EVENT RESULTS
EVENT NOTEBOOK
POINTS AFTER EVENT
ROUND-BY-ROUND RESULTS
FINAL ROUND RESULTS
EVENT GALLERY
TODD, HAGAN, LINE TOP PRO CHARTS FRIDAY; RACERS TALK CELEBRITIES, VOODOO, SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS, INSPIRATIONS, ODDS-MAKING, PLEASANT APRIL FOOL’S DAY SURPRISES, SCARFACE, K&N CHALLENGE, LARRY MORGAN'S EXPLODING CELL PHONE
TOP FUEL
He covered the 1,000-foot course at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 3.758 seconds at 324.83 mph. Todd’s elapsed time was one of six in the 3.7-second range.
He said his car “was charging from half-track on.”
Others running 3.7-second E.T.s were (in order) Tony Schumacher, Shawn Langdon, Steve Torrence, Richie Crampton, and Doug Kalitta.
200TH TRY - Despite 52 IHRA victories, the most of any racer in that sanction in any class, Clay Millican was the lone racer in the Four-Wide Top Fuel final round who was looking for his first NHRA trophy. But as he goes about qualifying for his 200th NHRA start, he said he's encouraged by what he has seen in the season's first four events – except for his tire-smoking finish at zMAX Dragway.
"Going to the final was just another step in our plan to put this team in contention for the championship at the end of the year," the driver of Stringer Performance's Parts Plus/ Great Clips Dragster said. "Internally, we really look at Charlotte as our second race of the season, because we spent the first two races testing. We've still got a few bugs that have bitten us to work out, but overall this team is making big strides towards being the best out there."
A $10 part malfunctioned, ruining his .046-second reaction time that signaled his chance to finish at least second in the final quad after a turnaround time of only 52 minutes.
"I found out in Charlotte that it was my 199th start, and Vegas will be my 200th. I'm really bad at keeping those stats on myself, because right now my focus is on looking forward to the next race," Millican said. "One day I'll look back when I'm done driving and Google myself to see all of these milestones. Right now my trophies are the mile markers I know, and I'm focused on adding to that collection."
He's tied with John Force, Tony Schumacher, and Scott Geoffrion at nine finals before a first victory. That's second only in the NHRA record book to Millican's former boss, Bob Vandergriff.
HONEY, UMMM, I KNOW I SAID . . . - Uh-oh . . . Pressure is on this weekend for two-car team owner and Funny Car driver Terry Haddock. And it’s not from the pressure of competing in the ultra-competitive Funny Car class or even for overseeing wife Jenna's first competitive appearance at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the Patriot Dragster. It's from what he promised her.
"We expect to do well," Jenna attempt Haddock said before qualifying opened Friday, "and I'm hoping to get that elusive 3.9[-second elapsed time]. Terry promised me he would give it to me right out of the box. If we could run 3.98 four times, I'll be so happy."
Her E.T. in the opening session wasn’t exactly a 3.9-second one. However, she started the day with a 4.399-second at 190.40 mph that gave her the tentative No. 12 spot in the order. By the end of Friday qualifying, she was 17th among 18 Top Fuel racers. She smoked the tires right away on the second pass and posted only 9.91 at 75 mph.
"We try to make progress every time we make a pass," she said. "I know we can't run 3.70 every time yet, but we're determined to learn how."
She made her first passes in a dragster at this track, and she said she has a special place in her heart for this facility. "I am super-excited about this weekend," Jenna Haddock said. "I love this track. This is where I climbed into a Top Fuel dragster for the first time, so I feel familiar with it. Part of being a rookie is that there are tracks that you have never been down, which can be a disadvantage. I already know that it's a long track and it's uphill, which makes me feel like I'm ahead of the game. Plus it's a good facility, so I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do."
HE’S A SUCKER FOR ‘SWEET-EYED KIDS’ – Lucas Oil Dragster driver Richie Crampton said his visit Thursday morning to Children's Hospital of Nevada at University Medical Center “was definitely an eye-opener, as a new parent.” But he said he thoroughly enjoyed his time with the youngsters.
