Gugliotta's Track Record Highlights Spring Nationals Qualifying
Sunday Finals Will Crown Four Pro Champions at Rockingham Dragway
ROCKINGHAM, N.C. - Frank Gugliotta upstaged reigning series champion John Nobile and defending event champion John Montecalvo Saturday by driving his 2004 Ford Escort to a Rockingham Dragway track record in qualifying for Sunday's 35th annual IHRA Spring Nationals.
In recording a career best time of 6.412 seconds at 214.59 miles per hour, the Mt. Airy, Md., driver established himself as the Pro Stock favorite on Sunday. In addition to Pro Stock, Sunday's single elimination finals will crown Spring Nationals champions in Top Fuel, Pro Modified, Pro Stock and seven Pro-Am categories.
Other top qualifiers Saturday were Doug Foley of Sewell, N.J., at 4.657 seconds, 307.75 mph; Quain Stott of Columbus, S.C., at 6.161 seconds, 229.18 mph in Pro Modified; and Rob Atchison of London, Ontario, Calif., at 5.751 seconds, 240.94 mph in Funny Car.
Gugliotta's time broke the Pro Stock track record of 6.435 set by Nobile during qualifying for the 2004 IHRA World Finals, an event in which he clinched his first series title. Thanks to Gugliotta, Tony Gillig of Lake Bluff, Ill., Peter Berner of Crete, Ill., and Robert Patrick of Fredericksburg, Va., Fords occupied the top four positions in the Pro Stock qualifying order.
The highest qualified non-Ford was the Chevrolet Cobalt of Dodge expatriate Rick Jones of Galesburg, Ill., which wound up fifth at 6.468, 214.25 mph.
"Actually we were shooting for 6.42-6.43," Gugliotta said. "It actually came up a little quicker than that. The track was good. It held. Tomorrow they're talking about it's going to be colder so what we're starting to worry about is track temperature."
Gugliotta said that the track temperature was in the low 70s when he made his record run on Friday. If it's another 10 degrees cooler Sunday, that could be a problem, he said. Gugliotta, one of a half dozen Pro Stock drivers with the potential to be the first to officially break the 6.40 barrier, said he thought he had a real shot at that milestone on his record-breaking qualifying run.
"I was thinking 6.30s right there, to be honest with you," he said. "When I put it in high gear, I thought, 'maybe.' But if the track is good (Sunday), '30s are (still) possible. There's a lot of cars that could do it, but I'm not going to be thinking '30s, at least not in the first round," Gugliotta said. "We're going to try to (win) rounds tomorrow."
While reigning series champions Clay Millican of Drummonds, Tenn., Atchison and Nobile put themselves in position to challenge on Sunday, problems continued for 2004 IHRA/Hooters Pro Modified Champion Mike Janis of Lancaster, N.Y., who failed to qualify for the second time in as many 2005 races.
The defending Spring Nationals champion, Janis never was able to make a representative qualifying run in the 2005 Dodge Stratus he debuted earlier this month in the IHRA Texas Nationals at San Antonio. Instead, he watched from the sidelines as Stott set the qualifying pace on Saturday.
Stott is racing with a motor named after his late father, Bob Stott.
"Daddy died three of four months ago and we were just in the process of building a new engine at the time," Stott said, "so we decided to name it after him because we always name our engines. So that one's 'Bob.'
"It's tough (racing without him), but we'll do it in his memory," Stott continued. "He enjoyed it and we're just going to carry on just for that reason. Momma's coming tomorrow, so that'll be neat to have her here. Hopefully, we'll run good and make it a really good tribune to him."
"We went out soft on the first (qualifying) round," Stott acknowledged, "because we didn't know what the weather was going to do. I was expecting a 6.18. I wasn't expecting a .16. The track was better than I thought it would be. The track was just super. It was perfect. I shifted late on that run (or) it would have been worth another hundredth.
"I didn't go out there on 'kill,'" he admitted. "I went out there for a good baseline, consistent run and it just happened to be a .16. I know if I'd run .13 or .14, I would have been on kill and I wouldn't have known what to do tomorrow. But all winter we worked on consistency and I think we've got it. These things are so temperamental. You never make them perfect, but (right now) it's a slot car. It goes right down the racetrack.
"We'll get outrun some, but I think we'll be the most consistent car."
Millican, who on Sunday will try to extend his Rockingham Dragway winning streak to eight consecutive races, appeared to be well on his way to yet another No. 1 qualifying performance in Top Fuel only to be upstaged by Foley, who, for his efforts, will oppose 74-year-old legend Chris Karamesines of Chicago in round one.
