2014 NHRA Gainesville Saturday Qualifying

PEDREGON, LANGDON, CONNOLLY AND RAY RACE TO NO. 1 QUALIFYING POSITIONS AT AMALIE MOTOR OIL NHRA GATORNATIONALS

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – For the third season in a row and the fifth time overall Cruz Pedregon earned the No. 1 qualifying position in Funny Car at the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals.

Shawn Langdon (Top Fuel), Dave Connolly (Pro Stock) and Michael Ray (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also will lead their categories into Sunday’s 11 a.m. eliminations as No. 1 qualifiers at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event at historic Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville.

Pedregon powered to a 4.068 second run at 308.21 mph in his Snap-on Tools Toyota Camry to earn his 55th No. 1 qualifying position. The 1998 Gainesville winner faces a tough opening opponent in Sunday’s 11 a.m. eliminations against longtime rival and 16-time world champ John Force. By taking the No. 1 spot, Pedregon snapped Force’s streak of five consecutive No. 1 qualifying positions dating back to last season.

"I looked at the time slip at the finish line and noticed that it ran really well to each increment," Pedregon said. "It gave me the confidence to say, ‘I don’t think anybody is going to run this.’ From what I could see, we pretty much got all of it that we could. It had good splits, fast speed through the middle, and ran to the finish line. That was basically like, ‘If you want some, come get some.’"

Pedregon is hoping his run is a foreshadowing of things to come for the weekend. The 1992 and 2008 Funny Car world champ struggled to open the season in both Pomona and Phoenix and is ready to return to the form his car is capable of.

"We changed maybe one thing too many in the offseason,” Pedregon said. “We made one good run out of five in Pomona and blew up for our troubles. In Phoenix, the component we changed in the clutch management system told us in no uncertain terms that it was going to take too many races to figure it out. We went back to our regular setup."

Pedregon’s run bumped Bob Tasca III to the No. 2 seed in Funny Car. Tasca’s 4.103 at 304.39 sets his Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang up for a first round pairing with Blake Alexander.

In Top Fuel, defending world champ Langdon improved his leading time from Friday by covering the distance in 3.776 at 320.58 in his Al-Anabi Racing dragster. It is the first No. 1 for Langdon at Gainesville and the 14th of his career.

"We were able to take our 3.78 from yesterday and make a couple small, minor adjustments to go 3.77," said Langdon, who will open eliminations against J.R. Todd as he seeks his first Gatornationals victory. "Brian [Husen, crew chief] did an excellent job this weekend of making the right calls.”

Langdon’s rival Antron Brown completed a 3.804 pass at 320.43 to secure the No. 2 position. The driver of the Matco Tools dragster will face Sidnei Frigo in the first round of eliminations.

Rookie Richie Crampton secured his best qualifying start of his young NHRA career and will start third. It will be a tough opening round matchup for the GEICO dragster driver however as he faces team owner Morgan Lucas, the 2012 winner here.

In Pro Stock, Connolly claimed his eighth No. 1 qualifying position and first since 2008 when his Charter Communications Chevy Camaro rocketed to a career-best performance of 6.476 at 213.98 on Friday that held through Saturday’s two sessions.

"We knew the weather was going to be a little hotter today so we thought we’d figure out what these cars like," Connolly said. "We tried a few different things and treated it like a science project. We made subtle, small changes and we messed it up, but still had the third quickest run and that shows how capable this team is.”

Connolly spent last season as tuner for Erica Enders-Stevens but is thrilled to be back behind the wheel full-time with Gray Motorsports. He plans to use his time tonight to discuss race prep with his new teammate, Shane Gray.

"I don’t take anything for granted,” Connolly said. “I know that I’m fortunate to be able to race Pro Stock and I thank the Gray family for helping me get back out here. Tonight, I’ll have a talk with Shane and we’ll make some decisions for tomorrow and hopefully it will be a long day both for us."

Connolly will begin the Gatornationals against No. 16 seed Matt Hartford. Erica Enders-Stevens, who qualified second with a national speed record of 214.69 mph, will start second against Robert Patrick.

Ray earned the top spot in Pro Stock Motorcycle on his final qualifying attempt with an effort of 6.793 at 197.74 on his Star Racing Buell. His pass, the quickest run of his career, was enough to drop defending world champ Matt Smith’s Friday best run to the No. 2 qualifying position.

"We hadn’t shown our potential until then but we knew it was out there," Ray said. "It wasn’t a bunt or even a hard single. George [Bryce, team owner and crew chief] decided to swing for the fences and he connected. He told me that if I would hold low gear for another ten feet it would go 6.7s and he wasn’t lying. I went as far as I could before hitting the [shift button] and had my career-best E.T.”

Ray will face Finland’s Fredrick Fredlund in the first round. Smith will begin his championship title defense against alligator farmer Jerry Savoie.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Sunday’s first-round pairings for eliminations for the 45th annual Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville, the third of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs listed below pairings.