“There were so many sweet-eyed kids. They and their families are going through a lot of stuff. But there were so many high-spirited young characters that it was a really enjoyable time for me,” Crampton said.
It was his their hospital visit, and he gave high marks to the staff there: “The staff there is so caring and friendly. We just had a great time.”
Fans might wonder if such a potentially emotional off-track activity might put a racer in an offbeat frame of mind. Crampton said it doesn’t affect him that way but that he isn’t the focus in these visits.
“It does, but you go in there knowing that,” he said. “I’m not concerned about what I feel afterward. I just hope I can bring a little joy into their day and keep their spirits up.”
FROM ACCIDENTAL ACROBAT TO KEYNOTE SPEAKER – Larry Dixon got plenty of national exposure last month following his injury-defying qualifying accident at Gainesville. But the Bob Vandergriff Racing Top Fuel driver has a chance to reinforce the quality of the safety innovations and improvements that protected him. He'll be the keynote speaker next Saturday for the Stand 21 Safety Foundation's "Racing Goes Safer" Seminar at Long Beach, Calif. It's part of the IndyCar Series' Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
“I wish my name hadn’t have come up, just because of everything I went through,” Dixon, who has attended the Stand 21 Safety Foundation seminar before, said. “But to be able to brag on how far the safety’s come and the 15 years between incidents. I’m honored from that standpoint and really looking forward to telling my side of the story. This just came about in the past few days, so I don’t have any [remarks] prepared, but I will when I get there.”
Joining Dixon will be Dr. Edward Potkanowicz, assistant professor of exercise physiology at Ohio Northern University "The Heat of Competition: Basics of Heat Stress"); Mike Hurst, SFI Foundation technical manager ("Unwise Undergarment Choices"), Performance Prime founder Dr. Jacques Dallaire ("Distracted Driving: Improving Your Mindset"); the Snell Foundation's Ed Becker ("SA2015 – What You Need to Know: General Helmet Advancements and Testing"); off-road racing champion Martin Christensen, owner of All-German Motorsports ("The Desolate Desert: Racing Safety in Remote Environments); and Porsche Owners Club President Andrew Weyman ("Safety at Club Racing Events").
ON THE CELEBRITY CIRCUIT - Charlotte winner Antron Brown was in demand on the West Coast this past week. He attended the news conference for the April 18 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Pro/Celebrity Race that is a prelude to the IndyCar Series race on the 1.97-mile street course through downtown Long Beach, Calif.
The Matco Tools/U.S. Army/Toyota Dragster driver will and 17 others will race in 210-horsepower Scion FR-S race-prepped cars to benefit "Racing for Kids," a Detroit-based non-profit foundation that supports children's hospitals and focuses attention on the health-care needs of children.
Among the celebrities who'll be on-track with Brown at Long Beach are athletes Willie Gault, the former NFL wide receiver (Bears and Raiders) and Olympic athlete, and Dara Torres, the 12-time Olympic medalist who in 2002 was the first female celebrity to win the Toyota Pro/Celebrity race. Hollywood is sending Brett Davern, last year's event winner, along with "Terminator 2" stars Alfonso Ribeiro (two-time event winner and winner of "Dancing With The Stars") and Robert Patrick; Mekhi Phifer, of "ER" notoriety and the film "Insurgent;" Donna Feldman ("The Fashion Team"); Edy Ganem ("Devious Maids," "Ana Maria in Novela Land"); James Maslow (Nickelodeon's "Big Time Rush," "Sequestered," "Dancing With The Stars" finalist); Nathan Kress ("iCarly"); Raul Mendez ("El Señor de los Cielos," soon-to-be-released film "Texas Rising"); and Joshua Morrow ("The Young and the Restless").
Joining them will be 2013 race winner Rutledge Wood, co-host of "Top Gear USA" and an auto-racing analyst on Fox Sports 1, and Steve Mason, ESPN Radio host of the "Mason & Ireland Show." From the music world come Mark McGrath, lead singer of Sugar Ray, and John Rzeznik, guitarist and frontman of the Goo Goo Dolls. Rounding out the field is the Grand Prix Foundation of Long Beach charity auction winner Dave Pasant, a retired insurance executive and an executive producer of the Adam Carolla's recently released film "Road Hard."
