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QUALIFYING SESSIONS RECAPS

FUNNY CAR Q1 (6:05 p.m.): It took some time to get the track warmed up, or cooled down maybe, but Matt Hagan took advantage of it. He threw down a track-record 332.02 mph run to go with a session-best 3.881-second pass. That beat out Jonnie Lindberg’s No. 2 pass of 3.922 seconds while fellow Countdown hunter Alexis DeJoria clocked in at third with a 3.943 run. Those were the only three cars to get into the 3-second range. The 17-car field currently has Jim Campbell at the bottom as the driver of the 7-Eleven car didn’t quite make it to the finish line under power.

TOP FUEL Q1 (6:30 p.m.): Leah Pritchett used the final run of the first session to take her gold dragster to the top of heap with a 3.72-second pass. The pilot of the Papa John’s Pizza dragster picked up the three bonus points ahead of Doug Kalitta (3.73) and Clay Millican (3.741). A couple of Countdown hopefuls, Scott Palmer and Terry McMillen, made runs of 3.828 and 3.84 to slot in at No. 6 and No. 7 after the first session. Those drivers sit ninth and 10th currently while 11th place driver Shawn Langdon didn’t make it cleanly down the track in his first pass.

PRO STOCK Q1 (6:47 p.m.): Summit Racing teammates Jason Line and Greg Anderson occupy the top two spots in the field at their sponsor’s event after one round of qualifying. Line drove to a 6.625 to take the early lead while Anderson, the winner two weeks ago in Englishtown, was second after a 6.627. A week removed from his high school graduation, Tanner Gray also grabbed a bonus point for having the third-best run, a 6.635 from his Gray Manufacturing Technology Camaro. The top eight Pro Stock racers are in the 6.6-second zone including points leader Bo Butner, who is fourth-best with a 6.637. Alex Laughlin, the winner a week ago in Bristol, did not get an elapsed time after he suffered a clutch malfunction and left before the Tree was activated.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE Q1 (6:56 p.m.): One race after suffering an embarrassing DNQ in Englishtown, two-time world champ Matt Smith quickly reversed his fortunes and picked up three bonus points after riding his Polaris Magnum to a 6.903 to lead the two-wheel class after Q1. Smith was just three thousandths quicker than Hector Arana Jr., who posted a 6.906. For the first time in his career, Arana Jr. is racing without his father, Hector Sr., who is sidelined for three months after tearing his rotator cuff two weeks ago. Reigning champ and points leader LE Tonglet was third quickest with a 6.914 on his Nitro Fish Buell. Former Norwalk winner Eddie Kraweic did not get to make a run after his new Harley-Davidson Street Rod stalled on the starting line. Krawiec’s teammate, Andrew Hines, was seventh-quickest with a 6.951.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE Q2 (8:54 p.m.): The Pro Stock Motorcycles closed out the first round of professional qualifying and now they’ve returned to kick off Q2. Matt Smith, who led the first session, improved to a 6.885 to extend his lead in the field. Smith is the only rider in the 6.8s with his Polaris entry. LE Tonglet maintained his hold on the second spot with a 6.903 and former Norwalk finalist Scotty Pollacheck made a big move on his Underdahl/Stoffer Suzuki with a 6.908 which is good for the No. 4 spot with two more runs remaining on Saturday. Three-time world champ Eddie Kraiwec didn’t get to make a run during the first session but he returned to kick off the second with a competitive 6.952 to land in the middle of the pack. The current bump spot is held by Ohio native Joe DeSantis, who won his lone NHRA title in the Modified class in 1974. DeSantis’ ran a best of 7.142.

PRO STOCK Q2 (9.10 p.m.): There was a significant amount of improvement during Friday’s nighttime Pro Stock session and the top spot changed hands when Greg Anderson wheeled his Summit Camaro to a 6.608 to secure three bonus points. Anderson nudged his teammate, Bo Butner from the top spot after Butner had earlier run a 6.617. Epping champ Erica Enders also secured a qualifying bonus point with a 6.623 in her Elite Camaro. Bristol winner Alex Laughlin didn’t get an elapsed time in his first run following a clutch malfunction but his Gas Monkey team rectified the problem and he returned with a competitive 6.632 to move into the top half of the field. The top eight drivers are separated by just .025-second. Tanner Gray ran just .027-second slower than Anderson yet he is ninth, out of the top half of the field. 

FUNNY CAR Q2 (9:55 p.m.): Robert Hight and Matt Hagan divvied up the Summit Motorsports Park track records in the second session. Hight grabbed the speed record (334.65) while Hagan snagged the elapsed time mark (3.865) to remain atop the heap after the first day of qualifying. Those marks erased the record set by Del Worsham (3.875, 328.7) a year ago. John Force dropped a 3.911 pass to move to No. 3 and pick up a bonus point. Dale Creasy, who didn’t run in the second session, holds the bump spot with a 6.74. Courtney Force is on the outside looking in. 

TOP FUEL Q2 (10:25 p.m.): Cool conditions helped Brittany Force take Doug Kalitta’s track record, but only for a moment. Her 3.174-second pass held up until Kalitta took the track record right back with a 3.709 run finish as the No. 1 qualifier after the first day of racing for the second weekend in a row. That also kept the Summit Motorsports Park Top Fuel elapsed time record in Kalitta’s name; the Mac Tool dragster pilot set the previous record with a 3.719 run in 2016. Steve Torrence came in right behind Force with a 3.715 to qualify No. 3. Shawn Langdon sits outside the field with a 7.844 run. Mike Salinas ran a career-best 3.792.

