NHRA Arizona Nationals Eliminations (February 19)

(Chandler, Arizona) - The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) traveled to Firebird International Raceway in Chandler, Arizona for the 2nd event of their 2012 drag racing season, the 28th annual NHRA Arizona Nationals.  

In Top Fuel, Antron Brown made it to his second final round of the year but this time faced a differant DSR teammate in Tony Schumacher.  Schumacher qualified #2 and made his run to the finals with wins against Mike Strasburg (#15), Doug Kalitta (#7) and Clay Millican (#13) while Brown was in the #5 position and beat Terry McMillan (#12), Spencer Massey (#4) and Shawn Langdon (#1).  In the final round, Brown got the slight advantage off the line against Schumacher (.054 RT to .057 RT) and ran a 3.793 ET @ 319.82 MPH to the losing 3.813 ET @ 318.17 MPH.  Although his day ended in a first round loss to Spencer Massey, Cory McClenathan made his 400th career Top Fuel start which is the most all-time!

The most anticipated race of the Funny Car class had to be the first round match-up between veteran John Force and his daughter, 23 year-old rookie Courtney Force.  Like her sister Ashley did in her first race against dad in 2007, Courtney put him on the trailer with 4.146 ET @ 307.30 MPH while John got loose quickly and couldn't recover.  Similar to what Brown did in Top Fuel, Mike Neff was able turn his #2 qualifying position into a trip to the finals for the second week in a row where he faced #8 qualifier and John Force Racing teammate Robert Hight.  Neff eliminated Bob Bode (#15), Ron Capps (#10) and Jack Beckman (#6) and Hight eliminated Bob Tasca III (#9), Johnny Gray (#1) and Courtney Force (#12).  They leave with almost identical reaction times (.084 RT for Neff to an .086 RT for Hight) and Hight runs a 4.139 ET @ 307.02 MPH to beat Neff who runs a 4.168 ET @ 309.91 MPH. 

The Pro Stock class kept form with the other classes with an all-teammate battle in the final round.  Jason Line qualified in the #2 spot and eliminated Jeg Coughlin (#15), Erica Enders (#7) and Greg Stanfield (#14) to make his first final round of the early season.  Greg Anderson qualified in the #5 position and made his second trip to the finals with wins over Kurt Johnson (#12), Vincent Nobile (#4) and Rodger Brogdon (#9).  In the finals, only one-hundreth of a second seperated the two and Line ran a 6.558 ET @ 211.69 MPH to beat his teammate who ran a 6.570 ET @ 211.06.

Jason Line, Antron Brown and Robert Hight celebrate their victories in
Phoenix. (Photograph property of NHRA.com)

The NHRA travels to Gainesville Raceway in Florida next for the 43rd annual Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals presented by NapaFilters.com (March 8-11).

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NHRA Arizona Nationals Qualifying (February 17-18)

(Chandler, Arizona) - After 4 rounds of qualifying at the 28th annual NHRA Arizona Nationals at Firebird International Raceway in Chandler, Arizona the #1 qualifiers are Shawn Langdon (Top Fuel), Johnny Gray (Funny Car) and Mike Edwards (Pro Stock).

Shawn Langdon's Friday night run of 3.754 ET @ 323.12 was good enough to move him into the #1 position in Top Fuel which he held for the remaining two rounds of qualifying on Saturday.  It also was the quickest and fastest pass of his career and good enough to set the track ET record.  Langdon will face Troy Buff in the first round of eliminations on Sunday. The other match-ups will be (#2) Tony Schumacher vs. (#15) Mike Strasburg, (#3) Steve Torrence vs. (#14) Brandon Bernstein, (#4) Spencer Massey vs. (#13) Cory McClenathan, (#5) Antron Brown vs. (#12) Terry McMillen, (#6) David Grubnic vs. (#11) Clay Millican, (#7) Doug Kalitta vs. (#10) Bob Vandergriff, (#8) Morgan Lucas vs (#9) Khalid alBalooshi.    