Brown started listing nearly every one of his fellow celebrity racers and said, “They’re all good people. It’s so cool, because you can develop so many relationships and friendships. I did school with them for three days, and we did Press Day for a whole day. Just great, great people, and it’s for a great cause, Racing For Kids. There should be some good times with them.”
As for the cars they’ll be driving, Brown said, “They get you a little bit when you go in the turn, but you’re only going about 115-20 down the straightaway, so it’s not like racing a Top Fuel car.”
Brown will be in the Pro Division, which will start 30 seconds behind the others.
Fans can follow the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on Facebook at GrandPrixLB, Twitter @ToyotaGPLB (#TGPLB) and Instagram at ToyotaGPLB.
ODDS ARE HE'D BE A SHARP BOOKIE – If Shawn Langdon had to do something other than drive Alan Johnson's Knuckle Sandwich / AJPE Dragster – and without additional funding from Toyota Motor Sales, USA, he might have been forced into that two weeks ago – he might have turned out to be a savvy Las Vegas bookmaker.
"If I were an odds-maker looking at this weekend's race," he said, "I would have to give us pretty good odds. From the odds-maker's standpoint, I'd probably give us 3-1, but if I was putting up the money on the other side, I'd only give it 1-1. I have a lot of confidence in the Knuckle Sandwich/AJPE team, and I am confident our Toyota team will rebound after Charlotte and take the win. I would definitely not bet against us."
Langdon, who won the Winternationals to kick off the season and led the standings until the Four-Wide race, said he has been eager to return to the Western U.S.
"We're definitely excited to get back out to Las Vegas. We started off the year pretty well on the West Coast," he said before racing began Friday. "So it'll be nice to get back out to conditions that are similar to what we raced in earlier this year. We definitely had a tough race in Charlotte. We had some conditions in Charlotte we weren't really used to, and we just didn't adapt well. Losing those two qualifying sessions Friday afternoon [to rain] really hurt us. But we've put that behind us. Now that we have some funding from Toyota to keep the car out there for now, I think we can focus a little better on improving our tune-up. We're focused on the way we ran the first three races of the season. We’re going to work with that and try to get the car back in the winners circle.
"Las Vegas has always been a good track for Alan Johnson Racing," Langdon said, referring to Top Fuel victories with Larry Dixon in the spring of 2010 and with Del Worsham in the fall of 2011. (Alan Johnson also won here four times in the fall with Tony Schumacher when he was working at DSR.)
"I haven't won [at Las Vegas] yet, but I'm eager to get in the winners circle here," he said. "We tested at Las Vegas the first week of February this year, so we have a little bit of an idea what to expect. We just need to take what we learned in testing, apply it this weekend, and hopefully get into the winners circle."
Langdon expressed his gratitude for Toyota's contribution: "Toyota has had a long-standing relationship with Alan and Alan Johnson Racing for the last 15 years or so, and we all really appreciate their increased support of our race team. We're excited to have them on board and to keep this Knuckle Sandwich/AJPE Toyota out there. We still need to find a primary sponsor, but Toyota's increased support gives us some breathing room. We are very thankful for their help."
LIVING TRIBUTE - JR Todd is carrying on the nose of his Red Line Oil Dragster this weekend a tribute to college basketball player Lauren Hill, a young lady from his hometown of Lawrenceburg, Ind. She gained national attention for her courage to continue playing basketball for Mt. St. Joseph’s College at Cincinnati in spite of her diagnosis of a rare form of inoperable brain cancer, while raising awareness of and funds to fight Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma. Hill passed away Friday at age 19. The ribbon on the race car bears Hill’s name, her uniform number (22), her “Never Give Up” motto, and “Fight Against Brain Cancer.”
She helped start her non-profit foundation, The Cure Starts Now. And she had said, “I’m spreading awareness and teaching people how to live in the moment because the next moment’s not promised. Anything can happen at any given moment. What matters is right now.”
