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QUALIFYING ROUND RECAPS

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE Q1 (2:51 p.m.): Reigning Mello Yello world champion Jerry Savoie kicked off the Countdown to the Championship in the best way possible, with three qualifying bonus points. Savoie leads the Pro Stock Motorcycle field after one session with a 6.838, 196.10 on his White Alligator Suzuki. Matt Smith and Hector Arana Jr. also collected bonus points with runs of 6.873 and 6.880, respectively. After one run, 13 riders are in the six-second zone and the bump is a respectable 7.183.

PRO STOCK Q1 (3:06 p.m.): Rookie Tanner Gray began to chip away at the points lead of Bo Butner with a strong 6.559, 201.50 during Q1 in his Gray Motorsports Camaro. Gray banked three bonus points as the quickest driver in the round. He held off Greg Anderson, who was second best with a 6.567, 209.69 and Butner, who earned a single point after his 6.573, 210.77 effort. Jeg Coughlin made a strong first impression with a fifth best 6.568, 209.88 from his JEGS.com Camaro.

FUNNY CAR Q1 (3:55 p.m.): Kalitta Motorsports found something in the first session, as J.R. Todd and Alexis DeJoria grabbed the top two spots in Funny Car. Todd’s 3.937 put him in the No. 1 spot, while DeJoria ran a 3.952. Tim Wilkerson earned the solo bonus point with a 3.976. Those were three of only five passes in the 3-second range, as the floppers struggled to find traction on a hot race track. Courtney Force and Robert Hight both lost traction early, while Jim Campbell failed to get down the track to make up the bottom of the field. 

TOP FUEL Q1 (4:19 p.m.): Clay Millican and crew chief David Grubnic are living in another zip code from the rest of the Top Fuel field through one qualifying session. The 3.761-second pass is .022-second quicker than the next best pass, run by Brittany Force. The dragsters found more success at zMax Dragway than the Funny Cars, with seven cars getting into the 3-second range. Leah Pritchett rounded out the quick three of the session, earning up one bonus point with a 3.791.  Antron Brown made it up about 15 feet before losing traction and is at the bottom of the field on a 10.493 pass. 

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE Q2 (5:15 p.m.): Andrew Hines took over the top spot after riding his Screamin’ Eagle Harley Street Rod to a strong 6.825, 196.50 during the second session. Hines was one of many riders to improve including Hector Arana Jr., who picked up two bonus points for making the second-best run of the round with a 6.840, 196.07. Jerry Savoie, the leader after Q1, did not make it to the finish line under power after his White Alligator Suzuki slowed at half-track. Matt Smith also did not get to run after his Victory Magnum was shut off on the starting line.

PRO STOCK Q2 (5:45 p.m.): Tanner Gray reaffirmed his grasp on the top qualifying spot in Pro Stock after a 6.571, 201.21 that was the quickest pass of the second session. Gray, who earlier ran 6.559, has now banked six bonus points through two rounds of qualifying. Bo Butner also earned a pair of bonus points after a 6.576, 210.08 and Jason Line improved slightly with a 6.578, 210.18 to earn the third and final point. Jeg Coughlin, Greg Anderson and Chris McGaha were also solidly in the 6.5s during the second session.

FUNNY CAR Q2 (6:29 p.m.): Here comes Courtney Force. After an unsuccessful pass in the first qualifying session, the Advance Auto Parts team leapt to the No. 1 spot with a 3.891-second run, giving her the provisional pole. She also earned three bonus points, which will help her chase for a championship. J.R. Todd’s great Friday continued with the second-best run of the session (3.898); he ended with five points on the day. Tommy Johnson Jr. (3.901) rounded out the top three at the end of the day, while Jack Beckman jumped to No. 4 with a 3.906. 

TOP FUEL Q2 (6:57 p.m.): The guns came out as the sun started to set over zMax Dragway. All but three of the 15 dragsters to run in the second session made a pass in the 3-second range, but none were better than Doug Kalitta. The pilot of the Mac Tools dragster laid down a 3.723 pass to jump to the top of the heap, while Steve Torrence (3.724) and Leah Pritchett (3.725) rounded out the top three. After starting the session at the top, Clay Millican dropped all the way to No. 7. 

