Tanner Gray clinched the Pro Stock division championship for the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series by qualifying for Sunday’s Auto Club NHRA Finals. Photo: NHRA Media
Pro Stock racer Tanner Gray became the youngest NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series world champion by qualifying Saturday at the season ending Auto Club NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.
During his championship season Gray notched seven Pro Stock victories including securing his first career win at the prestigious Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals win in Indianapolis. In the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship, Gray cemented his first crown with two wins and maintained the points lead throughout the entire playoffs.
“It has been a heck of a year,” Gray stated. “It started out pretty slow and I wasn’t quite sure it would end up here. About midseason we were able to find something, and everything seemed like it started clicking from there. We did so much testing at the beginning of the season and it really paid off. It was like a light flipped and everything started coming together. We had a strong running going there for a little bit and came into the Countdown and executed on race day really well.”
In other racing, Leah Pritchett (Top Fuel), Ron Capps (Funny Car), Jeg Coughlin, Jr. (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were No. 1 qualifiers in their respective categories.
Pritchett remained atop of the Top Fuel category for all four qualifying sessions at her hometown race. Her final qualifying run of 3.631-seconds at 332.84 mph secured her fourth No. 1 qualifier of the season and 11th of her career. Pritchett will square off against Bill Litton Sunday morning as she seeks to secure her third win of the season.
“The car is finally communicating in a proper way,” Pritchett said. “We found out our window is a lot bigger for making these fast passes. I’m most excited for Todd Okuhara (crew chief) because he finally has his race car back. For the history that has been laid on this track and for us to chase putting down our own history makes me feel like our team is on our way.”
Top Fuel world champion Steve Torrence is second with his pass of 3.661 at 330.96 and 2017 world champion Brittany Force is third overall.
Don Schumacher Racing swept the top three qualifying positions in Funny Car, as Capps powered to the top of the class with his fourth qualifying pass of 3.848 at 331.53. Teammates Jack Beckman and Tommy Johnson, Jr. were second and third, respectively.
“The fans are going to be in for unbelievable racing tomorrow,” Capps stated. “It will be a nice warm Southern California day but it is going to be good track conditions and it won’t be messy or greasy. I can’t think of a better place to race.”
Capps will see Ray Martin in the first round of eliminations. Beckman’s speed of 330.96 at 3.867 surpassed Johnson, Jr.’s 326.40 at 3.867 during their side-by-side fourth qualifying run. Points leader J.R. Todd is qualified fourth and defending world champion and championship contender Robert Hight follows in fifth.
Pro Stock veteran Coughlin, Jr. locked-in his sixth No. 1 qualifier of the season with his final qualifying pass of 6.510 at 211.49. He will face-off against Kenny Delco during the first round of eliminations as he chases his fourth win of the season.
“Rickie Jones (crew chief) was going for it,” Coughlin, Jr. stated. “From the time I let the clutch out this thing was just singing. It was singing through every one of the four gear changes and fifth gear was great and just hummed it down through there. I could tell by the tone on his voice on the radio that not only did we run well but kept the No. 1 qualifier.”
Jason Line moved up to the No. 2 spot during the final round of qualifying with his run of 6.529 at 212.06 in his Summit Racing Chevrolet Equipment and will see Vincent Nobile for the first round of eliminations. Erica Enders rounds out to the top three for qualifying and will start eliminations against Deric Kramer.
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, M. Smith, the points leader, secured his fifth No. 1 qualifier of the season, 31st of his career and second during the Countdown to the Championship by racing to a 6.754 at 201.10.
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M. Smith will open eliminations against his wife, Angie Smith. Hector Arana, Jr. is qualified second after a 6.781 at 197.57 and he’ll line up against Freddie Camarena. Defending world champion Eddie Krawiec is in qualified third and in contention for his fifth world championship.
Eliminations begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday morning.
NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series
Auto Club Raceway at Pomona – Pomona, CA
Auto Club NHRA Finals – November 10, 2018
Sunday’s First Round Pairings
Top Fuel — 1. Leah Pritchett, 3.631 seconds, 332.84 mph vs. 16. Bill Litton, 3.985, 270.43; 2.Steve Torrence, 3.661, 330.96 vs. 15. Cameron Ferre, 3.929, 287.41; 3. Brittany Force, 3.667,333.58 vs. 14. Shawn Reed, 3.807, 323.12; 4. Clay Millican, 3.681, 325.14 vs. 13. Terry McMillen, 3.792, 324.05; 5. Blake Alexander, 3.692, 331.45 vs. 12. Mike Salinas, 3.762, 294.50; 6. Antron Brown, 3.704, 329.50 vs. 11. Doug Kalitta, 3.740, 319.29; 7. Billy Torrence, 3.711, 328.86 vs.10. Richie Crampton, 3.726, 325.22; 8. Tony Schumacher, 3.722, 329.75 vs. 9. Scott Palmer, 3.726, 326.95.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Audrey Worm, 4.005, 254.47.
Funny Car — 1. Ron Capps, Dodge Charger, 3.848, 331.53 vs. 16. Ray Martin, Toyota Camry, 4.183, 259.31; 2. Jack Beckman, Charger, 3.867, 330.96 vs. 15. Jeff Arend, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.116, 303.37; 3. Tommy Johnson Jr., Charger, 3.867, 326.40 vs. 14. Cruz Pedregon, Camry, 4.065, 300.20; 4. J.R. Todd, Camry, 3.897, 327.82 vs. 13. Jim Campbell, Charger, 4.000, 309.70; 5. Robert Hight, Chevy Camaro, 3.915, 327.98 vs. 12. Bob Tasca III, Ford Mustang, 3.991, 320.20; 6. Courtney Force, Camaro, 3.920, 313.58 vs. 11. Bob Bode, Mustang, 3.981, 318.24; 7. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 3.931, 321.81 vs. 10. John Force, Camaro, 3.975, 320.36; 8. Matt Hagan, Charger, 3.946, 323.50 vs. 9. Shawn Langdon, Camry, 3.950, 320.97.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Terry Haddock, 4.253, 260.56; 18. Jonnie Lindberg, 4.452, 286.01; 19. Jeff Diehl, 4.632, 190.35.
Pro Stock — 1. Jeg Coughlin, Chevy Camaro, 6.510, 211.49 vs. 16. Kenny Delco, Camaro, 6.597, 209.36; 2. Jason Line, Camaro, 6.529, 212.06 vs. 15. Vincent Nobile, Camaro, 6.584, 209.95; 3. Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.530, 211.39 vs. 14. Deric Kramer, Camaro, 6.570, 210.50; 4. Drew Skillman, Camaro, 6.532, 211.16 vs. 13. Alan Prusiensky, Dodge Dart, 6.569, 209.49; 5. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.533, 211.66 vs. 12. Fernando Cuadra, Camaro, 6.568, 209.85; 6. Tanner Gray, Camaro, 6.534, 211.33 vs. 11. Shane Gray, Camaro, 6.564, 210.08; 7. Alex Laughlin, Camaro, 6.541, 210.87 vs. 10. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.560, 211.89; 8. Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.543, 211.20 vs. 9. Bo Butner, Camaro, 6.553, 211.39.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Steve Graham, 6.622, 210.05; 18. Val Smeland, 6.640, 207.43; 19. Tom Huggins, 6.713, 207.24; 20. Joey Grose, 6.738, 196.36.
Pro Stock Motorcycle — 1. Matt Smith, EBR, 6.754, 201.10 vs. 16. Angie Smith, Buell, 6.969, 192.60; 2. Hector Arana Jr, EBR, 6.781, 197.57 vs. 15. Freddie Camarena, Suzuki, 6.953, 194.86; 3. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.789, 198.38 vs. 14. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 6.952, 191.40; 4. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.826, 196.16 vs. 13. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.898, 191.29; 5. LE Tonglet, Suzuki, 6.828, 196.39 vs. 12. Ryan Oehler, Buell, 6.893, 196.64; 6. Jerry Savoie, Suzuki, 6.835, 195.93 vs. 11. Joey Gladstone, Buell, 6.880, 196.30; 7. Angelle Sampey, Buell, 6.838, 194.88 vs. 10. Scotty Pollacheck, Suzuki, 6.879, 194.66; 8. Hector Arana, EBR, 6.862, 197.48 vs. 9. Chip Ellis, Harley-Davidson, 6.862, 193.79.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Kelly Clontz, 6.972, 192.85; 18. Katie Sullivan, 6.978, 193.99; 19. Melissa Surber, 7.052, 187.57; 20. Maurice Allen, 7.070, 185.10; 21. Anthony Vanetti, 7.074, 188.94.
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