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| Saturday 11/11/2006 |
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By Rob Geiger,
NHRA.com Top Fuel Results
Top Fuel points leader Doug Kalitta outshined championship rival
Tony Schumacher with a dramatic 4.452-second pass in the final qualifying
session of the 42nd annual Auto Club of Southern California NHRA Finals to
assume the No. 1 position heading into race day. Schumacher, who had run a
4.458 earlier in the day, was trying to better the 4.437-second national
record, but his car sprung a leak on the starting line and smoked its
tires when he stepped on the gas. Schumacher made the attempt despite
being told to shut off by Chief Starter Rick Stewart.
Newlywed "Fast Jack" Beckman zoomed to the front of Funny Car
with a career-best pass of 4.67 at 333 mph, passing the likes of
championship contenders John Force, Robert Hight, and Ron Capps. Pro
Stock's new king, Jason Line, used an Auto Club Raceway record E.T. of
6.663 to lead his class, while Andrew Hines padded his points lead in Pro
Stock Motorcycle by qualifying on top with 7.020.
Anticipation was high that Schumacher and crew chief Alan Johnson
would set a world record in the evening round, but something happened
during the burnout procedure and fluid began leaking on the track. Chief
Starter Stewart gave Schumacher the signal to turn his machine off but
crew chief Johnson waved Stewart off and told Schumacher to make the run.
Ultimately, it was all for naught as Schumacher spun his tires. The end
result was he slipped to second place with his earlier
4.458. "The car was fresh out of the box and it actually ran better than
I thought it would," Kalitta said. "It was good to get a run on it before
race day, especially one that strong. Rahn [Tobler, crew chief] told me to
take it down there if it felt good. He did remind me that it was the only
car we have left at this point so I didn't want anything out of the
ordinary to happen. It was a great job by everyone on our team to get this
thing ready. "It did take a long time on the line. I guess there was something
going on in the other lane. I thought for a minute that I'd missed the
signal to go in but then they finally waved us in there. I figured we
could run a 4.48 or a 4.49. To put a 4.45 up there is stout. I guess we've
got a back-up for the national record too. That 20 bonus points are
important for both of us." Budweiser pilot Brandon Bernstein qualified third with a 4.473 at
330.15 mph, but he was officially eliminated from championship contention
when Kalitta qualified No. 1.
Kalitta's run was a bit of a
shocker as it was made in his back-up car. In Round 3, his Mac Tools
dragster chassis was damaged during his run and he was forced to go to a
back-up car. Without missing a beat, his Rahn Tobler-lead race team
responded with their best pass of the year, a 4.452 at 328.22 mph. The
feat was worth $4,000 from Budweiser.
Doug
Kalitta
Fresh off his first Funny Car
victory in
Jack
Beckman
"One of our crew chiefs, Phil Shuler, stuck his head under the body before the run and said, 'Hold on,' " said Beckman, who is competing in just his fifth Funny Car race. "It's exciting because he's telling you they have a quick tune-up in there and the conditions are conducive to a big number. On the other hand, as a new driver I'm thinking, Oh boy, does he mean something different is going to happen.
“This Matco Dodge is a bracket car these last two races. It's making me look a lot better than I am at this point. I don't want to go as far as to say it's easy to drive this thing by any means, but it's definitely making me look good at the moment. I figure I need 30 or 40 more runs until my mind catches up with this thing. It's an animal."
The three men still fighting for the POWERade championship -- points leader John Force, his son-in-law and teammate Robert Hight, and Ron Capps -- all finished on the top half of the grid and are all on the same side of the elimination ladder. Should they all advance past the opening round, Force will face Capps in Round 2, while Hight would get the winner of that tilt in the semifinals.
As it stands through qualifying, No. 2 qualifier Hight (4.672) has moved into second place by one point over No. 6 qualifier Capps (4.725). Hight trails No. 3 qualifier Force (4.677) by 72 points.
Line waited until the final
session to run the quickest Pro Stock pass in track history, a 6.663 at
207.59 mph, that earned his Summit Racing Pontiac GTO race team its
seventh King Demon Crown low qualifier award of the year and third in a
row.
Jason
Line
Just as it was in the POWERade points, new champ Line and teammate Greg Anderson stayed close each qualifying pass. The final difference may have come down to the lane they were in as Anderson posted his best pass, a 6.668 at 207.18 mph, in the right lane just as Line laid down his run of record in the left lane.
“Both cars are really running great.” said Line. “Rob [Downing] and Jeff [Perley] and all the guys are doing a fantastic job. Those were definitely the best track and weather conditions of the weekend, but honestly, I didn’t do that great of a job of driving or it probably would have run a .65.
“We’ve really been working on Greg’s car to get it to run as well as my car, and obviously it’s we’re getting close. That was a pretty sporty run by Greg. Every week it's a chess match with the track; sometimes you win, sometimes you lose – this weekend, we’re winning. We’re 1 and 2 again, which is the best you can hope for, so we’re not complaining.”
Allen Johnson and Kurt Johnson, who are not related, are third and fourth here. A.J. is third with a 6.686 in his Mopar Dodge Stratus R/T, while K.J. is fourth a 6.688 in his ACDelco Chevrolet Cobalt.
Defending race champion Jeg Coughlin is seventh on the grid with a 6.697 at 206.23 mph in his Slammers Ultimate Milk/Jegs.com Cobalt.
Hines' second low qualifying
award of the year was huge for the ramifications it had in the
championship points standings. The Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson V-Rod
rider entered the race with a 37-point advantage over Antron Brown. Now,
after qualifying No. 1 with a 7.020 at 191.00 mph against Brown's
10th-place effort of 7.106 at 184.70 mph, Hines is ahead by 43 points. The
end result is that Brown must now go three more rounds further than Hines
to pass him in the points as each round win is worth 20 points.
Andrew
Hines
"Luckily we got the maximum points we could and at the same time
Antron faltered a little bit so we were able to gain a round," Hines said.
"It's been a long road getting to the No. 1 qualifying spot this year. We
only got one in
"I was looking forward to a second-round race against Antron but he moved down to 10th in that round. It would have been great to get him and end this deal once and for all. He's got to go three more rounds than us tomorrow. Hopefully, I can get my third championship and tie my brother [crew chief and three-time champion Matt Hines.] It'll make it easier around the house."
Unsponsored Craig Treble continues his second-half resurrection with a No. 2 qualifying effort of 7.046 at 190.35 mph. Angelle Sampey is third with a 7.066 at 188.07 mph on her U.S. Army Suzuki. She has officially been eliminated from championship contention.