Top Fuel — 1. Shawn Langdon, 3.776 seconds, 325.37 mph vs. 16. J.R. Todd, 3.936, 304.74; 2. Antron Brown, 3.804, 320.43 vs. 15. Sidnei Frigo, 3.920, 301.00; 3. Richie Crampton, 3.816, 322.34 vs. 14. Morgan Lucas, 3.867, 319.45; 4. Doug Kalitta, 3.819, 321.04 vs. 13. Brittany Force, 3.865, 315.93; 5. David Grubnic, 3.823, 312.78 vs. 12. Clay Millican, 3.861, 308.71; 6. Bob Vandergriff, 3.831, 320.51 vs. 11. Spencer Massey, 3.861, 320.36; 7. Tony Schumacher, 3.839, 323.19 vs. 10. Leah Pritchett, 3.843, 317.64; 8. Steve Torrence, 3.839, 319.22 vs. 9. Khalid alBalooshi, 3.840, 316.97.

Did Not Qualify: 17. Pat Dakin, 4.015, 240.98; 18. Terry McMillen, 4.315, 206.86; 19. Ike Maier, 4.448, 186.98.

Funny Car — 1. Cruz Pedregon, Toyota Camry, 4.068, 308.21 vs. 16. John Force, Ford Mustang, 4.380, 246.98; 2. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 4.103, 304.39 vs. 15. Blake Alexander, Dodge Charger, 4.292, 287.84; 3. Jack Beckman, Charger, 4.108, 305.15 vs. 14. Alexis DeJoria, Camry, 4.212, 286.74; 4. Chad Head, Camry, 4.115, 300.46 vs. 13. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.162, 299.60; 5. Courtney Force, Mustang, 4.121, 308.85 vs. 12. Matt Hagan, Charger, 4.144, 295.01; 6. Ron Capps, Charger, 4.121, 302.14 vs. 11. Jeff Arend, Charger, 4.139, 301.54; 7. Tony Pedregon, Camry, 4.127, 285.41 vs. 10. Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.132, 303.78; 8. Del Worsham, Camry, 4.128, 307.23 vs. 9. Tommy Johnson Jr., Charger, 4.130, 309.20.

Did Not Qualify: 17. Dave Richards, 5.070, 161.15.

Pro Stock — 1. Dave Connolly, Chevy Camaro, 6.476, 213.98 vs. 16. Matt Hartford, Dodge Avenger, 6.591, 211.39; 2. Erica Enders-Stevens, Camaro, 6.483, 214.69 vs. 15. Robert Patrick, Ford Mustang, 6.568, 211.06; 3. Jeg Coughlin, Dodge Dart, 6.484, 214.62 vs. 14. Rodger Brogdon, Camaro, 6.558, 212.53; 4. Allen Johnson, Dart, 6.487, 214.04 vs. 13. Jonathan Gray, Camaro, 6.554, 212.16; 5. Shane Gray, Camaro, 6.495, 213.60 vs. 12. Steve Kent, Camaro, 6.536, 212.43; 6. Vincent Nobile, Camaro, 6.510, 212.56 vs. 11. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.533, 214.04; 7. V. Gaines, Avenger, 6.518, 213.30 vs. 10. Larry Morgan, Mustang, 6.529, 212.66; 8. Jason Line, Camaro, 6.525, 213.20 vs. 9. Jimmy Alund, Camaro, 6.525, 212.90.

Did Not Qualify: 17. Shane Tucker, 6.617, 211.53; 18. Kenny Delco, 6.634, 210.24; 19. Lewis Worden, 6.639, 210.83; 20. Mark Hogan, 6.653, 208.39.

Pro Stock Motorcycle — 1. Michael Ray, Buell, 6.793, 197.74 vs. 16. Fredrik Fredlund, Suzuki, 6.979, 193.99; 2. Matt Smith, Buell, 6.800, 196.96 vs. 15. Jerry Savoie, Suzuki, 6.919, 194.38; 3. Hector Arana Jr, Buell, 6.806, 196.47 vs. 14. Jim Underdahl, Suzuki, 6.895, 196.02; 4. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.813, 195.68 vs. 13. Chaz Kennedy, Buell, 6.892, 194.46; 5. John Hall, Buell, 6.830, 196.27 vs. 12. Adam Arana, Buell, 6.891, 196.53; 6. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.846, 195.96 vs. 11. Shawn Gann, Buell, 6.882, 195.48; 7. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.849, 196.62 vs. 10. Katie Sullivan, Suzuki, 6.874, 196.96; 8. Scotty Pollacheck, Buell, 6.858, 195.36 vs. 9. Hector Arana, Buell, 6.868, 195.22.

Did Not Qualify: 17. Eddie Reed, 6.996, 190.35; 18. Mike Berry, 7.004, 191.81; 19. Freddie Camarena, 7.026, 193.57; 20. Elvira Karlsson, 7.028, 190.06; 21. Joe DeSantis, 7.071, 189.07; 22. James Surber, 7.082, 187.26; 23. Odolph Daniels, broke.