Scelzi, Kalitta and Johnson win O’Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway

BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Gary Scelzi claimed the Funny Car victory in an upset-filled day of racing Sunday at the O’Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals presented by Q-Racing at Bristol Dragway.

Doug Kalitta and Warren Johnson also were winners at the $1.5 million race the sixth of 23 events at the $1.5 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

Scelzi drove a consistently quick Mopar/Oakley Dodge Stratus to defeat Jeff Arend in the final round and claim his first win of the season and the 30th of his career. Scelzi clocked a 4.815 at 329.26 in his machine to hold off Arend’s CMKX Chevy Monte Carlo, which posted a 4.971 at 282.42 in his first final round in nearly a decade.

While Funny Car points leader Whit Bazemore and 13-time champ John Force lost in the first round, Scelzi took advantage with early round wins over Gary Densham, Tommy Johnson Jr. and Jack Wyatt, before ousting Arend in the final.

"Everyone gets nervous when you see the big upsets and you see all the tire smoke like we did today,” Scelzi said. “If you went up there weak this track was gonna get you. There were so many upsets that no one knew who was gonna win. Winning Bristol was special for me. This place has a lot of meaning and it was one of the few places left where I hadn't won so it's good to get it done.”

Scelzi moved to fourth in the point standings with the victory, while Bazemore held onto the series lead.

Kalitta used a holeshot start to earn his 21st career Top Fuel victory and move into the series lead in his category. Kalitta powered his Mac Tools dragster to a 4.593 at 322.50 to hold off the quicker and faster David Powers Homes dragster of first-time finalist Rod Fuller.

“What a final,” said Kalitta of his second win of the season. “It's always good to win on a holeshot but to do it when I was probably pretty shallow is really something. I'd like to think we have one of the best cars in the class but I can't say it's the best car just yet. There are too many other great cars out there. I do have confidence in our ability to win any race we enter.”

Kalitta defeated Bruce Litton, David Grubnic and Scott Palmer to advance to the final and earn his second Bristol Dragway victory. Kalitta was happy to take advantage of a rare first round loss for defending series champ Tony Schumacher.

“I usually don't look at the points during a race,” Kalitta said. “I save that for during the week. But I knew Tony went out in the first round and I knew we had better do all we can to take advantage of the situation because they don't give you many chances.”

Johnson, 61, earned his 94th Pro Stock victory and second of the season in his GM Performance Parts Pontiac when final round opponent Richie Stevens fouled at the start in his Team Mopar HEMI-powered Dodge Stratus.

“There's no such thing as a bad win or a good loss the way I've always approached this business,” said Johnson. “This is the way we make our living, but the biggest thing was the great turnout of race fans that we had here today. After this track was taken over by Bruton (Smith) and his group they obviously made it into one of the best facilities on the tour. It really doesn't resemble what it was in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s when I raced here before other than the mountains are still here, but even those have been moved back.”

Johnson defeated Allen Johnson, Jason Line and Kurt Johnson in early rounds. With the win, the six-time world champion moves back into the series points lead.

“Our first intention is to win this championship for GM Performance Parts and Pontiac and everybody that's supported us over the years,” said Johnson. “That would be the ideal scenario. Last season was a dismal year for us, and for the sponsors, but they stuck with us and thankfully it's coming around. We're not banking on winning the championship but we're certainly working very hard at it.”

The NHRA POWERade Series continues with the 25th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals, May 12-15 at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Ga.

BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Final finish order (1-16) for professional categories at the fifth annual O'Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals presented by Q-Racing at Bristol Dragway. The 1.5 million race is the sixth of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

TOP FUEL:

1. Doug Kalitta; 2. Rod Fuller; 3. Scott Weis; 4. Scott Palmer; 5. Larry Dixon; 6. Brandon Bernstein; 7. David Grubnic; 8. John Smith; 9. Doug Herbert; 10. Scott Kalitta; 11. Mitch King; 12. Tony Schumacher; 13. Bruce Litton; 14. Cory McClenathan; 15. David Baca; 16. Morgan Lucas.

