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BROWN TAKES NO. 1 QUALIFIER IN HOUSTON; PEDREGON, LINE, HINES ALSO NO. 1 AFTER QUALIFYING
BAYTOWN, Texas – Antron Brown took the top spot in Top Fuel on a cool day at the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park.
Cooler temperatures made for fast racing in all four categories at the fourth event on the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing schedule.
Cruz Pedregon, Jason Line and Andrew Hines also took the provisional No. 1 positions in their respective categories.
Brown drove his Matco Tools dragster to a 3.819-second run at 316.75 mph to take the No. 1 qualifying position in Top Fuel. It is Brown's second of the season and 16th of his career.
“The good deal is that we got our Matco Tools dragster down the track every run and we did it with decent times,” said Brown. “I think we’re pretty geared up for tomorrow.”
In Funny Car, Pedregon drove his Advance Auto Parts Toyota Solara to a 4.075-second pass at 301.00 mph to take the top spot. It's Pedregon's 36th career No. 1 qualifier and fifth at Houston.
“We were just trying to get into the field,” said Pedregon. “We weren’t looking at numbers or any particular way to run the car, we just knew we had to make a good run. I told Rahn (Tobler, crew chief) afterwards that a 4.07 is just a good clean run.”
Line ran the quickest time in the Pro Stock category, driving his Summit Racing Pontiac GXP to a 6.544 at 211.49. On his way to his 16th career No. 1 qualifier, Line set the track record for speed.
“All and all we made a couple decent runs today and we have a real good car for tomorrow,” said Line. “I think we’ll see a little bit slower times (tomorrow) but I think you’re going to see some good racing and we feel like the condition tomorrow is a good condition for us to race in.”
Hines had the fastest run on a motorcycle, riding his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson to a 6.889 at 192.55. It is Hine's 23rd career No. 1 qualifier, second at Houston and a new track record for time at Houston Raceway Park.
“You’re like a kid in a candy store when you come to a track and have mineshaft conditions like this,” said Hines. “You’re just waiting for the moment when you can get weather like this because the times just automatically come with the weather and we took advantage of it in the first session.”
Eliminations begin Sunday at 11 a.m.
BAYTOWN, Texas -- First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for the 22nd annual O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Pennzoil at Houston Raceway Park, the fourth of 24 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs listed below pairings.
Top Fuel -- 1. Antron Brown, 3.819 seconds, 316.75 mph vs. 16. Todd Simpson, 4.311, 266.11; 2. Brandon Bernstein, 3.841, 316.23 vs. 15. Terry Haddock, 4.062, 291.57; 3. Tony Schumacher, 3.868, 313.00 vs. 14. Del Cox Jr, 4.022, 300.06; 4. Clay Millican, 3.871, 313.80 vs. 13. Troy Buff, 3.997, 288.52; 5. Spencer Massey, 3.877, 310.13 vs. 12. Joe Hartley, 3.972, 305.56; 6. Morgan Lucas, 3.881, 305.77 vs. 11. David Baca, 3.935, 310.55; 7. Larry Dixon, 3.882, 310.41 vs. 10. Urs Erbacher, 3.922, 307.16; 8. Shawn Langdon, 3.886, 310.98 vs. 9. Cory McClenathan, 3.889, 313.00.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Doug Kalitta, 4.425, 215.86.
Funny Car -- 1. Cruz Pedregon, Toyota Solara, 4.075, 301.00 vs. 16. Bob Bode, Chevy Impala SS, 4.204, 294.37; 2. Del Worsham, Solara, 4.082, 306.40 vs. 15. Jerry Toliver, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.198, 288.52; 3. Ashley Force Hood, Ford Mustang, 4.085, 308.78 vs. 14. Ron Capps, Dodge Charger, 4.194, 298.14; 4. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.086, 307.16 vs. 13. Jeff Arend, Solara, 4.190, 300.60; 5. Jack Beckman, Charger, 4.108, 299.53 vs. 12. Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.174, 301.47; 6. John Force, Mustang, 4.111, 303.78 vs. 11. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 4.172, 298.27; 7. Matt Hagan, Charger, 4.127, 300.60 vs. 10. Gary Densham, Dodge Stratus, 4.162, 290.44; 8. Mike Neff, Mustang, 4.138, 304.12 vs. 9. Tony Pedregon, Impala, 4.160, 302.01.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Brian Thiel, 4.258, 294.43.
Pro Stock -- 1. Jason Line, Pontiac GXP, 6.544, 211.49 vs. 16. Tom Hammonds, Chevy Cobalt, 6.611, 209.14; 2. Kurt Johnson, Cobalt, 6.562, 210.44 vs. 15. Larry Morgan, Dodge Stratus, 6.605, 210.01; 3. Greg Anderson, GXP, 6.563, 211.89 vs. 14. Steve Spiess, Cobalt, 6.603, 208.97; 4. Mike Edwards, GXP, 6.567, 210.87 vs. 13. Rickie Jones, Stratus, 6.603, 209.85; 5. Warren Johnson, GXP, 6.567, 210.44 vs. 12. Justin Humphreys, GXP, 6.599, 208.88; 6. Jeg Coughlin, Cobalt, 6.574, 209.98 vs. 11. David Beckley, Stratus, 6.592, 209.75; 7. Jim Yates, GXP, 6.575, 209.59 vs. 10. Johnny Gray, Stratus, 6.592, 210.47; 8. Ron Krisher, Cobalt, 6.576, 209.59 vs. 9. Allen Johnson, Stratus, 6.587, 210.18.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Greg Stanfield, 6.617, 209.04; 18. Rodger Brogdon, 6.642, 208.88; 19. V. Gaines, 6.658, 206.99; 20. Dave Connolly, 6.695, 207.85; 21. Joe Swindoll, 6.705, 205.60; 22. Erica Enders, 6.759, 203.28; 23. Mark Buehring, 6.774, 203.77; 24. Ronnie Humphrey, 9.340, 204.79.
Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.889, 192.55 vs. 16. LE Tonglet, Suzuki, 7.200, 186.02; 2. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 6.925, 193.74 vs. 15. Mike Berry, Buell, 7.133, 182.08; 3. Matt Smith, Suzuki, 6.939, 192.96 vs. 14. Junior Pippin, Buell, 7.106, 187.34; 4. Hector Arana, 6.945, 193.63 vs. 13. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 7.089, 191.21; 5. Douglas Horne, 6.975, 191.02 vs. 12. David Hope, Buell, 7.088, 185.97; 6. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.983, 191.24 vs. 11. Shawn Gann, Buell, 7.044, 188.67; 7. Michael Phillips, Suzuki, 6.996, 191.32 vs. 10. Matt Guidera, Buell, 7.043, 185.56; 8. Wes Wells, Suzuki, 7.030, 189.82 vs. 9. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.031, 189.07.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Freddie Camarena, 7.210, 184.77; 18. Joe DeSantis, 7.243, 186.79; 19. Redell Harris, 7.407, 180.45; 20. Ken Van Buren, 7.800, 175.84.
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