NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Preview | Features | Photos | Results

QUALIFYING RECAPS

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE Q1 (5:22 p.m.): After running the table during qualifying in Norwalk, Matt Smith picked up where he left off with a strong first qualifying effort at the Fallen Patriots NHRA Route 66 Nationals. Smith rode to a 6.836 for the top spot, and he is well ahead of second-ranked Hector Arana Jr., who posted a 6.891 on his Lucas Oil Buell. Scotty Pollacheck also picked up a qualifying bonus point with a 6.892 on his Suzuki Extended Protection bike. The current bump after one session is David Hope with a 7.181 on John Hammock’s Buell.

PRO STOCK Q1 (5:40 p.m.): Drew Skillman, one of the few full-time Pro Stock drivers who does not have a win this season, is off to a solid start at Route 66 Raceway with a 6.614 to take the top spot after Q1. Skillman is just a thousandth of a second ahead of four-time champion Greg Anderson, who settled into the second spot with a 6.615 in his Summit Camaro.  In a class where qualifiers are often separated by a couple of thousandths of a second, Skillman and Anderson are light years ahead of their opponents with a .02-second cushion over provisional No. 3 qualifier Jason Line, who posted a 6.631. The top nine drivers are in the 6.6-second zone including points leader Bo Butner, who posted a 6.640.

FUNNY CAR Q1 (6:40 p.m.): Robert Hight matched up against Jack Beckman in the first round of qualifying, with admittedly a lot less on the line than when they faced off in the final in Norwalk a week ago. Still, Hight surely enjoyed the result of this rematch: the best time of the first session (3.917) while teammate John Force posted the No. 2 time (3.943). Ron Capps (3.946) and Beckman (3.966) slotted into third and fourth. A couple of Countdown contenders in Cruz Pedregon and Alexis DeJoria finished fifth and sixth. 

TOP FUEL Q1 (7:05 p.m.): The track temperature will only get cooler, and that means good things for Leah Pritchett. She had the best pass of the first session (3.763) and will get the last run of the night as a result. That pass narrowly edged teammate Antron Brown’s 3.766, while Steve Torrence notched a 3.778 run. A couple of part-time racers found themselves in the top-half of the field, including Pat Dakin (3.835) and T.J. Zizzo (3.839). The 17-car field means one driver will be left out in the cold; right now, that’s rookie driver Blake Alexander, who didn’t make it down the track. Clay Millican holds the bump spot with a 5.811. 

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE Q2 (8:17 p.m.): As if his earlier 6.836 run wasn’t impressive enough, Matt Smith lowered the boom again with a 6.829 to lead the Pro Stock Motorcycle field. Smith’s Polaris Magnum has been the quickest bike in the last six sessions dating back to the Norwalk race two weeks ago. The second-quickest run of the round was Scotty Pollacheck’s 6.883 and Hector Arana Jr. was third-best at 6.884. It took just a few pairs for the bump spot in Pro Stock Motorcycle to dip into the six-second zone as conditions improved for Q2. After two runs, Angelle Sampey is the No. 16 qualifier with a 6.999.

PRO STOCK Q2 (8:22 p.m.): Tanner Gray knocked Drew Skillman from the top spot in Pro Stock with a 6.591, 208.84 under the lights on Friday night. Gray, mourning the loss of his aunt, Terry Chandler, was the only driver in the 6.5s. He earned his first low qualifier award three races ago in Epping and has been ranked in the top half in nine of his first 12 races. Norwalk winner Greg Anderson was second quickest in the session with a 6.600 and Skillman improved upon his earlier 6.614 with a 6.605, 208.04. With two of four sessions in the books, the top eight qualifiers are tightly bunched with Allen Johnson’s Dodge in the No. 8 spot with a 6.638 best.

FUNNY CAR Q2 (9:13 p.m.): What better way to end your work day than with setting both ends of the track record? That’s what Robert Hight did in the second qualifying session, ripping off a 3.851-second pass at 334.73 mph to end Friday as the provisional No. 1 qualifier. That took the track record from Jack Beckman, who had just taken it from Hight’s teammate Courtney Force. Those are the top three qualifiers after the first day of action, with Matt Hagan and Alexis DeJoria rounding out the top five. Tim Wilkerson finishes Friday on the outside looking in while Justin Schriefer holds the bump spot with a 4.924-second pass. 

