Force, Schumacher, Marnell Lead
Friday's Pre-Season Testing At Tucson
By NHRA Communications
TUCSON, Ariz. -- John Force was the only NHRA nitro category competitor to make a run past half-track Friday during the opening day for Southwestern International Raceway's PRO
Warmup. NHRA teams are using the three-day test session in preparation for the 2003 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series season, which opens Feb. 6-9 at Pomona (Calif.) Raceway near Los Angeles. The $2 million race, which will be televised on ESPN2, is the first of 23 events in the $50 million series.
The test session continues Saturday and Sunday, beginning at 10 a.m. each day.
After a broken pulley aborted Force's first attempt at the starting line, he returned to close out the day's testing activities by navigating his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang down the quarter-mile with a planned 1,000-foot shutoff run of 5.342 seconds at 201.76 mph. Before he clicked the engine, he reached the 1,000-foot mark in 4.318 seconds.
Force teammate Gary Densham also made two attempts in his Mustang that were aborted early, including a best 60-foot time of .896.
Johnny Gray (.909 60-foot) and Dean Skuza (.911 60-foot) also made attempts in Funny Car.
Schumacher and Clay Millican were the only Top Fuel competitors to make runs, as Schumacher logged a pair of consistent 60-foot times (.870 and .871) in his U.S. Army dragster. Schumacher clocked a 5.394 at 183.62 for the best quarter-mile attempt of the day for a dragster, which included a 4.265-second 1,000-foot time. Millican posted two .869 60-foot times in his Werner Enterprises dragster.
George Marnell was the quick Pro Stock competitor making four runs in his Pontiac Grand Am, the quickest a 7.149-second effort at 193.79 mph.
The following includes stats from each NHRA pro competitor that participated in testing Friday at the PRO Warmup at Southwestern International Raceway:
TOP FUEL - 60-ft 330-ft 660-ft 660-mph 1000-ft 1/4ET 1/4mph
Clay Millican - .869 2.700 5.317 79.74 8.465 11.752 63.92 RL
Tony Schumacher - .870 2.588 4.967 87.61 7.749 10.430 81.14 RL
Clay Millican - .869 2.700 5.317 79.74 8.465 11.752 63.92 LL
Tony Schumacher - .871 2.244 3.223 242.10 4.265 5.394 183.62 LL
FUNNY CAR
Gary Densham - .896 2.896 5.490 86.60 8.183 10.724 87.30 LL
Gary Densham - .913 2.776 5.106 93.39 7.790 10.482 80.51 LL
Johnny Gray - .909 2.434 4.077 128.74 6.057 8.10 101.77 RL
Dean Skuza -. 911 2.453 4.157 124.73 6.112 8.10 105.70 RL
John Force - .882 2.347 3.369 245.23 4.318 5.342 201.76 LL
John Force - First run attempt shut off at starting line (broken pulley)
PRO STOCK
George Marnell - 1.076 3.222 5.773 86.74 8.515 11.206 79.77 RL
George Marnell - 1.075 3.000 4.605 153.39 5.986 7.149 193.79 RL
George Marnell - 1.081 3.010 4.621 152.76 6.009 7.179 192.88 RL
George Marnell - 1.064 3.007 4.629 152.07 6.022 7.193 192.60 RL
NHRA Communications