Todd already had planned – at the urging of his public-relations representative, Cody Poor – to make a bungee jump from the top of the Las Vegas skyline icon to celebrate his one-year anniversary with Kalitta Motorsports. And the gesture is right in line with the spirit and bravery of Hill, who played high-school basketball at Todd’s alma mater.
"Jumping off the top of the Stratosphere was one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. When the opportunity comes, you have to jump at the chance to do it,” he said. “It was cool but doesn't compare to being able to drive this Red Line Oil Top Fuel Dragster. It was a different sensation but fun to do."
The problem in the first try was a valve-train failure two seconds into the run. The intake valve hung open, and that detonated the top half of the engine.
OUT OF TOP 12 - Missing the top-12 cutoff Friday and knowing their numbers will be tossed out overnight are, in order, Terry McMillen, Steve Faria, Antron Brown, Steve Chrisman, Jenna Haddock, and Larry Dixon.
FUNNY CAR
Giving Hagan extra cause for satisfaction was the fact his engine had two cylinders out with 100 feet of racetrack left. “To do that on six cylinders is pretty impressive,” Hagan said, crediting crew chief Dickie Venables.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWEET 47 - Tommy Johnson Jr. turned 47 years old this past Monday. And he said he's hoping a second spring Las Vegas victory might ease the sting of seeing that many candles on his birthday cake.
"There are certain races you go into with a little more confidence, and any race at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway seems to be that way for me," the Make-A-Wish Dodge driver from the Don Schumacher Racing organization said.
"This has been a good race for me, as far as results, and to have this spring race fall right around the time of my birthday just makes it that much more special. At this point in my life, I try to forget my birthday," he said, "but having a trophy in hand at the end of the weekend would sure make it OK."
Johnson won this race in 2001 and advanced to the final round in 2002 and 2006.
IT'S MAYBE NOT SO DUMB AFTER ALL – A few years ago at Houston, John Force found himself in a tizzy for awhile as the victim of an April Fool's Day prank perpetrated by his daughters and wife. He spouted off then that "April Fool's Day is dumb. It ain't like it's 'Warshington's' Birthday or nothin'."
This year he participated in a promotion for his new automaker, Chevrolet, that might have changed his mind. The entire John Force Racing team of drivers participated in the Chevrolet Best Day Ever promotion April 1st. As part of a national initiative to give "regular people" a little something special, the racers handed out free $50 gas cards at the Union 76 gas station in their Yorba Linda, Calif., hometown. Chevrolet made a two-minute viral video of the giveaway and aired the segment as part of a day-long celebration as it dubbed April 1st the #BestDayEver for people across the country.
"Giving away the gas cards was a lot of fun," the 16-time Funny Car champion and the NHRA's most successful driver said. "Chevy asked Robert, Brittany, Courtney, and me to have some fun with the people, and we had a great time. I was washing people's windshields and Ashley's company, John Force Entertainment, put the whole movie together for Chevy. We were in our uniforms with all our logos, and people were just shocked and so happy when we walked up to fill up their gas tanks, thanks to Chevrolet," Force said.
NO VOODOO FOR THIS GIRL – Courtney Force's fiancé, IndyCar Series veteran Graham Rahal, filmed a TV feature segment at a voodoo shop in New Orleans in the days leading up this weekend's inaugural Grand Prix of Louisiana.
She called The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway "a familiar and lucky track." Her 325.37-mph speed on her No. 1 qualifying run here last April remains the track record. And she was calm all week before the opening day of qualifying. So maybe she doesn’t need any mystic help.
“I guess he’s trying to change his luck,” she said of Rahal, who despite his pedigree and driving skill continues to look for his first victory in seven seasons, since the 2008 Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
“He said he got a collection of things . . . not for me. I told him, ‘Do not bring a voodoo doll anywhere near me. I don’t want anything to do with that.’ I told him, ‘Unless you win the race this weekend. [If so] you can leave it in your locker. I asked him if he learned to read some tarot cards, but he didn’t get that far. He took a collection of good-luck things home. So I’m curious to see if it works, she said. “If it does, maybe I’ll go find one here in Vegas.”
The Traxxas Chevy Camaro driver enjoys her positive memories of racing here.