TOP FUEL Q2 (9:42 p.m.): Brittany Force didn’t better her track record, but she did grab the provisional No. 1 qualifier spot with a 3.711 pass. She finished with quite a bit of space between her and Tony Schumacher, the No. 2 qualifier; .047 second, to be precise. Shawn Langdon came in just .001 second behind Schumacher and Leah Pritchett followed .004 second behind that. Antron Brown rounded out the top five. Clay Millican is on the outside looking in after the first day of action while Chris Karamesines holds the bump spot with a 4.69-second time. 

FEATURES

Brittany Force will celebrate her birthday on Saturday. She’d like nothing more than to extend the festivities an extra day by hoisting her second Wally of the season on Sunday.

“I’d love to win there,” Force said. “It’d be the best present – to be in the winners’ circle and get that Wally.”

The Monster Energy driver holds the track record for e.t. (3.692) and, as a result, grabbed the No. 1 qualifier hat in Chicago a year ago. That didn’t lead to Sunday success as she was bounced by Leah Pritchett in the second round. Force isn’t thinking about revenge so much as taking things two steps further this time around.

“We had some success there last year – went No. 1, but we didn’t win the race, so that’s what we’re going for this year. We were able to get a victory at Epping, and hoping to win the race in Chicago. We’ll be ready.”

It’s been an interesting season for Force, who started out a bit rocky before making significant changes to her dragster that involved front-halving the car and dramatically changing where she sits in it. That bore fruit almost immediately in the form of the Epping victory. Even when she hasn’t won, Force has posted great times and speed; she’s a force to be reckoned with (pun intended, I’m sorry). 

Before getting her new dragster for Atlanta, Force’s average e.t. (including all runs) was 5.706. Since then, she’s averaging passes of 4.691 seconds.
 
Shaving off a second seems significant from where I’m sitting. Throw out “junk runs” (anything slower than five seconds) from both of those and you’ll get the following averages: 3.861 on her old dragster and 3.908 on her new dragster. 

Consider this, though: On the old car, 10 of its 34 runs were slower than five seconds compared to just four of 28 on the new one. In this sport, sometimes it’s as important to be consistent as it is to be fast.

Antron Brown has made a habit of winning in the Windy City in even years. He’s going to look to put a stop to that part of his run in Chicago by taking home the Wally in an odd year. Brown runnered up twice during the “Eastern Swing,” and will look to get his first win since Topeka, which proceeded the four in a row. 

The Matco Tools pilot has five wins in Chicago, three in Top Fuel, and a pair from his Pro Stock Motorcycle days (2000, 2002). He’s won in each of the past three even years (2016, 2014, 2012) by beating J.R. Todd, Brittany Force and Steve Torrence. Brown is 1-1 against Torrence this year and most recently lost to Force in Epping. There won’t be a rematch against Todd this year as the driver now pilots the DHL Funny Car. 

Brown has picked up a pair of Wally’s this season and runnered up three times. His last win came against Torrence in Topeka and after that Brown went to back-to-back Finals in Epping and Englishtown to kick off the Eastern Swing. 

"We're plugging away at it," Brown said. "Some of the finals haven't gone our way but going rounds is important. The competition is just unbelievable right now. We're halfway through the season and the top three are separated by four rounds of racing. We can trade spots each weekend.”

That’s not a bad spot to be in entering a track Brown has raced well at. He trails teammate Leah Pritchett and good friend Torrence as the Countdown approaches with a solid car. Now we’ll see if he can snap pick up a Wally in a Top Fuel car in an odd year for the first time in his career. 

It looked like Robert Hight, Jimmy Prock and the AAA Funny Car crew would finally grab that first win of the season two weeks ago in Norwalk. They had the best running car of the weekend and ran in the 3-second range in the first, second and third rounds on Sunday. Then, against Jack Beckman in the final, things went wrong.

“We’ve been qualifying very well, usually top three every week, and then something happens on race day,” said Hight. Last race, Norwalk, thought we were going to get that first win of the season and we had a clutch malfunction in the final. We had a great race car all day and it’s one of those things that bites you.” 