Friday recap: Kalitta, C. Force, T. Gray, Hines grab Friday poles. 

FEATURES

Leading up to his second championship in as many years, Antron Brown looked very consistent. He won 15 rounds in the six races preceding the 2016 Countdown to the Championship. Six is an important number, given it’s the same number of events featured in the Countdown. Once the playoffs began, Brown won the identical number of rounds, clinching the title before the Auto Club World Finals in Pomona. 

That wire-to-wire performance (he was in first place from Chicago all the way to Pomona, a 12-race stretch) was spectacular. This season, Brown looks poised to go on an even better run. He’ll need to if he wants to catch Steve Torrence, who gets the chance to “play defense” from the No. 1 position this time around, while Brown chases from second place. 

Brown won 18 rounds over the six races leading up to the Countdown to the Championship, including two wins and three runner-up appearances. His only non-final round appearance came in the last race before the Countdown: the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals. That’s the sixth-straight year Brown has departed before the finals in Indy, and the fifth year in a row he’s lost in the second round or sooner. 

The Matco Tools dragster pilot has won from the No. 2 spot before. He did it in 2015, when he picked up 19-round wins during the Countdown, and three event wins, to bully his way to a title. If Brown starts the Countdown like that, it’s hard to imagine another driver having much of a shot against him.

Co-crew chiefs Mark Oswald and Brian Corradi have the dragster flying right now. It reliably runs in the 3.70s, dipping into the 3.60s when the conditions are right, and Brown continues to leave on everyone except Torrence. That’s a recipe for a championship. No one has won three titles in a row since Tony Schumacher did it between 2004-09, but betting against Brown would be a mistake. 

Shawn Langdon makes his return to the Countdown to the Championship with a new look on his Top Fuel Dragster. That’s not just because he’s now racing for Kalitta Motorsports. Langdon, who usually sports the colors of Global Electronic Technology, will bear a WIX Filters wrap at the NHRA Carolina Nationals. 

“We have a good opportunity to turn the car around,” said Langdon. We have had a good car the last couple races, and now it is time to show it. It will be exciting to have WIX Filters on the side, especially since it is their home race.”

Langdon qualified for the Countdown to the Championship in the No. 10 spot and will have his work cut out for him as he chases his second Top Fuel title. He raced to a championship in 2013 as the No. 1 seed. After sitting out the first four races of the season due to a lack of sponsorship, Langdon was picked up by Kalitta Motorsports ahead of the NHRA Springnationals in Houston thanks to the Global Electronic Technology deal. An extension of that deal was announced ahead of the U.S. Nationals.

Mixed performance has plagued the dragster since Langdon joined Kalitta. He has nine round wins in 14 races and is looking for his final-round appearance of the season. In his last six races, Langdon has three round wins, but has qualified in the top half of the field four times. That’s a sign the performance is turning around. 

They might enter the Countdown as underdogs, but Langdon has the driving talent to play spoiler if the pipes stay lit on Sunday.  

Getting into the Countdown is a big deal for Scott Palmer’s Tommy Thompson-backed team. That big milestone has come with many small milestones along the way, such as getting into the 3.70s for the first time in Topeka. Palmer ran the sixth 3.70 of his career in the first qualifying session of the NHRA Carolina Nationals; that’s all part of the plan. 

“If we can run consistent, I think we can move up a few spots (in the standings),” said Palmer. 

To do that, he’ll have to continue to do what got him into the Countdown: Hold off Shawn Langdon behind him. He’ll also have to get past Terry McMillen ahead of him. The overall goal of Palmer and the CatSpot Kitty Litter dragster is to just get better this year so that their baseline to start the 2018 season is better. 

“Dom and Bobby (Lagana) call me a ‘Calmer Palmer,’” the driver said of his level-headed approach to slowly improving the car’s performance. 

That can be difficult while watching the top-end performers of the category go out and run in the 3.60s on what feels like a regular basis. 

