(Tim Marshall photo)
Ron Capps won two rounds of competition, happily breaking his four-event streak of first-round losses.
Driving the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car into the No. 6 spot in qualifying provided that extra boost of confidence going into the elimination rounds. A questionable right lane surfaced following the first pair of Top Fuel cars and it became evident that lane choice was critical.
Having the coveted lane choice for the opening round, Capps handily dismissed Del Worsham, winner of the last event, with a solid 4.973-second elapsed time at 316.82 mph to Worsham's 5.046/305.15.
That earned Capps the same privilege for the second round against Bob Tasca III, for which he produced a 4.989/309.98 run to win.
Unfortunately, that last pass was not good enough to earn him lane choice and he was relegated to the less-desirable right lane in his match-up against Tim Wilkerson in the semifinals. Capps had the edge at the starting lights, recording a .119 reaction time (.000 is perfect) to Wilkerson's .131, but it was Wilkerson first at the finish stripe with a winning 5.179/286.25 to Capps' tire-smoking 6.993/129.60.
For the first time in this 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series season since joining Don Schumacher Racing, Jerry Toliver failed to qualify for a national event.
"Any time you DNQ at a drag race it's a huge emotional letdown for the driver, the team, everybody," said Toliver. "Everybody works way too hard and puts way too many hours in this thing to come out here with all the best parts and all the best resources and all the right financing. Everything is right here and we just missed it. We had a bad weekend.
"There was no one thing we could point out that was wrong," he continued. "We couldn't get the car down the race track. We fought with the race track, and it spun the tires. It just did everything wrong it could do.
TOP FUEL
(Tim Marshall photo
 (Tim Marshall photo) |
Driving the FRAM Top Fuel dragster, Cory McClenathan collected his first Top Fuel win of the season, his first TF win at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his 30th career in 52 final rounds, his first in 30 events (Richmond 2006), and his first for Don Schumacher Racing.
After qualifying No. 5 for the NHRA Nationals this weekend, McClenathan enjoyed lane choice throughout the day, first defeating J.R. Todd with a solid 4.639-second elapsed time at 324.05 mph, then Morgan Lucas (shown above) with a 4.780/304.25 and finally former DSR Pro Stock Motorcycle driver Antron Brown in the final round of eliminations. McClenathan used another stout pass, a 4.654/315.86, to defeat Brown's 4.703/315.93. Brown was one of the few, if not only, drivers to get down the less-desirable right lane during eliminations. Margin of victory: 19 feet.
"To say the least, it's about time. That's all I can say," said McClenathan. "It's been a couple of years since we've even had a competitive car and to win Richmond a couple of years ago was great. That was my 29th victory, but to come here exactly 30 races later and win my 30th Top Fuel event is incredible.
"Thanks to (crew chief) Mike Green and all the guys who work on the FRAM team and DSR. Don Schumacher has put together quite an empire over there at DSR, and I'm glad to be a part of it. I'm hoping to spend the rest of my days there and retire at DSR. Maybe I can wipe some tires for them or wax some cars when I'm done.
“We went to our second final round in a row this weekend and just fell a little short,” Antron Brown said. “It was still a good weekend for our Matco Tools team. It was a tricky all weekend long, especially in that right lane today.
“In that semifinal against Doug (Kalitta) that’s the first time I heard a motor pop like that. Lee (Beard) told me if it spins the tires to keep my foot in it, so I did. We came back after that and made a great drag race in the final round and Cory (McClenathan) just nipped us with that 4.65. We ran that 4.70 in the right lane and that was a fantastic number. I’m happy. We just need to keep going rounds.”