Hight has qualified in top half of the field in all but three of the first 12 races this season but has advanced to the semi’s in three times and the finals twice. That’s seven exits in the first or second round; much earlier than you’d expect based on his results on Friday and Saturday. 

“John’s car tested after we ran and we run that same combination so we feel good coming here into Chicago,” said the President of John Force Racing.

That testing Hight referred to might help Force get back on track, as the 16-time world champion has struggled more with overall performance than with tire-smoking. It remains to be seen how Force’s new tune up will impact Hight’s car, but cool temperatures on Friday and Saturday evening will likely make for some more killer runs from a team that has made more than a few this season.

“Like Leah (Pritchett) said, that’s one of the reasons you see such big numbers every year (at Route 66 Raceway) is you get two chances at great condition,” Hight said of night qualifying. “The weather looks good this year. We’re going to go out there and try to set some records.”

Hight and Don Schumacher Racing rival Matt Hagan have certainly done some of that this season. The duo took turns setting the national record in Topeka with Hagan eventually taking hold of the new speed record (338.85 mph). 

“I think you’re definitely going to see some numbers real close to that here in Chicago,” said Hight. It’s a great racing surface and like I said you get two night runs, boy it’s gonna be good. You see that weather forecast. You’re gonna see big numbers and you’re gonna see track records and it’s gonna be fun.”

What will make it a really fun weekend for Hight? Ending it with a Wally in the winner’s circle.

John Force skipped his planned vacation in Tahoe to test in Indianapolis during the July 4th holiday weekend as the 16-time world champion has looked like anything but his old self since winning in Gainesville way back in March. Since then, Force has slipped into seventh place and turned on only two win lights during the four-race “Eastern Swing.” That’s not good enough for a racer of Force’s pedigree. 

“I can’t vacation when my race car’s not right,” Force said to NHRA’s John Kernan. “The idea is to get ready for the Countdown. Yeah, you want to win every race, but you want to get ready for the Countdown, and we’re not ready.”

The results speak for themselves. Force earned 10 round wins in the first six races; that’s not spectacular, but it put him in third place. The underlying numbers spelled trouble was on the horizon, and Force knew he needed to get better. Trouble came. Following Charlotte, where Force advanced to the second round, he has gone 3-6 and posted elapsed times in the 3-second range just eight times in 31 runs, including qualifying runs. 

New parts and pieces on the Peak Chevrolet Camaro might provide part of the answer to Force’s woes. The car ran a 3.8 in testing; though it doesn’t take an expert to tell you it’s a whole lot tougher to get a Funny Car to do what you want on Sunday. Oh, and if the car isn’t cooperating in a timely manner? Force has a backup plan. 

“I’ll rent a hotel room and put everyone in the same room until we all become one,” Force said. 

It’s hard to know if he’s joking or not. Godspeed, everyone. 

Bob Bode made his career debut in Funny Car in Atlanta nearly 20 years ago. The veteran pulled up behind legend Kenny Bernstein in awe and, as his son climbs the Jr. Dragster ranks, hopes one day to see Bob Bode Jr. have a similar experience. 

“When I was the first car out in Funny Car, Kenny Bernstein was in the Budweiser King dragster,” said Bode. “In his Budweiser outfit and then there was me with my guys in their black shirts right behind him. I was going ‘I freaking made it.’ And that’s what my kid will be doing it. 

For Bode Sr. it was Bernstein. Perhaps for Jr. it’ll be John Force the king of the Funny Car class. While Bode cherishes all his own firsts, whether it be the first time he qualified or his first-round win, he’s looking forward to going through all of that again with his son. 

“He works with me (on the Jr. car) now,” Bode said. “He doesn’t do it all, but he watches and does parts of it and we maintain all of it. At the race track he fills it with fuel now and he does the tires. I laugh because he comes home from the track now with fingers as dirty as mine.” 

Bode Jr. brought home a Wally earlier this month and the father and son duo enjoy the long hours in the garage to get the car ready to go. 

“Last week he had me in Columbus and next week we’re in Bristol,” said Bode. “He won a $1,000 race a couple weeks ago. It was a Friday night race and we put everything together just right. Some days he’s right on and last week we went to Columbus and we couldn’t win anything, but he does really well most of the time.”