“We could have gone out early in the year and run some Hail Marys early in the year and probably ran quicker, but we wouldn’t have learned anything,” said Palmer. “We’ve worked our butts off, and I know it won’t get any easier. If we start our year off next year like we started Indy, we’ll be a tenth better.” 

Palmer ran a 3.795 to start his NHRA Carolina Nationals, a solid baseline. Now, just like all season, the crew will try to whittle it down from there. 

Back with Jimmy Prock, Robert Hight is ready to bring another title home to John Force Racing. The driver of the Auto Club Camaro got into the winner’s circle for the first time this season in Denver, and found victory again two races later in Seattle. That win in Denver kicked off a string of great performance for Prock and Hight, as the duo now owns the speed and elapsed time record in the Funny Car class. 

But now, Hight has his eyes set on the ultimate prize: a championship. With the six-disc clutch system solved, the team is a serious contender for a title. Hight enters the Countdown in the No. 2 slot, 20 points behind Ron Capps. That’s the best position Hight has entered the Countdown in since 2014. He finished the season in fifth after winning six rounds over the final six races.

“We’ve got to go in and get it done,” Hight said. “I like the way my car’s running. If we do everything right, we have an advantage. We’ve worked hard all year, and it’s time to race. Now is when it counts. We got up to No. 2 in the regular season, so there’s only one place to go in my mind, and that’s up.”

Hight’s flopper dropped a cylinder in the second round of the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals, which slowed him to a 4.102-second pass against Tim Wilkerson. That ended his day early in Indy, but doesn’t erase the fine performance the Auto Club Camaro put together in the handful of races prior to that. 

Except for the bizarre pass against Tommy Johnson Jr. in Brainerd, where Hight thought he double-stepped and took himself out of the race early, his flopper has been one of the most consistent in the class. That’s what helped Capps get the No. 1 seed (and six event wins this season). If Hight can hold onto this form, he’s a serious contender for another title. 

The self-proclaimed “happiest 10th-place driver in Funny Car” is Cruz Pedregon. A first-round upset against Courtney Force got Pedregon the points he needed to move into 10th place, and booked him a spot in the Countdown to the Championship for the first time in two years. 

The 3.946-second pass Pedregon used to beat Force came seemingly out of nowhere given the Snap-On Tools team’s struggles in qualifying. That lack of reliability played a part in the squad bringing out a newly front-halved car for the NHRA Carolina Nationals. The hope is this Toyota Camry will behave more predictably than the previous flopper. 

“We’re going to find out if it was the car, or if it was the combination of the car or what we were doing to it,” said Pedregon. “It’s a process of elimination. We’re, like a lot of people, trying to work our way into the top half.”

Pedregon starts 100 points behind points leader Ron Capps, and 10 points behind Tim Wilkerson. All it takes is a round win to start climbing the ladder, and after struggling much of the season, Pedregon now has back-to-back races with round wins. He’s also won four rounds in five races, going back to Denver. The performance is still not where he and first-year crew chief Aaron Brooks want it to be, but he feels there’s been progress. 
“The key for us is to keep pulling the parachutes, and to keep making full runs,” said Pedregon. “We’ll worry about race day when it gets here, and we’ll worry about points when it gets here. Making aborted runs, and spinning the tires it doesn’t allow you to work on the things you want to.”

Pedregon and Brooks don’t have the luxury of time to work out all the kinks in their flopper program, but they do get to race for a Mello Yello Funny Car championship. After missing the dance a year ago, that’s music to the former champion’s ears.

You don’t usually associate the term “wardrobe malfunction” with drag racing, but it was an apt description of John Force’s first qualifying run. We’ll let the 16-time world champion explain it himself. 

“I was late getting up here, I jumped in here, they had just put new boots on me and they were too big at the top,” said Force. “I did my burnout, everything seemed okay. Then I pulled up to stage, I saw (J.R. Todd) flicker the light and I pulled up to stage and all of a sudden I couldn’t get my foot off the clutch pedal, which is good, but it would only go halfway. And I’m sitting there, and I’m seeing the clock, and it’s going down, and I know this is gonna get me. So finally, I just put my hand down there and I pulled my leg out of there.”

