By Vic Cooke

Supplementing our Summary Review of Event Results, here's Draglist’s photo coverage of Pro Stock action at the 50th Annual NHRA Nationals.

The following photos are organized in order of the qualifying position of the entry represented, but are variously from both qualifying and elimination runs.

After DNQs at the last three events preceding Indy, Warren Johnson still seemed "lost" when his first two passes down the IRP track had him in 24th and 21st place. The Saturday evening conditions that most others capitalized upon also favored Johnson, and he managed to lay down a 6.830 that earned him the #11 spot. In subsequent passes, Warren fell back to the slower times he had been running, but his Saturday clocking held up for #11. It remained a big question going into eliminations whether he had found his way out of the woods or not.

On race day, WJ had a great first round upset of Jason Line when he used a .021/.064 reaction time advantage to overcome an E.T. deficit and reached the finish line first. He also had the holeshot advantage in Round 2 against Jeg Coughlin (.035/.044), but this wasn’t enough and Jeg was able to drive around him for the win. Johnson’s consistently lower trap speeds suggest he is still lacking in horsepower to be among the front runners.

Coming off the top qualifying spot and a win at Memphis, Dave Connolly’s performance at Indy surprised many folks when the best he could muster was a 6.832 for #12 . Grumpy Jenkins wasn’t smiling (but then he never does). Connolly had to face Jeg Coughlin in the first round, and Jeg had no problem handing him a loss.

This was Mike Corvo’s first running at the U.S. Nationals and he cranked off an 6.838 in his Hemi-Stratus right off the trailer on Friday night. That was good for #10 at the end of that session. Corvo failed to improve in later sessions, and his position had eroded to #15 by the end of qualifying. He was completely outclassed by Larry Morgan in their first round encounter on Monday, and a better light wasn’t enough to overcome.

Although Jim Yates improved during the second, third and final rounds of qualifying, he fell short of making the field by three thousandths of a second after turning his best of 6.842 in his last attempt on Sunday. He ended up just outside at #17.

Kurt Johnson had his first DNQ of the season at Indy. It was as if the dark cloud that had recently been over his dad, Warren Johnson, just drifted over to Kurt. He ran times of 6.852, 6.863, 6.855, 6.847 and 6.852 during the five rounds of qualifying. The early runs were good enough to qualify at session's end, but didn’t hold up as events progressed and Kurt’s 6.847 best landed him 19th on the list.

Mark Pawuk couldn’t come up with a run good enough to make the show at Indy. His best pass was a 6.860, leaving him outside at #21.

Bob Benza takes a qualifying shot here but comes up short. He ran a best of 6.878, making him only the 25th quickest car at this tough, tough gathering.

This is Ronnie Humphrey’s Pro Stock Cavalier out of Jacksonville, North Carolina. At 6.905, Humphrey was a distant #30 on the final qualifiers list.

Dusk falls at Indianapolis and it’s time for a Pro Stock qualifying session. Steve Johns (near) and Bruce Allen line up to challenge the clocks on this early pass down the IRP quarter mile.

The evening advances, and Jeg Coughlin and Larry Morgan stage up for their qualifying efforts. Morgan will receive a 6.816 time slip on this pass, good for #2 at the time.

Nighttime is almost here now. The cooling track and the denser night air make it ever more favorable for a run that will be the ticket into eliminations on Monday. Kurt Johnson lines up opposite Dave Connolly for a qualifying attempt.

It’s Saturday night at the U.S. Nationals and the Pro Stocks are in the midst of what would be the most productive qualifying session of the event for establishing field position. Nine qualifiers would post their best times, including Mike Edwards (near lane). There is tension and excitement in the air.

Jason Line Was the Pro Stock Division representative carrying the "50th Anniversary U.S. Nationals" one-time decoration theme on his car for the event. Here is a better look at it under the starting line lights at IRP.

Tire smoke from Pro Stock burnouts hangs in the still night air. Under blanket of night and through the haze of the lingering tire smoke, an intimate mood surrounds the starting line. All eyes are on Jason Line and Ken Koretsky as they stage up for an assault against the clocks. It’s high-stakes Pro Stock action at the U.S. Nationals!

The tree flashes yellow and the cars react. They are gone at the green, as a rapid burst of photo flashes from fans and event photographers record the moment. The explosive launch and the colorful excitement of the instant can sometimes be best conveyed in a way that that doesn’t freeze the action ....like this perhaps?