Terry Haddock Nears IHRA Nitro Funny
Car Championship
Qualifies #1 at IHRA
World Finals in pursuit of first career title; Spencer Massey also sits on edge
of clinching championship in the Top Fuel division. Tony Bogolo (Alcohol Funny
Car), Tommy D’Aprile (Pro Modified) and Frank Gugliotta (Pro Stock) also
grab top-qualifier honors at Rockingham Dragway
Rockingham
, NC
(Oct. 18, 2008) – The 2008
IHRA Nitro Funny Car world championship is basically Terry Haddock’s to
lose. He will head into Sunday’s final eliminations at the IHRA World
Finals in Rockingham with a 67-point lead over rookie Matt Hagan
(Christiansburg, Virg.) in the battle for the world title. Haddock, who will
face Hagan in the first round of eliminations, does not necessarily even have
to defeat Hagan in their match-up Sunday…all he has to do is keep the
track dry and hope Hagan does not win the event and set a world record in the
process.
Of course, if Haddock defeats Hagan in the first round he
will end the suspense as his Lend America team will close everyone else out.
Haddock (Woodville, Wash.)
put his 2005 Dodge Stratus on the top of the qualifying sheet on the strength
of a 4.963 pass at 297.16 mph. Todd Simpson (Podner, Tex.)
was second on the sheet with a 5.138 at 273.55 while Jeff Diehl (Salinas,
Calif.) rounded out the top three with a 5.155/251.06.
Final eliminations will begin Sunday at 11am.
“We’re not getting too excited because we still
have work to do,” Haddock said. “We haven’t won anything yet.
Matt Hagan is a great driver and you can never count him out, so we’re
going to turn the car over tonight and get ready for a battle tomorrow. I do
have to thank Mike Ashley at Lend America for giving me the support I
needed to make this charge late in the season.”
Spencer Massey (Fort
Worth, Tex.) is in a
similar situation. The Top Fuel rookie will head into Sunday’s
elimination rounds with a 69-point lead over defending world champion Bruce
Litton in the race for the title. Ironically Massey will have to square off
with Haddock in the first round. Haddock, competing in his first career Top
Fuel event, qualified #6 and will face Massey, the #2 qualifier.
“That’s kind of cool,’ Haddock said.
“I get to play a hand in both nitro points races. In both classes
I’m going to do everything I can to win. I’m here to race.”
Massey, who posted a career-best 4.644 at 309.91 mph, is
looking forward to getting things going Sunday.
“This is great and I’m having a blast, but this
team isn’t taking anything for granted,” he said. “This is
unbelievable but I’m not going to count anything or think about the
championship until its official. There are so many variables to worry
about.”
All Massey has to do is win in the first round, or have
Litton not win the event and set a record in the process, and the championship
will be his. He was pleased he was able to post a career-best run during
Saturday qualifying to put himself in the driver’s seat.
“My Crew Chief, Paul Smith, told me we were going for
it tonight,” Massey said. “We’d never been that quick before.
We threw the kitchen sink at it, threw everything we had at it, and it should
have smoked the tires in my opinion, but we were able to rip straight down the
groove. It was awesome.”
Tommy D’Aprile (Port
Charlotte, Fla.)
claimed the #1 qualifying spot in Pro Modified, carding a 5.971 at 236.67 mph,
but the big story was the first nitrous-powered sub-six second Pro Mod pass in
IHRA history by Jim Halsey (Street,
Md.). Halsey put his ’68 Camaro second on the qualifying sheet with a
5.972 a 237.00 mph.
Kenny Lang and Mike Castellana will battle it out for the
world championship Sunday. Lang led Castellana by 21 points heading into the
World Finals and added a couple points to that advantage by qualifying three
positions better. But it all will be decided during Sunday’s elimination
rounds. Lang will square off with Fred Scriba in the first round while
Castellana will take on Annette Summer.
Tony Bogolo (Hamilton,
Ohio) claimed his first #1
qualifying position of the season with a 5.704 pass at 243.41 mph in the
Alcohol Funny Car class. Bogolo will face Neal Parker in the first round.
Laurie Cannister, who already clinched the Alcohol Funny Car world
championship, will face Dale Brand in the first round of eliminations. Of note,
seven-time world champion Mark Thomas and three-time champ Rob Atchison failed to
qualify for the final eliminations field at the World Finals.
Frank Gugliotta came to Rockingham Dragway with an outside
shot at nailing down the 2008 Pro Stock world championship. After setting the
pace during a record-setting Saturday evening session, Gugliotta proved he
belonged in the championship conversation. He shattered Brian Gahm’s
world record by clocking a 6.270 at 221.38 mph, topping Gahm’s 6.281 pass
set in Budds Creek during the 2007 season. Ironically, though Gugliotta set a new
standard in the class he was eliminated from championship contention when
Berner qualified for the field.
“This was the first time in a long time I came to this
race without a legitimate shot at the championship,” Gugliotta said.
“I really had no pressure on me at this race so we’re throwing
everything at the track and having a lot of fun.”