Force ran a very respectable 3.976, and Todd ran a 3.937. That put them at No. 4 and No. 1 in the session, respectively.  

“I went up to him and told him I was sorry,” said Force. “Hell, he outran me anyway.”

Barring a truly miraculous turn of events, Tanner Gray will be the 2017 recipient of the Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future award as NHRA’s top pro rookie driver. Gray, however, has bigger fish to fry. He wants to win the Mello Yello Pro Stock championship and entering the Countdown as the No. 2 seed, there is no reason to think he can’t do it.

“It is crucial to get a good start this weekend,” Gray said. “Every qualifying bonus point and round win is extremely important in order to have a chance to win the championship. Coming into the countdown as the number two seed gives me confidence heading into the weekend, but once the cars go down the track and the points begin to tally up, it doesn’t matter where you started, it only matters where you finish.”

Gray apparently isn’t superstitious since he was willing to drastically change the appearance of his Chevy Camaro prior to the six-race playoffs. The new look, which is debuting this weekend at zMax Dragway, somewhat resembles a stock car with Gray’s competition number, 15, boldly emblazoned on the doors.

“Growing up at the circle track, it was always required to display our number on each door of the car,” Gray said. “This car takes me back to my roots in racing as I chase this championship.”

The start of the Countdown can do a lot for a racer’s frame of mind, especially after they’ve taken a look at the official points standings. In the case of two-time Mello Yello Pro Stock champ Erica Enders, the difference between regular season and playoffs is like night and day. Enders won a race during the regular season and was generally competitive at every race yet she finished in sixth place, a whopping 523-points behind lead Bo Butner. Today, that number has been reduced to a more manageable 60-points after the leaders were re-seeded for the Countdown.

“The regular season is all about securing a spot in the top 10 so you've got a ticket to the playoffs,” Enders said. “We've done that part. Now it's time to get to work and see what we can do about winning another championship. We're only a year removed from our last title but it seems like forever and we'd love to get it back.
 
“I've said time and again, in the glory times and when we've been down, that Elite Motorsports is the best team in professional drag racing and I tell people, 'Don't bet against us,' because I know what this group is capable of doing. We've won this year, we've had three runner-up finishes, we've had the quickest and fastest car in plenty of sessions, now we just need to put it all together and keep it moving through the Countdown.”
 
Enders won in Epping and was a runner-up in Seattle but the Elite team has admittedly struggled to adapt their tune-up to the new Goodyear tire. Enders qualified No. 8 in Brainerd and No. 11 at the most recent event in Indy.

“We ran well in Seattle but we've done so much work since then the car is totally different,” Enders said. “I personally made 40 passes in my car and Jeg (Coughlin Jr., teammate's) car before Indy and after Indy we went and tested for three more days. We invited some friends along on this most recent test to give us a fresh perspective on how the cars were set up and what we have been doing with the engines and the changes they suggested look really promising. If you can put together a string first race in the Countdown it really makes a difference moving forward."

How serious is the KB team about keeping their grasp on the Pro Stock championship? Apparently, very serious since they announced on Friday at zMax that they had added 2009 world champion Mike Edwards to their roster. Edwards is expected to offer tuning input to the team’s three Chevy Camaro entries driven by Jason Line, Greg Anderson, and points leader Bo Butner. Edwards is working alongside KB Racing's longtime crew chief Rob Downing. He joined the team in a similar role in 2015.

“There were a couple things Rob was wanting somebody else to look at, and I got voted in,” said Edwards, who had back surgery at the beginning of the year and has been progressing through recovery. “It's good to be here. I've just been doing things around the house and all the things normal people do – but we all know drag racers aren't normal. The first year after I quit racing, I missed this a lot. As time goes on, I don't miss it as much. But I'm still interacting with these guys a little bit, and with that little fix, I've got enough.”
 
Downing, who has been a part of KB Racing's seven world championships and 138 Pro Stock wins, understands the importance of having a savvy veteran like Edwards, especially during the Countdown, where each round is critical.