FUNNY CAR:

1. Gary Scelzi, Dodge Stratus; 2. Jeff Arend, Chevy Monte Carlo; 3. Cruz Pedregon, Monte Carlo; 4. Jack Wyatt, Pontiac Firebird; 5. Tommy Johnson Jr., Monte Carlo; 6. Eric Medlen, Ford Mustang; 7. Tony Pedregon, Monte Carlo; 8. Tim Wilkerson, Monte Carlo; 9. Del Worsham, Monte Carlo; 10. Gary Densham, Monte Carlo; 11. Whit Bazemore, Stratus; 12. John Force, Mustang; 13. Robert Hight, Mustang; 14. Bob Gilbertson, Monte Carlo; 15. Tony Bartone, Monte Carlo; 16. Ron Capps, Stratus.

PRO STOCK:

1. Warren Johnson, Pontiac Grand Am; 2. Richie Stevens, Dodge Stratus; 3. Kurt Johnson, Chevy Cobalt; 4. V. Gaines, Stratus; 5. Dave Connolly, Chevy Cavalier; 6. Jason Line, Grand Am; 7. Rickie Smith, Cavalier; 8. Jim Yates, Grand Am; 9. Greg Anderson, Grand Am; 10. Mike Edwards, Grand Am; 11. Jeg Coughlin, Stratus; 12. Allen Johnson, Stratus; 13. Ben Watson, Cavalier; 14. Ron Krisher, Cavalier; 15. Kenny Koretsky, Stratus; 16. Greg Stanfield, Cavalier.

BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Sunday's final results from the Fifth annual O'Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals presented by Q-Racing at Bristol Dragway. The $1.5 million race is the sixth of 23 in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series:

Top Fuel -- Doug Kalitta, 4.593 seconds, 322.50 mph def. Rod Fuller, 4.588 seconds, 327.35 mph.

Funny Car -- Gary Scelzi, Dodge Stratus, 4.815, 329.26 def. Jeff Arend, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.971, 282.42.

Pro Stock -- Warren Johnson, Pontiac Grand Am, 6.756, 203.89 def. Richie Stevens, Dodge Stratus, foul.

Competition Eliminator -- Tony Stephenson, Chevy Cavalier, 10.704, 85.14 def. Paul Pittman, Pontiac Firebird, 8.709, 107.99.

Super Stock -- Andy Fogle, Chevy Cavalier, 9.444, 142.63 def. Rick Young, Chevy Camaro, 9.650, 138.77.

Stock Eliminator -- Clint Blezien, Chevy Camaro, 12.256, 101.64 def. Lee Zane, Buick Apollo, 11.968, 107.75.

Super Gas -- Tom Seemann, Pontiac Firebird, 9.896, 146.07 def. Ronnie Duke, Chevy Beretta, 9.893, 160.29.

BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Final round-by-round results from the Fifth annual O'Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals presented by Q-Racing at Bristol Dragway, the sixth of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series -

TOP FUEL:

ROUND ONE -- Scott Weis, 5.239, 195.08 def. Cory McClenathan, 9.014, 98.98; Larry Dixon, 4.557, 327.43 def. Doug Herbert, 4.604, 321.42; Doug Kalitta, 6.873, 148.05 def. Bruce Litton, foul; Rod Fuller, 4.548, 323.97 def. Mitch King, 4.801, 301.87; John Smith, 4.583, 319.67 def. Scott Kalitta, 4.627, 321.42; David Grubnic, 5.248, 260.26 def. Tony Schumacher, 6.488, 179.18; Scott Palmer, 4.679, 325.69 def. Morgan Lucas, 13.416, 67.29; Brandon Bernstein, 4.512, 331.04 def. David Baca, 11.794, 81.19;

QUARTERFINALS -- D. Kalitta, 4.678, 302.14 def. Grubnic, foul; Palmer, 4.661, 317.42 def. Dixon, 4.678, 304.39; Fuller, 4.687, 310.05 def. Smith, no time, no speed; Weis, 4.668, 302.28 def. Bernstein, 4.993, 274.05;

SEMIFINALS -- Fuller, 4.607, 324.75 def. Weis, foul; D. Kalitta, 4.567, 322.88 def. Palmer, 7.194, 122.97;

FINAL -- D. Kalitta, 4.593, 322.50 def. Fuller, 4.588, 327.35.