"It's really cool to . . . remember the feeling and excitement after running it. I was proud that my team could put a speed on the board like that. Maybe we can even break our personal best this weekend," Force said.
In the last three years, Force has competed at The Strip six times and never has qualified lower than No. 6, which came during her rookie season (2012). In the last two years, she has not qualified lower than No. 3 and has earned the top spot once. But she said she feels no added pressure to repeat that.
"I don't see any added pressure for qualifying this weekend. We have qualified very well at The Strip in the past, and we just hope to continue doing that. Personally, this track one of my favorites. I'm fortunate my team knows how to get my car to run great here. We are familiar with the track surface and conditions," Force said.
She’s 14th in the lineup and will start with a fresh slate of numbers Saturday.
NEW CAR FOR CAPPS – Gatornationals Funny Car winner Ron Capps has a new NAPA Dodge Charger chassis he showed off Friday, and he already is thanking Don Schumacher Racing fabrication manager Joe Fitzpatrick and fabricators Dan Murphy, Tom Patsis, Travis Orr, and Jeremy Washburn from the Brownsburg, Ind., shop. That's because it was so impressive in testing March 30 at Charlotte in its maiden runs.
He said crew chief Rahn Tobler also was pleased with what he saw. And Capps said, "When you get a brand new car and it runs 300 miles an hour right out of the box, it reminds me how good our fabricators are back at DSR."
It didn’t go even half of 300 miles an hour in Friday’s first session and was last among the 16 competitors. He rebounded in the later session with a 4.075-second run at 316.15 mph that improved him to seventh place overnight.
Capps’ back-up car will be the one that took him to the winners circle at Gainesville.
Capps has won 43 NHRA Funny Car trophies, five of them at Las Vegas. But only one came from this spring event (in 2009). He entered this weekend in third place, just 26 points out of first.
'SET TO ROCK 'N' ROLL' - Cruz Pedregon has two memorable characters with him this weekend at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway: Scarface and El Guapo. They're two of his trusty Snap-on Toyota Camry bodies. And crew chief Chris "Warrior" Kullberg backed up Pedregon's declaration that "the crew has things well in order."
Kullberg said, "The Snap-on Toyota had a stress fracture in the body from a burst panel issue at the last race. So we took care of that back at the shop." He restocked the inventory, including Scarface and El Guapo (Spanish for "The Handsome One").
"The car is ready for the warmer temps we usually see in Vegas," Pedregon said. "The [crew has] been working on a camshaft issue that came up at the Four-Wide, but we're better than ever and all set to rock 'n’ roll," he said. "We love the track and the energy. It's time for us to make something happen in Vegas."
The 35-time winner has qualified in the top five at three of the four events this season and in the top half at every one, with a No. 1 start at Gainesville. However, he hasn't won yet in 2015. He hasn't advanced past the second round and is eight in the standings.
"There's no big adjustments we have to make," he said. "We just have to race smarter, like we've tried to do, and minimize some of the self-inflicted wounds. The class is stacked, and we like our chances with all things being equal. We just need to cut it loose."
He was 12th on the grid early Friday, but brother Tony Pedregon bumped him out by a mere .011 of a second in the evening session. He’ll have to start all over with official numbers, as will Courtney Force, Jeff Arend, and Gary Densham.
EAGER TO GET IN GROOVE – Robert Hight went to six straight final rounds in the first seven races last year and won four of them. So naturally he's antsy to get that first victory of this season for his Auto Club Chevy Camaro team and his 35th overall. And he has lucky vibes about Vegas.
"There are just some tracks where you feel really comfortable. Las Vegas is one of those tracks for me and for Mike Neff. We were on a hot streak last year and came up a little short in the final [against Alexis DeJoria]. We ran strong on race day, but we just got out run in the final by a great E.T. in the other lane. This is the fifth race of the season, and we have two semifinal finishes so far. We want to get that first win of the season."
Hight is fifth in the Funny Car standings, just nine points away from fourth place, so it isn’t like he's in desperate mode. With three different Funny Car winners so far this year, no one is dominating, and Hight is only four rounds out of the No. 1 position.
