Leah Pritchett led Saturday’s Top Fuel qualifying for the Dodge NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway. Photo: NHRA Media
Leah Pritchett raced to her first career No. 1 qualifier in Top Fuel on Saturday at the Dodge NHRA Nationals.
Matt Hagan (Funny Car), Vincent Nobile (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were also No. 1 qualifiers in their respective categories at the 21st event of 24 on the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule. The Dodge NHRA Nationals is the third race of the six-race NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
NHRA officials were forced to cancel the second session of qualifying on Saturday due to persistent showers and misting. Since Friday’s sessions were also cancelled, racers had only one session to qualify for Sunday’s eliminations, which are scheduled for noon.
Pritchett piloted her dragster to a 3.705-second pass at 327.35 mph to claim her first top qualifier. Pritchett, who notched her first career victory earlier this season in Phoenix, is competing in the Countdown to the Championship for the first time in her career as well. She entered the Countdown 10th in points and is currently ninth. Pritchett will battle Shawn Reed in Sunday’s opening round.
“It feels pretty phenomenal,” said Pritchett, who was the No. 2 qualifier at this event last year. “It’s right there behind winning a race, but this is do-or-die time. This is the time of digging deep for the Countdown and to be No. 1 at one of the fastest race tracks says a lot about my team. There were a lot of things going on with that run, and to be No. 1 is really awesome, but we came here to win the race.”
Defending Top Fuel world champion and points leader Antron Brown is second with a 3.731 at 321.42. Brown is a five-time 2016 event winner and the defending Reading winner. He will go against J.R. Todd Sunday morning.
Shawn Langdon is third and will race Smax Smith while three-time 2016 event winner Doug Kalitta, who entered Maple Grove Raceway trailing Brown by 13 points, is fourth and matched with Ike Maier.
Hagan pushed to a 3.873 at 333.99 to set both ends of the track record in Funny Car at Maple Grove Raceway. Hagan, a two-time world champion, claimed his fifth No. 1 of the season and 26th of his career. This is the second time he has gone No. 1 at Maple Grove in his career. He is currently sixth in the points standings with three wins and two runner-up finishes on the year. He will open eliminations against Jim Campbell.
“I was watching everyone ahead of me shaking and blowing the tires off, and (crew chief) Dickie (Venables) leaned in and said, ‘I don’t know what it’s going to do,’ so I already had it in my mind that I might have to pedal it,” said Hagan, who won this event in 2014. “I knew I could slap it and still make a decent run and be top half of the field. It’s always fast here. You get here and you have to be in the mindset where you put your mouthpiece in, you pull your helmet on and pull your belts down tight because it’s going to be a ride if it hooks.”
Tommy Johnson, Jr., who raced to runner-up finishes at the first two Countdown events, is second with a 3.897 at 330.80. Johnson, Jr. started the Countdown seventh in points but jumped to second after the strong back-to-back performances. He will meet Cruz Pedregon in the first round.
Reigning world champ Del Worsham is third and will race 16-time champ John Force while points leader and five-time 2016 event winner Ron Capps is fourth and paired with Alexis DeJoria.
Nobile powered to the No. 1 qualifier in Pro Stock with a 6.552 at 211.83. This is his first No. 1 at Maple Grove Raceway, third of 2016 and seventh of his career. Nobile, who has two runner-up finishes this season, is fourth in points. He will go heads up with 2015 top rookie Drew Skillman.
“With the weather out here, we weren’t sure what was going to happen,” said Nobile, who has nine wins in his career but none at Maple Grove. “Honestly, we didn’t make a very good run. I’d be willing to say everybody behind me didn’t make a very good run either. I know, as a team, we’re not two-hundredths faster than the next car. I know we can be as fast and maybe a little bit faster, but with that being said, those guys definitely didn’t make a good run. All that matters is we’re on top and going into race day tomorrow No. 1.”
Pro Stock points leader Jason Line qualified No. 2 with a 6.575 at 211.20. Line, who has eight wins this season and opened the Countdown with a win in Charlotte, is a two-time Reading winner. He will race Val Smeland in the first round.
Greg Anderson, also a two-time Reading winner, is third and will go up against five-time world champion Jeg Coughlin. Shane Gray qualified fourth and will find Alex Laughlin, who claimed his first career victory last weekend in St. Louis, in the opposing lane Sunday.
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In Pro Stock Motorcycle, five-time and reigning world champion Andrew Hines rode to a 6.784 at 196.22 to secure the 38th No. 1 qualifier of his career and second of the year. The five-time 2016 event winner and points leader is paired with Charlotte-winner Chip Ellis, who entered the event 17 points behind Hines.
“This could be huge in the long run,” said Hines, a two-time Reading winner. “Championships have come down to just a couple of little points here in the last few years, going back the last seven or eight years since the little points were implemented. I’m going to take it right now and run with it. It was nice to bring my Harley here and make a nice, clean, straight run. It obviously puts up a big run when it goes down the track straight.”
