MORRISON, Colo. -- Scotty Cannon continued his hot streak in Funny Car
competition by leading the qualifying order Friday at the Mopar Parts
Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway.
Doug Kalitta, Allen Johnson and Matt Hines also were qualifying leaders
at the $1.8 million race, the 13th of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series.
Cannon, who earned his first career No. 1 qualifying position two weeks
ago in St. Louis and finished that race with his second career runner-up
finish when he lost to John Force on a foul start, clocked a 5.075 second
run at 301.20 mph in his Oakley Pontiac Firebird.
"It makes it fun to race when you are running like this and I've
got to give the credit to my team," said Cannon, who recorded his
first and only other career final round finish at this event in 2000.
"The key to winning is putting together a good team and Don
(Schumacher) has certainly done that with this group. I'd like to think
we're over the hump and getting closer to that first win. All I need to do
is go a mile on Sunday. At the last race, I went three-quarters-of-a-mile.
I know a win would be great for this team and really give us even more
confidence."
Kalitta moved to the front of the Top Fuel pack with a 4.723 at 313.66
in his Mac Tools dragster. Runaway Top Fuel points leader Larry Dixon, who
surprised everyone by failing to qualify at the last race, rebounded with
a sixth place effort at 4.848 at 294.43 in his Miller Lite dragster.
"I am pretty happy with that (run)," said Kalitta, a two-time
runner-up at this event. "I think we have a good chance of keeping
the top spot, but you never know. We've had some success at this track in
the past and hopefully this will be the weekend that turns our season
around. We've been having problems getting past second round lately and we
would like to go four rounds on Sunday."
Johnson clocked a run of 7.280 at 189.44 in his Dodge Neon to lead the
16-car order. Ron Krisher set a track record speed in a Chevy Cavalier at
189.76, but qualified ninth with a time of 7.312.
Hines posted a 7.565 at 178.85 on a Suzuki to pace the Pro Stock
Motorcycle category.
Qualifying continues Saturday with sessions at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
MORRISON, Colo. -- Friday's qualifying results for the 23rd annual
Mopar Parts Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway, 13th of 23 events
in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. Qualifying will
continue Saturday for Sunday's final eliminations.
Top Fuel -- 1. Doug Kalitta, 4.723 seconds, 313.66 mph; 2. Tony
Schumacher, 4.820, 316.30; 3. Darrell Russell, 4.821, 301.87; 4. Cory
McClenathan, 4.834, 300.20; 5. Andrew Cowin, 4.837, 304.32; 6. Larry
Dixon, 4.848, 294.43; 7. Jim Cavalieri, 4.939, 290.13; 8. Rhonda
Hartman-Smith, 4.972, 267.00; 9. Melanie Troxel, 5.002, 295.92; 10. Paul
Romine, 5.020, 271.52; 11. John Smith, 5.118, 261.47; 12. Scott Weis,
5.147, 263.92; 13. Kenny Bernstein, 5.157, 275.17; 14. Doug Herbert,
5.158, 251.95; 15. Mike Strasburg, 5.412, 254.76; 16. Don Sosenka, 5.571,
253.23.
Funny Car -- 1. Scotty Cannon, Pontiac Firebird, 5.075, 301.20; 2. John
Force, Ford Mustang, 5.084, 295.21; 3. Bruce Sarver, Toyota Celica, 5.151,
283.61; 4. Tony Pedregon, Mustang, 5.183, 285.53; 5. Tim Wilkerson,
Firebird, 5.206, 271.68; 6. Frank Pedregon, Firebird, 5.271, 280.95; 7.
Tommy Johnson Jr., Chevy Camaro, 5.277, 290.94; 8. Dean Skuza, Dodge
Stratus R/T, 5.280, 284.39; 9. Ron Capps, Camaro, 5.300, 239.23; 10. Del
Worsham, Firebird, 5.335, 269.03; 11. Cruz Pedregon, Firebird, 5.343,
269.24; 12. Dale Creasy Jr., Firebird, 5.388, 222.95; 13. Bob Gilbertson,
Firebird, 5.406, 243.99; 14. Johnny Gray, Firebird, 5.468, 263.36; 15. Bob
Bode, Dodge Avenger, 5.729, 186.77; 16. Keith Jackson, Firebird, 5.809,
205.85.
Pro Stock -- 1. Allen Johnson, Dodge Neon R/T, 7.280, 189.44; 2. Mike
Edwards, Chevy Cavalier, 7.288, 189.15; 3. Warren Johnson, Pontiac Grand
Am, 7.289, 189.55; 4. Kurt Johnson, Cavalier, 7.293, 189.50; 5. Jeg
Coughlin, Cavalier, 7.297, 189.07; 6. JR Carr, Pontiac Firebird, 7.304,
188.75; 7. Bruce Allen, Grand Am, 7.309, 188.49; 8. V. Gaines, Cavalier,
7.311, 189.28; 9. Ron Krisher, Cavalier, 7.312, 189.76; 10. George
Marnell, Grand Am, 7.313, 188.52; 11. Larry Nance, Cavalier, 7.319,
188.67; 12. Mark Whisnant, Cavalier, 7.322, 188.73; 13. Darrell Alderman,
Neon R/T, 7.327, 187.89; 14. Larry Morgan, Neon R/T, 7.330, 188.65; 15.
Tom Lee, Neon R/T, 7.330, 187.89; 16. Tom Martino, Grand Am, 7.340,
187.65.
Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1. Matt Hines, Suzuki, 7.565, 178.85; 2. Craig
Treble, Suzuki, 7.594, 176.84; 3. Angelle Savoie, Suzuki, 7.604, 176.21;
4. Shawn Gann, Suzuki, 7.642, 181.45; 5. Michael Phillips, Suzuki, 7.646,
180.48; 6. Antron Brown, Suzuki, 7.653, 173.87; 7. Andrew Hines, Suzuki,
7.709, 173.03; 8. Mike Berry, Suzuki, 7.713, 174.23; 9. Reggie Showers,
Suzuki, 7.735, 173.65; 10. John Smith, Suzuki, 7.763, 171.03; 11. Greg
Underdahl, Suzuki, 7.780, 170.39; 12. Jay Matthews, Suzuki, 7.782, 169.57;
13. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.802, 171.12; 14. Fred Camarena, Suzuki,
7.807, 171.60; 15. Thomas Miceli, Suzuki, 7.817, 168.01; 16. David
Feazell, Harley-Davidson, 7.819, 168.45.
NHRA Communications