us early (in the first qualifying session),” Force said. “We don’t change over one run. We’ve got a light race car and we have to put some weight back on it because last night it weighed too light. Some of the motor stuff we’re trying just hopped this thing up. It was running faster than Robert’s at the 60-foot mark but just wouldn’t go beyond.”
Rod Fuller, Robert Hight, Erica Enders, and Ryan Schnitz were qualifying leaders in their respective categories.
Fuller was quickest in Top Fuel, posting a 4.501-second run at 316.08 mph in his David Powers Homes dragster.
“We were pushing for a 4.40 run and it was on a better run than a 4.50 but the car made a weird dart on me at the top end because we lost an oil line that put oil under the left rear tire,” said Fuller, who dedicated his leading run to his mother Cathy, who underwent an emergency liver transplant yesterday at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. “It was probably on a 4.47 run. We only ran 316 mph and this car will usually run 329 or 330. That number won’t hold up for the No. 1 spot; I bet that the top six cars will be in the 4.40s before the end of qualifying. That’s OK because we plan on running a mid-4.40 before it’s over.”
Hight led Funny Car, posting a 4.745 at 323.66 in his Auto Club Ford Mustang.
“That run counted,” said Hight, who is one of the nominees for the Auto Club Road to the Future Award, which will be presented to the series’ top rookie Monday night at the NHRA Awards Ceremony near Palm Springs. “That’ll qualify no matter what. Now we have room to get after it. Hopefully John and Eric (Medlen) can learn from us and get John up there.”
Enders paced the Pro Stock order, covering the distance in 6.696 at 206.29 in her Slammers Ultimate Milk Chevy Cobalt. If she can hold onto the top spot, she would be the first woman to earn a No. 1 qualifying position in Pro Stock.
“It’s definitely awesome to be No. 1,” said Enders, also a nominee for the Road to the Future Award. “It’s a big improvement over the season-opener here. I’m really proud of my team for all of the progress we’ve made since (the U.S. Mac Tools Nationals at) Indy. We have been steadily improving our qualifying position and have been in the top half of the field the last four or five races.
“I’m not sure that run will hold up through qualifying for No. 1, but these are supposed to have been the best atmospheric conditions of the weekend. That also wasn’t our best run; I didn’t do a good job shifting and the car didn’t leave the line straight. I know that Greg and Jason and Kurt and Warren have more left in their cars as well.”
Schnitz rode his Muzzy.com Buell to the top of the Pro Stock Motorcycle order, posting a 7.072 at 185.13.
“It would be great to get up there and take some guys out and finish in the top five,” Schnitz said. “Making a good run on your first pass is important to get the data you need for the rest of the event. We had a really good pass and we can definitely use that information. Running that good early also shows your competition that you’re ready and on your game, and that they need to step up and get on theirs.”
Pro Stock Motorcycle series leader Andrew Hines qualified fifth and his closest competition, Harley-Davidson teammate GT Tonglet, qualified seventh. Hines, the defending series champ, leads Tonglet by 47 points entering the race.
POMONA, Calif. -- Results Thursday after qualifying for the 41st annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals at Pomona Raceway, final of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. Qualifying will continue Friday for Sunday's final eliminations.
Top Fuel -- 1. Rod Fuller, 4.501 seconds, 316.08 mph; 2. Tony Schumacher, 4.504, 328.78; 3. Melanie Troxel, 4.534, 326.63; 4. Larry Dixon, 4.549, 324.20; 5. Doug Herbert, 4.553, 317.79; 6. Doug Kalitta, 4.573, 324.75; 7. Morgan Lucas, 4.597, 283.49; 8. Cory McClenathan, 4.601, 323.81; 9. Brandon Bernstein, 4.672, 314.83; 10. Doug Foley, 4.673, 308.35; 11. Clay Millican, 4.696, 300.53; 12. Scott Weis, 4.748, 281.30; 13. Mike Strasburg, 4.822, 269.56; 14. Robert Reehl, 4.865, 297.02; 15. Jack Beckman, 4.989, 206.95; 16. David Grubnic, 6.428, 121.63.
Funny Car -- 1. Robert Hight, Ford Mustang, 4.745, 323.66; 2. Cruz Pedregon, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.760, 324.12; 3. Ron Capps, Dodge Stratus, 4.768, 326.63; 4. Eric Medlen, Mustang, 4.773, 324.51; 5. Tony Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.778, 322.58; 6. Gary Scelzi, Stratus, 4.778, 320.66; 7. Del Worsham, Monte Carlo, 4.782, 328.54; 8. Tommy Johnson Jr., Monte Carlo, 4.795, 321.81; 9. Whit Bazemore, Stratus, 4.800, 323.27; 10. Frank Pedregon, Stratus, 4.816, 278.23; 11. Gary Densham, Monte Carlo, 4.821, 318.24; 12. Jim Head, Stratus, 4.822, 323.89; 13. Dale Pulde, Pontiac Firebird, 5.009, 302.08; 14. Dale Creasy Jr., Monte Carlo, 5.381, 220.62; 15. Bob Gilbertson, Monte Carlo, 5.392, 191.67; 16. Bob Bode, Firebird, 5.590, 175.75.
Pro Stock -- 1. Erica Enders, Chevy Cobalt, 6.696, 206.29; 2. Kurt Johnson, Cobalt, 6.699, 206.64; 3. Jason Line, Pontiac GTO, 6.704, 206.67; 4. Greg Anderson, GTO, 6.714, 206.83; 5. Jeg Coughlin, Dodge Stratus, 6.719, 205.41; 6. Richie Stevens, Stratus, 6.729, 205.57; 7. Jim Yates, GTO, 6.730, 205.10; 8. Dave Connolly, Cobalt, 6.739, 205.44; 9. Warren Johnson, GTO, 6.741, 206.35; 10. V. Gaines, Stratus, 6.741, 205.38; 11. Mike Edwards, GTO, 6.750, 205.01; 12. Greg Stanfield, Chevy Cavalier, 6.750, 204.48; 13. Mark Pawuk, GTO, 6.760, 204.91; 14. Dave Howard, Cobalt, 6.763, 205.32; 15. Allen Johnson, Stratus, 6.763, 204.48; 16. Mike Thomas, Stratus, 6.765, 204.88.
Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1. Ryan Schnitz, Buell, 7.072, 185.13; 2. Chip Ellis, Buell, 7.091, 187.60; 3. Matt Smith, Buell, 7.097, 189.82; 4. Antron Brown, Suzuki, 7.141, 187.23; 5. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 7.155, 187.55; 6. Mike Berry, Kawasaki, 7.155, 185.21; 7. GT Tonglet, Harley-Davidson, 7.162, 186.85; 8. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.196, 185.18; 9. Geno Scali, Suzuki, 7.212, 186.43; 10. Joe DeSantis, Suzuki, 7.221, 185.41; 11. Tom Bradford, Buell, 7.229, 183.64; 12. Michael Phillips, Suzuki, 7.285, 188.02; 13. Angelle Sampey, Suzuki, 7.343, 183.17; 14. Chris Rivas, Buell, 7.348, 181.67; 15. Connie Cohen, Suzuki, 7.369, 178.95; 16. Blaine Hale, Suzuki, 7.370, 180.91.