Foley, the surprise No. 1 in Top Fuel, credited track preparation, as well as the weather, for his performance.
"The air was good and the track was good," Foley said. "We knew Clay was going to go after it, so we just wanted to keep pace. I think the corrected altitude (in the last session) was at under a thousand feet and the track, they kept it in good condition (despite several interruptions in the action).
"We knew it would run," Foley said. "(The crew) said it may shake so I took a quick pedal at it to make sure it got to the other end. You see the mile an hour, it was pretty low considering it was a 4.65.
"I've never had success against (Clay) in qualifying, but to be 2-0 against him in final rounds is a good start. We built a car to run with Clay and it seems to be slowly coming around."
In fact, barring upsets, the two could wind up in a rematch of significance late Sunday afternoon.
"We weren't out there trying to set the world on its end," Atchison said of his No. 1 effort in Funny Car. "We went out there just trying to get down the racetrack. That was really our race day setup because we're anticipating that kind of weather (on Sunday)."
ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for the 35th annual IHRA Spring Nationals presented by Advance Auto Parts and Castrol at Rockingham Dragway, the second of 12 events in the 2005 Hooters IHRA Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday.
Top Fuel -- 1. Doug Foley, 4.657 seconds, 307.79 mph vs. 8. Chris Karamesines, 5.572, 171.73; 2. Clay Millican, 4.701, 304.12 vs. 7. Paul Athey, 5.398, 248.48; 3. Bobby Lagana Jr., 4.754, 306.12 vs. 6. Bruce Litton, 5.184, 219.51; 4. Rick Cooper, 4.761, 284.56 vs. 5. Roger Dean, 5.069, 269.51.
Pro Modified -- 1. Quain Stott, Chevy Corvette, 6.161, 229.98 vs. 16. Keith Baker, Corvette, 6.336, 218.69; 2. Shannon Jenkins, Chevy Camaro, 6.196, 225.07 vs. 15. Dan Parker, Corvette, 6.333, 221.60; 3. John Russo, Camaro, 6.205, 226.54 vs. 14. Charles Carpenter, Chevy Bel Air, 6.332, 220.62; 4. Harold Martin, Pontiac Grand Am, 6.220, 224.06 vs. 13. Steve Vick, Camaro, 6.323, 221.71; 5. Rickie Smith, Corvette, 6.226, 221.20 vs. 12. Pat Stoken, Camaro, 6.321, 218.19; 6. Ed Hoover, Corvette, 6.245, 226.16 vs. 11. Al Billes, Corvette, 6.312, 226.09; 7. Dennis Radford, Corvette, 6.245, 222.33 vs. 10. Mike Castellana, Chevy Cavalier, 6.300, 222.14; 8. Eddie Ware, Willys, 6.245, 221.96 vs. 9. Jim Halsey, Camaro, 6.262, 223.28.
Funny Car -- 1. Rob Atchison, Pontiac Firebird, 5.751, 240.94 vs. 8. Tony Bogolo, Ford Mustang, 5.886, 233.64; 2. Mark Thomas, Dodge Avenger, 5.825, 240.68 vs. 7. Terry Munroe, Firebird, 5.877, 238.93; 3. Thomas Carter, Chevy Camaro, 5.844, 238.34 vs. 6. Chris Foster, Avenger, 5.858, 239.19; 4. Jim Sickles, Avenger, 5.844, 238.30 vs. 5. Melinda Green-King, Avenger, 5.853, 236.59.
Pro Stock -- 1. Frank Gugliotta, Ford Escort, 6.412, 214.59 vs. 16. Larry O'Brien, Dodge Stratus, 6.547, 212.16; 2. Tony Gillig, Ford Mustang, 6.433, 214.69 vs. 15. Chuck DeMory, Escort, 6.539, 210.47; 3. Pete Berner, Mustang, 6.462, 213.84 vs. 14. Frank Snellings, Mercury Cougar, 6.536, 211.96; 4. Robert Patrick, Mustang, 6.464, 213.16 vs. 13. Tommy Franklin, Chevy Cavalier, 6.531, 212.59; 5. Rick Jones, Chevy Cobalt, 6.468, 214.25 vs. 12. Brian Gahm, Mustang, 6.526, 213.16; 6. Daniel Seamon, Escort, 6.473, 215.86 vs. 11. Elijah Morton, Mustang, 6.508, 212.06; 7. John Nobile, Ford ZX2, 6.480, 213.77 vs. 10. Steve Spiess, Cavalier, 6.492, 213.84; 8. Jerry Haas, Cavalier, 6.485, 213.60 vs. 9. John Montecalvo, Cobalt, 6.490, 212.46.
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