When Chris McGaha returned from his four-race break in Norwalk, he had a list of things he wanted to accomplish but at this point, he’s not willing to give himself a letter grade on his efforts.

“I’d say right now we’re incomplete,” said McGaha. “We won in Charlotte and then went to Atlanta and at both races we thought we had a pretty good car. When I took those races off I had a whole list of things I wanted to work on but I didn’t get to all of them. We actually got a lot done but not much of it has panned out. We do have a much better idea of what doesn’t work because we tried a lot of things that didn’t work.”

In addition to spending time with his family, McGaha, who builds his own engines, managed to assemble another fresh powerplant. He had high hopes for the most recent race in Norwalk but that ended with a frustrating early loss.

“We just never made a clean run in Norwalk,” he said. “I honestly think I might have been a bit rusty. We should certainly have been better than we showed.”

McGaha was sixth in the Mello Yello series points when he took his self-imposed hiatus and he slipped to tenth but enters the Chicago race as the ninth-ranked driver in the class. His current plan calls for skipping the Brainerd round, but he still believes that he’ll qualify for the Countdown to the Championship.

“If I make the top ten, and I should, you’ll see me at all of the rest of the races,” said McGaha. “We have a good car. We should be able to win enough rounds to stay in the Countdown.”

Jeg Coughlin Jr. has built a reputation as one of the coolest customers in drag racing so it’s no surprised that he’s not outwardly fazed by the fact that he has yet to win a Pro Stock event this year.

“It is what it is,” said Coughlin. “It’s certainly not for lack of preparation or lack of effort. We’ve had some good opportunities to get to final rounds and some good opportunities to win but so far, it hasn’t panned out. It’s not a matter of bad luck; we just haven’t been able to capitalize. That’s all.

One thing that Coughlin doesn’t need to worry about is making the Countdown to the Championship. The five-time Pro Stock champ is currently ranked No. 4 in the standings, and has 18 round wins to his credit. Last year, he won just ten rounds during the entire 24-race season.

Coughlin and the rest of the Pro Stock teams will be racing on the new Goodyear tire this weekend. The tire has been available for several months but it is mandatory starting at this weekend’s race.

“We have tested the tire but we haven’t run it in competition yet, at least on my car,” said Coughlin. “I know we’ve used it on Royce Lee [Freeman’s] Top Sportsman car and I think it will be a positive change. With Goodyear, they’re always going to make a better product. As a driver, I probably won’t notice much of a difference if any. This is more a deal for the crew chiefs as far as the clutch combination and gearing. That’s where the adjustment will be.”

Riding the wave of his three wins, current Pro Stock points leader Bo Butner pulled double-duty in Chicago with a rare guest appearance in Stock Eliminator. In addition to his normal ride in the KB Racing Pro Stock Camaro, Butner also wheeled a Cobra Jet Mustang that currently belongs to the Emmons family. The blue Ford was damaged in an accident in Houston and Butner brought it to his shop in Floyds Knobs, Ind., so that crew chief Darrell Herron, who originally built the car, could help with repairs.

Butner made it to the second round of eliminations before he broke out by a thousandth of a second against Division 5 racer Jamey Picht.

“Darrell fixed the car and I had a chance to race it here so I thought, ‘why not?’” said Butner. “This is a great car. The driver needs a little work but the car is great. I came here and made three runs and all of them were great. I’m going to tell the Emmons boys that if they can’t win with this car it’s their fault.”

When Steve Johnson stages his Suzuki for Q1 at Route 66 Raceway it will officially mark his 400th start in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class. Johnson, who made his Pro debut aboard a Kawasaki in 1987, is far and away the leader in among NHRA’s two wheel racers. In fact, the rider with the second-most appearances is Hector Arana Sr. who has appeared in 293 events. The only other active riders with more than 200 appearances are Andrew Hines (235), Mike Berry (226), Angelle Sampey (216), Matt Smith (216) and Karen Stoffer (203).

“Consistency; that’s what I think about when I think 400 races,” said Johnson. “I haven’t missed a race since the start of the 1989 season and that’s what I’m most proud of. I don’t think there is anyone who can say that. It took me 17 years to win my first race but I’m proud of that. That’s part of the message that I share with kids.”