“Mike and I have stayed in contact since he worked with us in 2015,” Downing said. “I'm always bouncing ideas off of him and talking about racecar stuff. I just feel like as competitive as it is, we need every advantage we can get. I know Mike will help us as an extra set of eyes. He and I really click together, and I'm looking forward to having him here this weekend. It would be great if he could be here for each of the Countdown races.”

Hector Arana Jr. didn’t win a race in the regular season, but he easily could have. Arana Jr. was a runner-up at three of the biggest events of the season in Englishtown, Chicago, and Indianapolis, and his Lucas Oil Buell has not qualified worse than fourth in the last eight events. For those reasons, Arana feels like he’s got a legit shot to join his father, Hector Sr., as a Mello Yello series champion. He begins the Countdown in the No. 3 spot, and is just 30-points behind leader LE Tonglet.

“We're peaking at the right time, which is something we've been working towards all year,” Arana said. “The most important thing is we have a consistent bike. We might not be quickest or the fastest every single round but over the course of most weekends we definitely are the most consistent. It's not just wishful thinking. If you look at the qualifying points for next year's Mickey Thompson Tires Pro Bike Battle, we're No. 1, so that proves we have a very consistent bike. Plus, I'm finally getting my riding in order so if we can keep it all together, we'll be in the fight, for sure.”
 
Arana Jr. has been racing as part of a one-bike team for most of the season after his father was injured in a non-racing accident following the Englishtown event. The elder Arana still hopes to get back on a bike before the end of the season, but he is not entered in the Charlotte event.

“With all of us not having to worry about dad's team we've been able to focus entirely on my bike and it's made a difference,” said Arana. “For instance, we have three really good motors that are all working really well. In the past one would be in his bike and one would be in mine and we'd have one good back-up between us. It's nice to have the back-ups because now we're not constantly praying our No. 1 motor on each bike holds together. In year's past there always seems to have been something we were struggling with, whether it was the engines, the chassis or some other kind of issue.

As Arana sees things, his Buell is one of six bikes that can realistically win the title.
 
“You have the two Harleys and the two Alligator bikes [Savoie and Tonglet] plus Matt Smith and me,” Arana said. “Those are the bikes I see as the true contenders. It all starts this weekend and as Jim [Yates, crew chief” would say, the Countdown is a chess game. The first move sets up the rest of your moves, so you want to make a good first move.”

Having won the 2016 Mello Yello Pro Stock Motorcycle championship less than 12 months ago, Jerry Savoie feels like he is well suited to handle the pressure that goes with a title defense. Last year, Savoie fought multiple battles against the Harley-Davidson team before finally winning the title on the last day of the season. He never lost his composure, and he plans to use the same calm and collected approach this time around.

“You know me; I try not to get too high or too low when it comes to racing,” said Savoie. “Right now, it’s all good. Things are good at home [on his alligator farm] and things are good with the race team. We didn’t have a great race at Indy but we’re back to being focused and we’re ready for the playoffs. I know everyone says they’re ready but I honestly don’t have any distractions. Sometimes your mind plays tricks on you. If you’ve got issues at home, they can spill over to the track but that’s not the case here. It’s all good.”

Unlike last year, when Savoie had to take on the two-bike factory Harley team as a solo act, he’s brought along reinforcements this season on the form of 2011 world champ LE Tonglet. In his first season as a member of Savoie’s team, Tonglet won five races and locked up the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

“I’ve heard people compare me to John Force when he said that he’d hired his own assassin but I don’t buy that, not when it comes to LE,” said Savoie. “If I was the least bit worried about getting beat by LE, I would never have put him on one of my motorcycles. Look, I’ve said this a lot. All I ever wanted to do in racing was win one race. I’ve already done that and so much more. LE is such a good kid and he’s so talented; if he wins the championship I’ll be as happy for him as I was last year when I won it. I really mean that. He’s brought a lot to our team. I’ve learned from him and I think he’s learned a bit from me.”

Melissa Surber hasn’t been on a Pro Stock Motorcycle in more than a month yet she hardly looked rusty after running a 6.983, 190.86 during Q1. Surber also noted that she had an issue with her front brakes.