He has won at this venue four times and has qualified No.1 here four times at this race and seven times totally.
"This is a great track for performance. We have always run quickly here, and I think we will run quickly this weekend," he said before claiming the tentative No. 7 spot early Friday with a 4.255-second elapsed time at 295.59 mph. He had said, "We are going to focus on making a great run in the first qualifying session and building off of that." Hight will start Saturday qualifying in 10th place.
He and Neff and the team stayed at zMAX Dragway at Charlotte for a few test passes, and, Hight said, "We are not lost or anything like that. We just seem to be a little off. I have so much confidence after talking with Neff in Charlotte."
Hight's most recent victory came 15 races ago, at Denver.
PRO STOCK
50,000 SHADES OF GREEN FOR GRAY? - For Shane Gray, having "IDG" splashed on his Chevy Camaro means extra motivation to win.
"We're grateful to IDG for sticking with us for this race," he said. "It was a real neat deal to have so many of the folks who work with IDG at the race in Charlotte, and now we're hoping that having that IDG wrap on our Chevrolet Camaro will maybe bring us a little bit of luck. It has been a little while since we've been able to celebrate, and I think this weekend would be as good a time as any to put a few smiles on some faces."
This weekend, "IDG" could stand for "Instant Double Gratification." Gray, like younger brother Jonathan, has a chance to pocket the $50,000 winner's share of the K&N Horsepower Challenge purse and the $25,000 SummitRacing.com Nationals winner's loot, along with two trophies. Either would be a first-time bonus-race victor.
Shane Gray is the No. 1 seed. Jonathan Gray earned the No. 7 berth. The eight-driver race-within-a-race showcases the class' top seven qualifiers in the past year, along with the eighth eligible racer who's the winner of an online selection contest.
"We're very fortunate to be in the position that we're in heading into this race," Shane Gray said. "I've never won the K&N Horsepower Challenge before, but thanks to all of my guys here with me at the track and back at the engine shop, we have the best shot we've probably ever had."
Brother Jonathan Gray said, "I'm real excited to race the K&N Horsepower Challenge. I think that one of the Gray Motorsports Camaros could win that deal. It could be me, or it could be Shane. My confidence level has increased, and I think that our guys have found something with the race cars."
He said he won't let the bright lights and the temptations of "that other Strip" here distract him.
"This is the first time, really, since the first of the year that I've felt like we were in a position to really win the race – and we have a legitimate shot at winning two races this weekend. I'm not much of a gambler, so I'm [here] strictly to race and to do what I need to do to win. You have two opportunities to win this weekend, and you need to be focused and have your act together. My plan is to stay focused."
Gray Motorsports associate Larry Morgan won the Pro Stock trophy at the most recent race, at Charlotte, and Jonathan Gray said, "Larry is going to have a lot of momentum, as well. I think that [among] the three of us, we can do some damage."
The Gray brothers had mixed results Friday. Shane Gray fared better, moving up in the order from ninth to sixth. Jonathan never budged from last place all day.
BACK IN THE USA – At the start of the year, Swedish Pro Stock racer Jimmy Ålund had committed to only the first four races on the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. Thanks to some creative and generous sportsman racers, as well as logistical help from KB Racing and backing from Findlay Chevrolet of Las Vegas, the nine-time FIA/European champion is continuing his U.S. tour this weekend.
Ålund, of Norrkóping, Sweden, registered his career-best speed (214.01mph) at the most recent race, and that trusty Chevy Camaro is in Las Vegas, thanks to the KB crew, which loaded it onto its hauler in Mooresville, N.C., and carried it here.
Ryan Priddy, a sportsman racer from California who works on the Camaro of fellow KB Racing-powered Vincent Nobile, volunteered his truck and trailer for Ålund's use this weekend. It's a bonus for Priddy, for he'll be racing his own car here next weekend in the NHRA regional event.