Johnson’s journey began at the 1987 Englishtown race. Then a resident of California, he put his Kawasaki in a crate and had it shipped to the track. Johnson used the crate as his pit area for the weekend. For the record, Johnson qualified No. 16 at that event and defeated Rick Gero in the first round before losing to Frank Martorelli. Johnson didn’t win his first race until 2004 and now has six wins in 20 final rounds. His career round win record is 233-366 with 27 DNQ’s.

David Hope, who rides John Hammock’s Vroom Racing Buell, has to go to great lengths to get to the races. Working on a job site in Alaska, Hope usually takes three or four flights to get to each race and that travel can take a day or more.

“It’s not easy but it tells you how much I want to race,” said Hope. “I was off the bike for a couple of years and I really missed it.”

Hope has struggled to qualify so far this year but he feels like his team is on the verge of a major breakthrough. Teammate Mike Berry, who races out of the same trailer as Hammock, ran a 6.932 in Norwalk to qualify in the top half of the field.

“We know we have good power, but we’re not getting it down the track consistently,” said Hammock. “When you have to abort runs, you get no data and that makes it hard to fix whatever issues you have. It’s easy to get behind the curve. This year, we changed our ECU to a Magnetti Morelli and that has been a big help. Hopefully, we’re about to turn things around quickly.

During Friday’s Q1, Hope did not make the sort of run he was looking for with a 7.181, but he ended the session as the 16th quickest qualifier.

The Stoffer/Underdahl team trailer is normally a very busy place but it’s especially hectic this weekend with the team fielding five Suzuki entries. Top ten contenders Scotty Pollacheck, Karen Stoffer, and rookie Joey Gladstone are being joined by part-timers Kelly Clontz and Andie Rawlings. The team may soon expand to six bikes after Greg Underdahl recently purchased Joe DeSantis’ Suzuki. John Hall is expected to ride the sixth bike, possibly as soon as the next round in Denver.

“We have a good group assembled here and right now, we have enough people to make it work,” said Underdahl. “This is the first time that Andie and Kelly are racing at the same race but they both wanted to come here. In a perfect world, we’d be really busy on Sunday. I’d love to see all five bikes being worked on after the first round.”

In Q1, Pollacheck was the quickest of the Stoffer/Underdahl Suzuki entires with a third-quickest 6.892. After a horrible 2016 season on Matt Smith’s Buell, Pollacheck is thrilled to have a motorcycle that is capable of contending for victories.

“I look at the points and see that I’m third but it doesn’t really feel like is,” said Pollacheck. “We’re doing well; we’re qualifying really solidly and we’re winning rounds. I just need to concentrate on getting to final rounds and not give myself a false sense of security. My bike goal is to make the Countdown. We need to be sure of that.”

PHOTOS

PREVIEW

The second half of the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing season begins with this weekend’s Fallen Patriots NHRA Route 66 Nationals and with just six races left before the start of the Countdown to the Championship, the battle to secure a spot in the top ten is intensifying for NHRA’s pro teams. For nitro racers, who have yet to win, time is also running short in the battle to qualify for the upcoming Traxxas Shootouts at Indy.

In Top Fuel, Antron Brown, Steve Torrence, Leah Pritchett, Tony Schumacher, Brittany Force, and Clay Millican have all secured wins so far. Torrence has been the hottest driver in the class with two wins and a semifinal during the four race Eastern Swing. Torrence and his Richard Hogan-led Capco Contractors team have the hot hand, but DSR teammates Brown and Schumacher have combined to win the last five races at Route 66 Raceway with Brown as the defending event champion.

In one of the season’s most shocking developments, Kalitta racing teammates Shawn Langdon and Doug Kalitta went winless in the first half of the season. Kalitta is solidly in the Countdown field but Langdon, who missed the first four races of the season, is still fighting for a spot in the top ten. Also worth watching is Clay Millican, who made his nitro debut in Chicago. Now a veteran with 255 starts to his credit, Millican is coming off a win in Bristol and he’s racing in Illinois, the home state of team owner Doug Stringer.

The entire sport is mourning the loss of team sponsor Terry Chandler, who passed away earlier this week after a battle with cancer. Teammates Jack Beckman and Tommy Johnson Jr., who drive the Infinite Hero and Make-A-Wish entries that Chandler supported, would love nothing more than to win this event in her memory. Beckman would appear to be the best bet for a victory since he’s won two of the last three races and he is the defending event winner. 