Funny Car racer Johnny Gray earned his second #1 of his career with a 4.074 ET @ 298.93 pass on Friday night.  Gray took his car down the track cleanly on three out of four of his qualifying runs and will face Grant Downing in the first round of eliminations on Sunday.  The other first round match-ups are (#2) Mike Neff vs. (#15) Bob Bode, (#3) Jim Head vs. (#14) Jeff Arend, (#4) Matt Hagan vs. (#13) Todd Lesenko, (#5) John Force vs. (#12) Courtney Force, (#6) Jack Beckman vs. (#11) Tony Pedregon, (#7) Cruz Pedregon vs. (#10) Ron Capps and (#8) Robert Hight vs. (#9) Bob Tasca III.  Some notable names who did not qualify include Alexis DeJoria, Gary Densham, Tim Wilkerson and Jeff Diehl.

Mike Edwards set the track Pro Stock ET record with a 6.536 ET pass in the 3rd round of qualifying and held on for the #1 spot in Pro Stock.  This is Edwards' 41st #1 qualifying spot and he will face Warren Johnson in the first round of eliminations. The other first round match-ups in Pro Stock include (#2) Jason Line vs. (#15) Jeg Coughlin, (#3) Ronnie Humphrey vs. (#14) Greg Stanfield, (#4) Vincent Nobile vs. (#13) Shane Gray, (#5) Greg Anderson vs. (#12) Kurt Johnson, (#6) Allen Johnson vs. (#11) Larry Morgan, (#7) Erica Enders vs. (#10) Steve Kent and (#8) Ron Krisher vs. (#9) Roger Brogdon.  Some notable names who did not qualify include Grace Howell and V. Gaines.  

Here are my predictions for the final round tomorrow in all three classes:

Top Fuel: Cory McClenathan over Bob Vandergriff
Funny Car: Jack Beckman ove John Force
Pro Stock: Jeg Coughlin over Mike Edwards

Interview: Todd Lesenko

Todd Lesenko (Photo property of NHRA.com)

Todd Lesenko of Alberta, Canada is the driver of the Tap It Brewing Company/Jim Dunn Racing Funny Car on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. In 2011, he made his professional debut at Phoenix in October and qualifed in the #11 position.  He attended the final three events of the season, qualifying in 2 of the 3 races and setting a personal best ET and MPH.  At Pomona last week he qualified in the #16 spot and got his first NHRA career round win against #1 qualifier Robert Hight in the first round.  Todd is currently tied for 7th place in the Funny Car standings.

Jason Culley: How did you get involved in drag racing?

Todd Lesenko:  I got involved with drag racing when I was about 12 years old.  I worked at a automotive shop and the owner and employees were racers so I was the young kid that got to help the guys do the stuff that happened in tight areas.  Then as I grew up I was involved in high school racing and my bonus was that if I worked hard and kept out of trouble I was able to take the tow truck to the races on Friday and sit on the starting line. It was a cheap place to take a certain girl on a date and now that girl is my wife!

NHRA Point Standings

TOP FUEL DRAGSTER

1. Spencer Massey (119 points), Antron Brown (-24), Morgan Lucas (-32), Tony Schumacher (-41), Bob Vandergriff (-62), Brandon Bernstein (-65), Shawn Langdon (-65), Clay Millican (-67), Khalid Albalooshi (-85), David Grubnic (-87), Doug Kalitta (-87), Steve Torrence (-87), Steve Faria (-88), Rod Fuller (-88), Cory McClenathan (-88), Terry McMillen (-88), Troy Buff (-109), Steven Chrisman (-109)

TOP FUEL FUNNY CAR

1. John Force (114 points), Mike Neff (-19), Ron Capps (-41), Gary Densham (-41), Jack Beckman (-52), Courtney Force (-62), Todd Lesenko (-63), Tim Wilkerson (-63), Robert Hight (-73), Bob Tasca III (-75), Johnny Gray (-76), Matt Hagan (-80), Jeff Aren (-81), Alexis Dejoria (-82), Bob Bode (-83), Tony Pedregon (-83), Jim Head (-104), Cruz Pedregon (-104), Jack Wyatt (-104), James Day (-109)