Hines’ Harley-Davidson teammate Eddie Krawiec is second with a 6.811 at 191.29. Krawiec, a three-time winner at Maple Grove, has three wins this year in five final round appearances. He will open eliminations against Angelle Sampey, who leads the category with six career wins at the Dodge NHRA Nationals. Sampey is currently second in points behind Hines.
Sonoma winner LE Tonglet is third and paired with Joey Gladstone. Rookie Melissa Surber qualified a career-best fourth and will face fellow rookie Cory Reed on Sunday.
NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series
Maple Grove Raceway – Mohnton, PA
Dodge NHRA Nationals – Oct. 1, 2016
Sunday’s First-Round Pairings
Top Fuel — 1. Leah Pritchett, 3.705 seconds, 327.35 mph vs. 16. Shawn Reed, 6.833, 90.47; 2. Antron Brown, 3.731, 321.42 vs. 15. J.R. Todd, 5.589, 125.19; 3. Shawn Langdon, 3.736, 329.42 vs. 14. Smax Smith, 5.477, 236.30; 4. Doug Kalitta, 3.750, 326.56 vs. 13. Ike Maier, 5.144, 261.72; 5. Larry Dixon, 3.791, 325.77 vs. 12. Brittany Force, 4.676, 299.80; 6. Dom Lagana, 3.811, 323.74 vs. 11. Richie Crampton, 4.168, 204.42; 7. Scott Palmer, 3.935, 310.05 vs. 10. Clay Millican, 4.067, 308.14; 8. Steve Torrence, 3.955, 325.61 vs. 9. Tony Schumacher, 3.990, 274.27.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Terry McMillen, 7.205, 197.45; 18. Terry Haddock, 13.955, 26.01.
Funny Car — 1. Matt Hagan, Dodge Charger, 3.873, 333.99 vs. 16. Jim Campbell, Charger, 15.003, 53.76; 2. Tommy Johnson Jr., Charger, 3.897, 330.80 vs. 15. Cruz Pedregon, Toyota Camry, 12.526, 75.47; 3. Del Worsham, Camry, 3.904, 325.77 vs. 14. John Force, Chevy Camaro, 12.185, 78.24; 4. Ron Capps, Charger, 4.192, 325.06 vs. 13. Alexis DeJoria, Camry, 12.151, 81.44; 5. Robert Hight, Camaro, 4.690, 243.24 vs. 12. Tim Wilkerson, Ford Mustang, 11.102, 141.11; 6. Chad Head, Camry, 6.628, 96.51 vs. 11. Jack Beckman, Charger, 9.998, 63.76; 7. Mike Smith, Dodge Stratus, 7.562, 83.83 vs. 10. John Hale, Charger, 8.614, 75.88; 8. Courtney Force, Camaro, 8.041, 81.55 vs. 9. John Bojec, Toyota Solara, 8.428, 69.96.
Pro Stock — 1. Vincent Nobile, Chevy Camaro, 6.552, 211.83 vs. 16. Drew Skillman, Camaro, 17.898, 110.86; 2. Jason Line, Camaro, 6.575, 211.20 vs. 15. Val Smeland, Chevy Cobalt, 12.909, 67.92; 3. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.580, 210.77 vs. 14. Jeg Coughlin, Dodge Dart, 7.147, 153.60; 4. Shane Gray, Camaro, 6.584, 210.77 vs. 13. Alex Laughlin, Camaro, 6.950, 161.30; 5. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.585, 210.73 vs. 12. Kenny Delco, Camaro, 6.856, 203.74; 6. Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.587, 210.05 vs. 11. John Gaydosh Jr, Chevrolet Camaro, 6.706, 206.64; 7. Allen Johnson, Dart, 6.597, 210.64 vs. 10. Alan Prusiensky, Dart, 6.677, 207.21; 8. Bo Butner, Camaro, 6.604, 211.00 vs. 9. Erica Enders, Dart, 6.643, 208.65.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Curt Steinbach, 21.211, 60.95.
Pro Stock Motorcycle — 1. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.784, 196.22 vs. 16. Chip Ellis, Buell, broke; 2. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.811, 191.29 vs. 15. Angelle Sampey, Buell, 9.986, 81.35; 3. LE Tonglet, Suzuki, 6.828, 195.39 vs. 14. Joey Gladstone, Suzuki, 7.439, 187.13; 4. Melissa Surber, Buell, 6.873, 191.76 vs. 13. Cory Reed, Buell, 7.280, 146.40; 5. Hector Arana Jr, Buell, 6.880, 193.02 vs. 12. Hector Arana, Buell, 7.175, 194.91; 6. Matt Smith, Victory, 6.901, 191.13 vs. 11. Angie Smith, Victory, 7.081, 188.04; 7. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 6.925, 193.88 vs. 10. John Hall, Buell, 7.013, 188.75; 8. Jerry Savoie, Suzuki, 6.959, 192.58 vs. 9. Scotty Pollacheck, Buell, 6.975, 185.33.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Steve Johnson, broke.
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