Jeff Dobbins might want to buy Gugliotta a steak dinner for
what he was able to do. Right before Gugliotta ran, Pete Berner set a
provisional world record with a 6.278 pass at 219.86 mph. Dobbins, who trailed
Berner by 25 points in the championship points chase heading into the World
Finals, could ill afford to see Berner claim the 20 bonus points that comes
with setting a world record.
“Oh, he owes me big-time,” Gugliotta said with a
laugh. “But I’m not on one side or the other. Pete’s a great
driver and a good friend, Jeff’s a great driver and a good friend.
I’m not worried about any of that, I’m just running my race.”
ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- First-round pairings for professional eliminations
Sunday for the World Finals presented by CapeFearWheels.com at Rockingham
Dragway, the 11th of 10 events in the 2008 Knoll-Gas Nitro Jam Drag Racing
Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday.
Top Fuel -- 1. Bruce Litton, 4.583 seconds, 304.87 mph
vs. 5. Tim Boychuk, 4.735, 304.60; 2. Spencer Massey, 4.644, 310.98 vs.
6. Terry Haddock, 4.773, 286.07; 3. Bobby Lagana Jr., 4.688, 288.39 vs.
7. Scott Palmer, 4.854, 289.26; 4. Terry McMillen, 4.691, 310.63 vs. 8. Mike
Strasburg, 4.947, 315.56.
Nitro Funny Car -- 1. Terry Haddock, Dodge Stratus, 4.963,
297.16 vs. 5. Matt Hagan, Toyota
Solara, 5.193, 284.03; 2. Todd Simpson, Chevy Camaro, 5.138, 273.55 vs.
6. Jack Wyatt, Stratus, 5.358, 259.31; 3. Jeff Diehl, Chevy Monte Carlo, 5.155,
251.06 vs. 7. John Lawson, Chevy Impala, 5.507, 259.66; 4. Andy Kelley,
Camaro, 5.158, 291.07 vs. 8. Paul Lee, Pontiac Firebird, 5.551, 279.56.
Pro Modified -- 1. Tommy D'Aprile, Chevy Bel Air, 5.971,
236.67 vs. 9. Quain Stott, Chevy Corvette, 6.056, 232.99; 2. Jim Halsey, Chevy Camaro, 5.972, 237.00 vs.
10. Rickie Smith, Corvette, 6.110, 232.07; 3. Ed Hoover, Camaro, 5.981,
237.42 vs. 11. Chip King, Dodge Daytona, 6.146, 232.55; 4. Burton Auxier, Camaro,
6.014, 233.03 vs. 12. Tim O'Hare, Camaro, 6.216, 228.23; 5. Kenny Lang,
Corvette, 6.017, 236.84 vs. 13. Frederick Scriba, Corvette, 6.227,
225.41; 6. Mike Janis, Pontiac
Firebird, 6.017, 235.43 vs. 14. Barney Squiers, Corvette, 6.271, 224.36;
7. Pat Stoken, Camaro, 6.036, 232.99 vs. 15. Mike Moran, Chevy Monte Carlo, 6.460,
240.98; 8. Mike Castellana, Firebird, 6.050, 233.84 vs. 16. Annette
Summer, Bel Air, 6.691, 212.03.
Alcohol Funny Car -- 1. Tony Bogolo, Ford Mustang, 5.704,
243.41 vs. 5. Neal Parker, Chevy Monte
Carlo, 5.783, 236.84; 2. Larry Dobbs, Chevy Corvette,
5.709, 247.70 vs. 6. Paul Noakes, Dodge Avenger, 5.845, 239.40; 3. Dale
Brand, Chevy Camaro, 5.740, 245.67 vs. 7. Laurie Cannister, Camaro,
5.845, 238.64; 4. Thomas Carter, Monte Carlo, 5.761, 243.85 vs. 8. Jason
McKnight, Monte Carlo, 5.878, 240.34.
Pro Stock -- 1. Frank Gugliotta, Ford Mustang, 6.270,
221.45 vs. 9. John Konigshofer, Mustang, 6.311, 218.44; 2. Pete Berner,
Pontiac GXP, 6.278, 219.86 vs. 10. Elijah Morton, Mustang, 6.317, 218.83;
3. Dean Goforth, Pontiac GTO, 6.294, 218.48 vs. 11. Bob Bertsch, Mustang,
6.320, 219.83; 4. Robert Patrick, Mustang, 6.295, 219.12 vs. 12. Trevor
Eman, Ford Escort, 6.325, 219.29; 5. Jeff Dobbins, Escort, 6.296, 220.01
vs. 13. Matt Hartford, GTO, 6.332, 219.40; 6. Brian Gahm, Mustang, 6.296,
219.33 vs. 14. Andreas Karampelas, Chevy Cavalier, 6.355, 216.38; 7. John
Montecalvo, Chevy Cobalt, 6.300, 221.16 vs. 15. JR Carr, GXP, 6.356,
217.91; 8. Cary
Goforth, Cobalt, 6.305, 220.30 vs. 16. Ned Katuran, Cobalt, 6.358,
214.48.