“The brakes were fine as far as getting the bike stopped, but the lever just didn’t feel right to me,” she said. “My dad [James] is working on it so we should be okay from now on. All things considered I think I made a decent run. I was off a bit on my shifting and the tune-up wasn’t perfect but to come out and run a 6.98 on the first pass of the weekend; I’ll take it. When you don’t get to race as often as you’d like it’s easy to get out of practice. I still think that our bike has a lot left in it. We should be able to run quicker.”

Surber and her father, James, have been regulars on the NHRA tour for the last two years but have recently had to cut back on their schedule due to funding. Surber last raced in Sonoma at the end of July. After the zMax event, she plans to finish her season in Las Vegas and Pomona.

“We’ve got a good thing going here and I don’t want to stop now,” she said. “I’d really like to be able to race in a full season. I think I’ve learned a lot in the last two years that we should be able to take the next step and start winning some races.”

PHOTOS

Antron Brown answers questions ahead of the first day of qualifying  in typically enthusiastic fashion. 

Brittany Force's car is backed up by a crew member. 

Ron Capps keeps his eyes on the prize ahead of his first run of the day. 

Jet cars wowed the zMAX Dragway crowd after the first day of qualifying wrapped up. 

PREVIEW

The road to a title begins with the NHRA Carolina Nationals. With the Countdown fields set, 40 racers across four classes will battle for a championship, beginning at zMAX Dragway. Three of four racers who started in the No. 1 position claimed titles in 2016, with only Jerry Savoie coming from below the pole to snag a championship. 

That’s a trend Top Fuel points leader Steve Torrence hopes to continue in 2017. His first-ever Indy win also gave him the No. 1 seed entering the Countdown to the Championship. The driver of the Capco Contractor dragster owns seven wins this year, by far the most he’s had in a single season, and enters the Countdown red hot. 

He’ll face stiff competition to bring home his first championship. While he’s turned around his lopsided record against rival Antron Brown (at least this season), Torrence will have to fend off Leah Pritchett, Tony Schumacher, Doug Kalitta, and Clay Millican, too. The Texan has been killer on the tree, and he’ll probably have to be as reset points bring the field right to his back door. 

Ron Capps came just shy of surpassing his point total through 18 races from a season ago (1,530 vs. 1,532). That won’t matter much to the defending champ, who enters the Countdown as the No. 1 seed for the second-straight season. Capps hasn’t won since Chicago, a five-race drought that is by far his longest of the season. 

Of course, Capps went the entire Countdown without a win in 2016; that seemed to work out just fine for the NAPA team. Robert Hight and crew chief Jimmy Prock have solved most of the problems in the six-disc clutch of their Auto Club Camaro, making them the biggest threat to Capps and company. Matt Hagan grabbed pole position at both Brainerd and Indy, but suffered first-round losses on both occasions; that kind of performance won’t cut it in the Countdown. 

That hasn’t been a problem for Bo Butner, whose only first-round loss came the last time the NHRA showed up a zMAX Dragway. That 12-race string of advancing past the first round is part of the secret to Butner’s success. He hasn’t won since defeating Greg Anderson in Norwalk (a six-race drought), but his three victories and 42 round wins allowed him to clinch the points lead in Brainerd. 

He’ll have stiff competition in the Countdown, though. The Gray Motorsports duo of rookie Tanner Gray and Drew Skillman have won each of the last six races and are on fire entering the playoffs. They enter the Countdown in second and fourth place, respectively, and could make a run at Butner if their recent form continues. 

LE Tonglet is part of an equally dangerous team in Pro Stock Motorcycle. The 2010 champion hooked up with the 2016 champion, and it has paid immediate dividends. He and Jerry Savoie are in the No. 1 and No. 4 spots, respectively, and own seven of the 10 Wallys handed out this season. To say the new partnership has worked out would be a tremendous understatement.

But there’s an old partnership that’s starting to wake back up. The Harley-Davidson duo of Eddie Krawiec and Andrew Hines reworked its old chassis to fit its new Street Rod bodies for the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals, resulting in Krawiec grabbing his second Indy Wally. That’s the third Wally of the season for Krawiec, and his second on the Street Rod. If the Harley team is back in business, that’s trouble for the rest of the class.