Schumacher, Bazemore, Yates, And
Hines Earn
Top Qualifying Awards at Lucas Oil Nationals
By NHRA Communications
Mohnton, Pa. - Tony Schumacher Earned His First No. 1
Qualifying Award In More than two years Saturday at the Lucas Oil
Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway.
Whit Bazemore, Jim Yates and Matt Hines also will lead
their respective categories into Sunday's 11 a.m. eliminations at the
$1.9 million race, the 18th of 23 events in the NHRA POWERADE
Drag Racing Series.
Schumacher recorded his first No.1 qualifying spot of
the season when his U.S. Army dragster clocked a run of 4.551 at 321.81
during Saturday's final qualifying session. It was Schumacher's first
No. 1 qualifying award since Aug. 2000 (Brainerd, Minn.).
"This is a really tough field," said
Schumacher. "I don't know what to say. We qualified fourth and
third an awful lot, but number one, that was a great run. And doing it
early in the session, I thought man there are a lot of good cars and
there's no way it's going to last."
Andrew Cowin was second in his Yankee dragster with a
run of 4.559, 323.74. Rhonda Hartman-Smith clocked a career-best run of
4.578 at 314.02 in her FRAM dragster, good enough for fourth in the
order.
Bazemore earned his third No. 1 qualifying award of
the season when he piloted his Matco Tools Pontiac Firebird to the top
spot in Funny Car with a run of 4.806 at 318.69 during the final
qualifying session.
"Just a real good job by the team," said
Bazemore. "After not qualifying at Indy, the truth is that this is
a tremendous rebound effort by (crew chief) Lee Beard and all the
mechanics on this team to regroup and come out here and make a couple of
good runs. It's really a credit to them."
John Force qualified second in his Castrol GTX Ford
Mustang with a 4.814, 318.24, and was closely followed by Bruce Sarver's
White Cap Toyota Celica which recorded a run of 4.818, 316.90.
Yates scored his seventh No. 1 qualifying award and 28th
of his career in Pro Stock when he drove his Splitfire/Peak Pontiac
Grand Am to a performance of 6.825 at 200.80. Kurt Johnson was second as
he drove his patriotic-themed ACDelco Chevy Cavalier to a run of 6.826,
201.85.
Hines claimed his 43rd career No. 1
qualifying effort in Pro Stock Bike, recording a category-best run of
7.179, 182.33 on his Eagle One Suzuki. It is the fifth time in his
career that Hines has led the 16-bike field into Sunday's eliminations
at Maple Grove Raceway.
"Maple Grove, man I just love this place, rain
and all," said Hines. "We were the first in the 'teen's' here
and the first in the 'O's.' We've won here three times. I'd love to make
it four tomorrow. We just need to go four rounds, that's all."
MOHNTON, Pa. -- First-round pairings for Sunday's
professional eliminations at the 18th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at
Maple Grove Raceway, the 18th of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying,
which ended Saturday.
Top Fuel -- 1. Tony Schumacher, 4.555 seconds, 321.81
mph vs. 16. Don Sosenka, 5.367, 248.39; 2. Andrew Cowin, 4.559, 323.74
vs. 15. Mike Smith, 4.892, 287.90; 3. Larry Dixon, 4.560, 320.28 vs. 14.
Scott Weis, 4.858, 303.16; 4. Rhonda Hartman-Smith, 4.578, 314.02 vs.
13. John Smith, 4.682, 311.20; 5. Kenny Bernstein, 4.586, 320.66 vs. 12.
Jim Head, 4.665, 314.17; 6. Doug Kalitta, 4.594, 317.57 vs. 11. Bruce
Litton, 4.663, 310.98; 7. Cory McClenathan, 4.612, 316.82 vs. 10.
Darrell Russell, 4.637, 317.79; 8. Clay Millican, 4.628, 319.90 vs. 9.
Doug Herbert, 4.634, 315.86.
Funny Car -- 1. Whit Bazemore, Pontiac Firebird,
4.806, 318.69 vs. 16. Dale Creasy Jr., Firebird, 4.975, 298.54; 2. John
Force, Ford Mustang, 4.814, 318.24 vs. 15. Todd Paton, Chevy Camaro,
4.949, 300.33; 3. Bruce Sarver, Toyota Celica, 4.818, 316.90 vs. 14.
Frank Pedregon, Firebird, 4.947, 299.06; 4. Scotty Cannon, Firebird,
4.829, 316.97 vs. 13. Tommy Johnson Jr., Camaro, 4.925, 310.13; 5.
Johnny Gray, Firebird, 4.851, 315.56 vs. 12. Del Worsham, Firebird,
4.911, 312.64; 6. Tony Pedregon, Mustang, 4.854, 313.29 vs. 11. Dean
Skuza, Dodge Stratus R/T, 4.900, 305.63; 7. Cruz Pedregon, Firebird,
4.863, 310.27 vs. 10. Ron Capps, Camaro, 4.894, 303.84; 8. Gary Densham,
Mustang, 4.880, 308.21 vs. 9. Bob Gilbertson, Firebird, 4.882, 308.28.
Pro Stock -- 1. Jim Yates, Pontiac Grand Am, 6.825,
200.80 vs. 16. Tom Martino, Grand Am, 6.854, 200.74; 2. Kurt Johnson,
Chevy Cavalier, 6.826, 201.85 vs. 15. Mark Pawuk, Grand Am, 6.852,
201.01; 3. Mark Whisnant, Cavalier, 6.830, 201.49 vs. 14. Greg Anderson,
Cavalier, 6.850, 201.01; 4. Jeg Coughlin, Cavalier, 6.835, 201.49 vs.
13. Allen Johnson, Dodge Neon R/T, 6.850, 201.34; 5. Warren Johnson,
Grand Am, 6.838, 201.28 vs. 12. Robert Patrick, Ford Mustang, 6.849,
200.14; 6. Bruce Allen, Grand Am, 6.839, 201.10 vs. 11. Mike Edwards,
Cavalier, 6.847, 201.31; 7. Larry Nance, Cavalier, 6.839, 200.98 vs. 10.
Troy Coughlin, Cavalier, 6.843, 200.95; 8. Ron Krisher, Cavalier, 6.840,
201.91 vs. 9. V. Gaines, Cavalier, 6.841, 201.22.
Pro Stock Bike -- 1. Matt Hines, Suzuki, 7.179, 186.33
vs. 16. Fred Camarena, Suzuki, 7.376, 180.07; 2. Angelle Savoie, Suzuki,
7.216, 183.89 vs. 15. Keith Dennis, Suzuki, 7.362, 178.87; 3. Shawn
Gann, Suzuki, 7.257, 183.77 vs. 14. John Smith, Suzuki, 7.359, 182.48;
4. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 7.269, 184.22 vs. 13. Geno Scali, Kawasaki,
7.350, 183.29; 5. Thomas Miceli, Suzuki, 7.283, 182.18 vs. 12. Karen
Stoffer, Suzuki, 7.320, 181.23; 6. Reggie Showers, Suzuki, 7.295, 185.26
vs. 11. Antron Brown, Suzuki, 7.308, 180.26; 7. Steve Johnson, Suzuki,
7.302, 181.42 vs. 10. Mike Berry, Suzuki, 7.308, 183.19; 8. Andrew
Hines, Suzuki, 7.303, 187.03 vs. 9. Michael Phillips, Suzuki, 7.306,
181.28.
NHRA Communications