When Priddy suggested it, Ålund said, "I started to think, 'Maybe it's doable. But there was another problem. My guys couldn't take any more time of work. Then I came up with a brilliant idea: Bo Butner and his mechanic, Darrell Herron. They're going to work on this race car when I leave. I thought, 'What the heck? I like those two guys. They're really good people, and we get along really well.' I asked them, 'If I bring this race car to Vegas, would you guys like to race together with me?' They said, 'Bring it to Vegas. We'll be there.' "
Butner, 40, is scheduled to make his Pro Stock debut in the KB Racing Camaro that Ålund drives. The 2006 Competition Eliminator national champion and four-time divisional champ from Floyds Knobs, Ind., made his first Pro Stock runs at Charlotte after the Four-Wide Nationals and earned his license. He won the Factory Stock Showdown earlier this month at Gainesville, Fla.
But Ålund isn't quite ready to hand over the keys to Butner.
"I'm excited because Summit Racing Equipment sponsors my race car in Europe," Ålund said, "and this is a great opportunity for me to participate in a race that they sponsor – and it takes place at Ken and Judy Black's home track. We're going to have fun. I'm looking forward to working with Bo and Darrell, too. It will be a good weekend. We're so grateful to have Findlay Chevrolet on the door of our Chevrolet Camaro and that we can race in Las Vegas."
He showed his gratitude by setting the track speed record – 210.93 mph – in Friday’s opening session. He’s no better than ninth with two more sessions scheduled for Saturday.
BACK TO SQUARE ONE - Starting all over with fresh elapsed times Saturday will be Pro Stockers Matt Hartford, Jeff Isbell, Joey Grose, Vincent Nobile, and Jonathan Gray.
LUCAS OIL SERIES
He earned the most recent of his 23 Wally statues here in 2010 in the Super Gas class. He drives a '63 Corvette in Super Gas and a T&T dragster in Super Comp. K&N employees Travis Hodges and John Reedy prep both cars.
QUICK TAKES:
RODGER BROGDON – Phoenix winner and two-time semifinalist Rodger Brogdon fell from the Pro Stock points lead to second place at Charlotte, thanks to transmission troubles and stellar first-round performances at the Four-Wide Nationals from foursome opponents Larry Morgan and Jason Line. However, he said, "Oh, man, I'm not worried about points yet. It's way too early to be thinking about that. We've had a great start, and we know we're contenders every time we show up. That's all I'm worried about right now."
TONY SCHUMACHER – A trivia tidbit for those who know eight-time series champion and eight-time Las Vegas Motor Speedway winner Tony Schumacher is celebrating his 15th season in the U.S. Army Dragster and wonder what the official paint colors are on the car . . . They officially are Piano Black and Double Digital Gold Chrome.
QUOTES:
"I knew I could drive. I'm still good enough that I can still let the clutch out. The only thing I was worried about was getting the funding to do it. I'm just so excited to have won that race. I got at least 200 texts from the time I won the race until I got back to the truck from the winners circle. I bet I've gotten 500 or 600 phone calls since then, too. It's incredible. I've never seen anything like it. It's still going. I'm kind of liking it. It’s gratifying."
- Charlotte Pro Stock winner Larry Morgan, who started out fifth Friday and wound up seventh after the evening session Friday
“We're just looking forward to a bone-crushing weekend on the racetrack [here] once again."
- Tony Schumacher, who won this event for the fourth time last year for his eighth Las Vegas victory.
"Gainesville was great, and we could've won the whole thing. But there's nothing you can do when Ron Capps beats you by a half-inch when you're both running over 300 miles an hour. Then we got to the Four-Wide deal, and it's like you've changed sports for a weekend. You bring your football helmet, and they put you in at shortstop.
“It's not just that these cars basically refuse to listen to everything you want them to do, but there are also going to be 15 other teams in the race and every single one of them is good enough to win. You add it all up, and you better not get too proud of yourself when it goes good. You also better not get down on yourself when it doesn't, because none of it matters when you get to the next race.”
- Funny Car owner-driver Tim Wilkerson, who ended Friday in the No. 6 position.
"I can't remember the last time I could say I had a whole lot of momentum coming into a race, but I'm sure saying it now . . . and that's pretty cool.”
- Greg Anderson, Gainesville Pro Stock winner and Charlotte finalist who’s No. 3 after Friday qualifying.
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