Morgan Lucas powered his way to the No. 1 qualifying spot in Top Fuel qualifying at the O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, CA. Photo courtesy NHRA
Morgan Lucas, Robert Hight and Jason line raced to the No. 1 qualifier positions in their respective divisions on Saturday in the rain-shortened final qualifying round for Sunday’s season-opening NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona in California.
Lucas nailed down his fifth career Top Fuel no. 1 qualifier position as the last driver to take to the track in the after noon session before it was cut short by persistent rain showers.
Clocking in with a 3.783 at 325.06 mph, Lucas knocked Spencer Massey off the top spot to re-claim the pole standing atop the leaderboard for the first two qualifying sessions.
“We’ve made some good runs in the past, but I’ve never driven a car like this one,” Lucas said. “The way it drives and the way it steers is so nice it’s crazy. To start the year like this is tremendous. We found two really good guys with our crew chiefs Aaron (Brooks) and Rod (Centorbi) that have shown what our core group is capable of.”
Massey held on for the second position with a pass of 3.820, 325.14. Bob Vandergriff was third at 3.832, 322.65. Antron Brown (3.833, 322.81) and Brandon Bernstein (3.836, 314.90) rounded out the top five.
Troy Buff and Steve Chrisman missed the cut, while Rod Fuller held on for the bump spot and will face Lucas in the first round.
Robert Hight went from missing the Funny Car field to the pole on Saturday, taking advantage of cool track temperatures to time in at 4.060 at 316.52 mph for his 40th career no. 1 qualifier.
After breaking on the burnout on Thursday and going up in smoke on Friday, Hight was 18th coming into Saturday’s round, and in danger of missing the show along with teammate Mike Neff, but both answered the bell with Neff putting his Ford Mustang into the top five as well.
“It’s amazing how things can change so fast,” Hight said. “We went in this morning not qualified and ended up going to the No. 1 spot. We lost a run the first run here; it broke a blower drive shaft. We put that behind us, but we went out the next run, and it shook. So there were big, big decisions today. The temperature dropped, and the track got even better. I would have liked to have gotten another run. Jimmy (Prock, crew chief) looked at the run, and he thought we would have run better.”
Hight will face Jack Beckman, who got the second seed, running 4.068, 315.71 to take the spot away from Johnny Gray, who held onto third with a time of 4.098, 313.15. Neff was fourth with a 4.103, 309.77, followed by Bob Tasca III at 4.109, 309.34.
Among those missing the show were Cruz Pedregon and Jim Head. Rookie Todd Lesenko grabbed the bump spot to face Hight in the opening round on Sunday.
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Defending Pro Stock champion Jason Line raced to his 25th career no. 1 qualifier position, posting the quickest pass of the weekend to unseat Mike Edwards from the top spot.
After struggling in the opening session on Thursday, Line improved to fourth after Friday’s sessions and was the only driver in the top five to advance his position on Saturday, turning in the quickest pass of the event with a 6.535 at 212.23 mph.
Line will face Grace Howell in the opening round of eliminations on Sunday.
“We finally made a better run today,” Line said. “There’s more left, and we’re struggling a little bit with Greg’s (Anderson, teammate) car right now, but it’s good that we made a solid run with at least one of our cars. We didn’t test much this winter because we’ll be taking delivery on our new Camaros at about the time of the Atlanta race. It’s tough at the first of the year without much testing, but we were able to pick up where we left off from last year.”
Edwards (6.545, 211.86), Ronnie Humphrey (6.548, 211.96), Allen Johnson (6.548, 211.39) and Greg Anderson (6.556, 211.49) made up the rest of the top five. Georgia’s Warren Johnson and Steve Kent failed to qualify.
NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series
Auto Club Raceway – Pomona, CA
O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals Saturday Qualifying – Feb. 11, 2012
Top Fuel — 1. Morgan Lucas, 3.783 seconds, 325.06 mph vs. 16. Rod Fuller, 9.343, 294.05; 2. Spencer Massey, 3.820, 325.14 vs. 15. Steve Faria, 4.302, 266.11; 3. Bob Vandergriff, 3.832, 322.65 vs. 14. Terry McMillen, 4.126, 314.09; 4. Antron Brown, 3.833, 322.81 vs. 13. Cory McClenathan, 4.025, 310.13; 5. Brandon Bernstein, 3.836, 314.90 vs. 12. David Grubnic, 3.895, 315.42; 6. Tony Schumacher, 3.837, 321.42 vs. 11. Doug Kalitta, 3.887, 314.53; 7. Khalid alBalooshi, 3.838, 321.42 vs. 10. Clay Millican, 3.884, 309.34; 8. Shawn Langdon, 3.841, 322.50 vs. 9. Steve Torrence, 3.850, 318.39.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Troy Buff, 14.667, 39.74; 18. Steven Chrisman, broke.
Funny Car — 1. Robert Hight, Ford Mustang, 4.060, 316.52 vs. 16. Todd Lesenko, Chevy Impala, 4.306, 277.03; 2. Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger, 4.068, 315.71 vs. 15. Bob Bode, Impala, 4.244, 295.08; 3. Johnny Gray, Charger, 4.098, 313.15 vs. 14. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.226, 291.45; 4. Mike Neff, Mustang, 4.103, 309.77 vs. 13. Tony Pedregon, Impala, 4.200, 291.51; 5. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 4.109, 309.34 vs. 12. Courtney Force, Mustang, 4.199, 307.44; 6. John Force, Mustang, 4.126, 312.28 vs. 11. Alexis DeJoria, Toyota Camary, 4.198, 300.40; 7. Jeff Arend, Toyota Solara, 4.139, 304.32 vs. 10. Gary Densham, Charger, 4.155, 303.71; 8. Ron Capps, Charger, 4.144, 305.70 vs. 9. Matt Hagan, Charger, 4.154, 310.91.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Cruz Pedregon, 4.313, 254.95; 18. Jim Head, 4.387, 274.78; 19. Jack Wyatt, 4.490, 275.73; 20. James Day, broke.
Pro Stock — 1. Jason Line, Pontiac GXP, 6.535, 212.23 vs. 16. Grace Howell, Ford Mustang, 7.486, 207.43; 2. Mike Edwards, GXP, 6.545, 211.86 vs. 15. V. Gaines, Dodge Avenger, 6.688, 208.78; 3. Ronnie Humphrey, GXP, 6.548, 211.96 vs. 14. Jeg Coughlin, Avenger, 6.637, 209.20; 4. Allen Johnson, Avenger, 6.548, 211.39 vs. 13. Erica Enders, Chevy Cobalt, 6.597, 209.43; 5. Greg Anderson, GXP, 6.556, 211.49 vs. 12. Larry Morgan, Mustang, 6.593, 210.50; 6. Vincent Nobile, Avenger, 6.569, 210.97 vs. 11. Greg Stanfield, GXP, 6.588, 209.56; 7. Rodger Brogdon, GXP, 6.570, 210.50 vs. 10. Kurt Johnson, GXP, 6.587, 209.92; 8. Shane Gray, GXP, 6.571, 210.18 vs. 9. Ron Krisher, GXP, 6.586, 210.67.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Warren Johnson, 7.554, 208.20; 18. Steve Kent, 13.688, 51.54.