PRO STOCK

1. Greg Anderson (114 points), Jeg Coughlin (-23), Jason Line (-32), Mike Edwards (-33), Allen Johnson (-55), Vincent Nobile (59), Rodger Brigdon (-61), Shane Gray (-61), Ronnie Humphrey (-73), Kurt Johnson (-82), Ron Krisher (-82), Larry Morgan (-82), Greg Stanfield (-82), Erica Enders (-83), V. Gaines (-83), Grace Howell (-83), Warren Johnson (-104), Steve Kent (-104)

(Driver profile photos property of NHRA.com)

52nd Annual Winternationals

(POMONA, Calif) - Spencer Massey (Top Fuel), John Force (Funny Car) and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) made claim to the #1 positions in their respective classes after the NHRA's first event of 2012, the 52nd annual O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries in Pomona, California.

Spencer Massey qualified #2 and made it to the Top Fuel final round by beating Steve Faria, Clay Millican and Tony Schumacher where he faced his teammate and the #4 qualifier, Antron Brown.  Brown's path to the finals included wins against Cory McClenathan, Brandon Bernstein and Morgan Lucas.  In the final round, Brown took the early lead with a .036 RT to Massey's .049 RT but he couldn't hold it and ran a 3.794 ET @ 320.43 MPH to the winning 3.750 ET @ 325.77 MPH run of Massey.

Spencer Massey (near lane) defeated teammate Antron Brown the TF Final Round. (Photo NHRA.com)

In Funny Car, it was the 62-year-old John Force who outlasted the entire field to claim his 1,100th round win and 134th event win.  After qualifying in the #6 position Force eliminated Alexis Dejoria, Tim Wilkerson and Del Worsham where he faced teammate Mike Neff who qualified #4.  Neff made it to the finals after beating Tony Pedregon, Courtney Force and Ron Capps.  Force won on a holeshot (.067 RT to .175 RT) over Neff, 4.080 ET @ 315.64 MPH to the quicker but losing 4.036 ET @ 316.82 MPH.

John Force (far lane) defeated teammate Mike Neff in the FC Final Round. (Photo NHRA.com)

The Pro Stock class had a Summit vs. JEGS final round as #5 qualifier, Greg Anderson faced off against #14 qualifier, Jeg Coughlin.  Anderson eliminated Larry Morgan, Allen Johnson and teammate Jason Line en route to the finals while Coughlin beat Ronnie Humphrey, Vincent Nobile and Mike Edwards.  In the final round, Coughlin got the holeshot and ran a 6.586 ET @ 209.62 MPH but couldn't hold off Anderson's quicker and faster 6.549 ET @ 210.87.

Greg Anderson (far lane) defeated Jeg Coughlin in the PS Final Round. (Photo NHRA.com)

The NHRA travels to Arizona next for the 28th annual NHRA Arizona Nationals (February 17-19).  

Jason's Winternationals Predictions

Here are my predictions for the winners of the 52nd annual O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries this weekend in Pomona, California.

Top Fuel
Morgan Lucas vs. Bob Vandergriff (Winner = Morgan Lucas)

Funny Car
Robert Hight vs. John Force (Winner = John Force)

Pro Stock
Erica Enders vs. Jeg Coughlin (Winner = Jeg Coughlin)

2012 NHRA Drag Racing Series Schedule

Here is the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Schedule.  

February 9-12
52nd annual O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries
Auto Club Raceway at Pomona (Pomona, California)

February 17-19
28th annual NHRA Arizona Nationals
Firebird International Raceway (Chandler, Arizona)

March 8-11
43rd annual Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals
Gainesville Raceway (Gainesville, Florida)

March 30 - April 1
13th annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals
The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Las Vegas, NV)

My NHRA Blog

The National Hot Rod Association drag racing season is about to start here in a few days.  I though it would be a fun project to start this blog and follow the NHRA as they go through the 2012 season.  So please check back often and I am always looking for feedback or suggestions (jlculley@gmail.com).