Reigning Mello Yello Funny Car champ Ron Capps has also been red hot this year with five wins in seven final rounds. Capps is coming off a rare second-round loss in Norwalk, but he is still arguably the best racer in the class and he’s racing with a comfortable lead in the Mello Yello standings.

The only non-DSR driver to win a race this season is John Force although Robert Hight and Courtney Force have come close. The list of drivers who are overdue for a win include Robert Hight, Tim Wilkerson, J.R. Todd, Alexis DeJoria, and Courtney Force, who is looking forward to returning to action following the first DNQ of her career in Norwalk.

Unlike last season, when KB Racing teammates Jason Line and Greg Anderson dominated, the Pro Stock class is wide open this year with eight different winners in the first 12 events. So far, Alex Laughlin, Anderson, Bo Butner, Line, Erica Enders, Chris McGaha, Shane Gray, and Tanner Gray have won Pro Stock races. Butner has been the most successful with three wins including Norwalk, where he used a perfect .000 light to defeat teammate Anderson in the final.

The drivers most likely to join the winner’s roster include Drew Skillman, Jeg Coughlin Jr., Allen Johnson and Vincent Nobile.

Tanner Gray, who already has wins in Houston and Topeka, is also facing an emotional return to the track following the loss of Chandler, who is his aunt. The 18-year old prodigy has endured a tough stretch with a handful of tough losses during the four-race Eastern Swing but he figures to snap out of it quickly.

Thus far, there have been five Pro Stock Motorcycle races and LE Tonglet has won three of them. The former Chicago champ is coming off an impressive win two weeks ago in Norwalk. Tonglet will also welcome the return of his team owner Jerry Savoie, who had to miss the Norwalk race to take care of his alligator farm in Louisiana.

While the Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson team continues to work out the bugs in their new Street Rod motorcycles, the door is open for others to win races including Matt Smith, who qualified No. 1 and was a runner-up in Norwalk with his Polaris Magnum bike. Hector Arana Jr. should also be considered a favorite although his is still racing without his father, Hector Sr., who is recovering from recent shoulder surgery.

Hines has three wins at Route 66 Raceway while Tonglet and Arana Jr. each have two. Matt Smith has also been a runner-up on three occasions.

NATIONAL RECORDS: 

Top Fuel 
3.658 seconds by Leah Pritchett, Feb. ‘17, Phoenix, Ariz.
333.66 mph by Brittany Force, May '17, Topeka, Kan.

Funny Car
3.802 and 338.85 mph by Matt Hagan, May ’17, Topeka, Kan.

Pro Stock
6.455 sec. by Jason Line, March ’15, Charlotte, N.C.
215.55 mph by Erica Enders, May ’14, Englishtown N.J.

Pro Stock Motorcycle
6.728 sec. by Andrew Hines, Oct. ’12, Reading, Pa.
199.88 mph by Hector Arana Jr., March ’15, Charlotte, N.C.

2016 EVENT WINNERS:   
Antron Brown, Top Fuel; Jack Beckman, Funny Car; Greg Anderson, Pro Stock; Andrew Hines, Pro Stock Motorcycle

MOST VICTORIES:
Jeg Coughlin, 5, PS; Tony Schumacher, 5, TF; Kenny Bernstein, 4, TF; Tony Pedregon, 4, FC; Whit Bazemore, 3, FC; Antron Brown, 3, TF; Larry Dixon, 3, TF; John Force, 3, FC; Matt Hagan, 3, FC; Doug Kalitta, 3, TF; Kurt Johnson, 3, PS; Jason Line, 3, PS; Del Worsham, 3, FC.

TRACK RECORDS: 

Top Fuel
3.692 sec. by Brittany Force, July ’16
330.55 mph by Doug Kalitta, July ’16

Funny Car
3.882 sec. by Matt Hagan, July ’16
332.50 mph by Jack Beckman, July ‘16

Pro Stock
6.528 sec. by Drew Skillman, July ’15
211.83 mph by Greg Anderson, July ’15

Pro Stock Motorcycle
6.833 sec. by Andrew Hines, July ’15
196.82 mph by Hector Arana Jr., July ’15