FUNNY CAR:

ROUND ONE -- Tommy Johnson Jr., Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.913, 316.08 def. Whit Bazemore, Dodge Stratus, 5.144, 302.14; Tony Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.936, 308.64 def. Del Worsham, Monte Carlo, 4.951, 310.98; Cruz Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 6.098, 221.27 def. John Force, Ford Mustang, 7.096, 137.19; Eric Medlen, Mustang, 9.209, 178.78 def. Ron Capps, Stratus, 9.804, 187.00; Jack Wyatt, Pontiac Firebird, 7.016, 218.51 def. Robert Hight, Mustang, 7.837, 174.12; Gary Scelzi, Stratus, 4.791, 325.37 def. Gary Densham, Monte Carlo, 5.141, 231.36; Tim Wilkerson, Monte Carlo, 4.863, 304.67 def. Bob Gilbertson, Monte Carlo, 9.140, 107.61; Jeff Arend, Monte Carlo, 5.000, 256.99 def. Tony Bartone, Monte Carlo, 9.439, 102.47;

QUARTERFINALS -- Arend, 4.896, 320.58 def. Medlen, 5.453, 197.65; C. Pedregon, 4.842, 314.24 def. T. Pedregon, 7.581, 112.87; Wyatt, 5.294, 237.34 def. Wilkerson, 13.659, 90.91; Scelzi, 5.134, 244.25 def. Johnson Jr., 5.185, 273.22;

SEMIFINALS -- Scelzi, 4.818, 322.19 def. Wyatt, 9.389, 84.85; Arend, 4.905, 310.91 def. C. Pedregon, 8.132, 112.19;

FINAL -- Scelzi, 4.815, 329.26 def. Arend, 4.971, 282.42.

PRO STOCK:

ROUND ONE -- Richie Stevens, Dodge Stratus, 6.754, 203.98 def. Greg Anderson, Pontiac Grand Am, 6.763, 203.40; Jason Line, Grand Am, 6.780, 203.25 def. Mike Edwards, Grand Am, foul; V. Gaines, Stratus, 6.805, 203.16 def. Kenny Koretsky, Stratus, 6.845, 197.65; Rickie Smith, Chevy Cavalier, 6.763, 203.40 def. Greg Stanfield, Cavalier, 12.113, 70.70; Jim Yates, Grand Am, 6.763, 203.43 def. Jeg Coughlin, Stratus, 6.778, 204.42; Kurt Johnson, Chevy Cobalt, 6.747, 204.17 def. Ben Watson, Cavalier, 6.806, 200.68; Warren Johnson, Grand Am, 6.749, 204.39 def. Allen Johnson, Stratus, 6.796, 202.21; Dave Connolly, Cavalier, 6.782, 204.08 def. Ron Krisher, Cavalier, foul;

QUARTERFINALS -- Gaines, 6.804, 202.45 def. Yates, 6.805, 203.16; Stevens, 6.750, 204.05 def. Connolly, 6.755, 204.45; K. Johnson, 6.745, 204.05 def. Smith, 6.781, 203.06; W. Johnson, 6.715, 03.83 def. Line, 6.756, 203.52;

SEMIFINALS -- Stevens, 6.756, 203.68 def. Gaines, 6.801, 202.85; W. Johnson, 6.757, 204.29 def. K. Johnson, 6.759, 204.05;

FINAL -- W. Johnson, 6.756, 203.89 def. Stevens, foul.

BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional categories following the Fifth nnual O'Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals presented by Q-Racing at Bristol Dragway, the sixth of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series -

Top Fuel

1. Doug Kalitta, 474; 2. Tony Schumacher, 451; 3. Larry Dixon, 405; 4. Morgan Lucas, 370; 5. David Grubnic, 366; 6. Cory McClenathan, 343; 7. Scott Kalitta, 323; 8. Doug Herbert, 321; 9. Brandon Bernstein, 304; 10. Rod Fuller, 244.

Funny Car

1. Whit Bazemore, 433; 2. John Force, 375; 3. Cruz Pedregon, 373; 4. Gary Scelzi, 370; 5. Robert Hight, 360; 6. Tommy Johnson Jr., 319; 7. Eric Medlen, 308; 8. Ron Capps, 294; 9. Bob Gilbertson, 292; 10. Del Worsham, 280.

Pro Stock

1. Warren Johnson, 536; 2. Dave Connolly, 486; 3. Jason Line, 379; 4. Greg Anderson, 365; 5. Ron Krisher, 316; 6. Jim Yates, 315; 7. Kurt Johnson, 306; 8. Richie Stevens, 297; 9. Greg Stanfield, 294; 10. Allen Johnson, 289.