FEATURES

It took a long time for Top Fuel pilot Clay Millican to get that first win, and when he did the reaction around the drag racing community and beyond was understandably massive. But perhaps Millican’s favorite reaction to his win came from his father. 

His dad, Jimmie Millican, sat in bed watching the delayed FS1 coverage without knowing a) the coverage was delayed and b) that Clay was watching his father via FaceTime thanks to Clay’s sisters. That created an interesting scene as Clay got the chance to watch Jimmie watch Leah Pritchett and Clay line up at the starting line at Thunder Valley Dragway in Bristol, Tenn. 

“I could see everything going on, and he has no idea that I see him because he doesn’t understand FaceTime, he doesn’t know that’s possible,” said Millican. “When we crossed the finish line it was one of the coolest things ever because all he did was this,” Millican said as he raised both fists into the air. “That was one of the coolest things ever, getting to see daddy watch me win while sitting in bed in his underwear.”

The driver said he received more than 400 text messages, 50 voicemails and more interactions on social media than he could possibly count. Millican said he finally got a good night’s sleep on Thursday, the first time since his Bristol victory. That came just in time as the driver prepares for qualifying in Norwalk on Friday. 

He ranks his first NHRA victory as the highlight of his career. It was an emotional day for Millican, both because of what it meant to him as a career highlight and in terms of what Father’s Day means to him since losing his son Dalton to a motorcycle accident in 2016. 

“I just never would’ve thought it would’ve been on that day,” said Millican. “I knew I would win one of these when the time was right, and on Father’s Day in Bristol, the time was right.”

If you’re a regular reader of the print copy of NHRA National Dragster, you already know newly licensed Top Fuel pilot Ashley Sanford likened taking a spin in a dragster to a ride on one of her favorite roller coasters: Space Mountain at Disneyland. Okay, so it’s not exactly the pinnacle of its species: a ride that could make that claim is just down the road from this weekend’s Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals: Top Thrill Dragster. 

What? Okay, so we’re a little biased because it takes its name and likeness from one of our sport’s pro classes. Big deal. It’s also the second-tallest and third-fastest roller coaster in the world. But how does the 420-foot tall roller coaster compare to the nitro-burning race cars it mimics? Well, that depends on how good, or bad, your run is.  

Top Thrill Dragster hits its top speed, 120 mph, in 3.8 seconds. Big deal, right? The speed and elapsed time records are 333.66 mph and 3.658 seconds, respectively. The former was set by Brittany Force in Topeka earlier this season while the latter record is held by Leah Pritchett and was set in Phoenix. 

Here’s where a little bit of extra context comes into play: Top Thrill Dragster isn’t sending its trains, which weigh 15 tons when empty (compared to the one ton a Top Fuel car weighs), down a 1,320-foot strip. The roller coaster reaches its top speed in a little less than 660 feet; that’s a mark we’ve got plenty of Top Fuel data for, so let’s just call it four seconds to 660 feet. 

With that guesstimate in mind, how many Top Fuel Dragsters would the roller coaster have beaten down the track this season? Unsurprisingly, the number is not very big. There have been just 22 elimination-day runs with 660-foot times of 4-seconds or higher this season. Still, if you’ve ever strapped yourself into Top Thrill Dragster, or plan to (before or after coming out to the race this weekend, of course) you can say you would have turned on a win light against a handful of Top Fuel cars. That feels cool, doesn’t it?

Steve Torrence, affectionately known as “Steve-O,” enjoyed a breakout season in 2016, but it pales in comparison to what the Texan is putting together in 2017. Torrence entered Norwalk in first place for the very first time since winning the 2016 season opener, a fact he’s less impressed by now than he was more than a year ago. 

“When you look up in Pomona you’ll either be the champ or you won’t,” said Torrence on staying focused week in and week out during the grind of a long season after qualifying No. 1 in Bristol. 

That’s understandable, of course, especially considering how tightly bunched Torrence, Leah Pritchett and Antron Brown are at the top of the standings. With just seven races to go until points reset for the Countdown to the Championship, perhaps it’s more of a comfort to Torrence that his dragster has been so darn consistent as of late.

The pilot of the Capco Contractors machine has advanced past the first round in 15-straight races, has qualified in 8th or better in 42-straight races and has been the No. 1 qualifier twice. There aren’t many racers who can lay claim to a pair of stats like that. He’s reached five finals, won three of them and made four quarterfinal appearances. 

He also said he’s having more fun driving this year than any in his career. Winning helps, obviously. Torrence has already matched his high for wins in a season (three). He won three times in 2016 and three times in 2012; and that’s before completing 12 races. 

There’s still a lot of season to go, but Torrence has put himself in a great position. For now, there’s not much more he can do than that. There’s no one wearing a Capco Contractors shirt complaining about that.

Robert Hight started eliminations in Bristol in spectacular fashion: he put together the only 3-second run of the first round. Things didn’t go so smoothly after that as he lost in the second round to Ron Capps by .023 second. 

“We’re looking to rebound following Bristol,” Hight said. “We’ve got to put that race behind us and look toward a strong race in Norwalk. This is a great facility, and we’re close to winning. Obviously, I’d like to really come out and end this stretch on a high note – not just for me but for my crew, which has given me a great car during this stretch.”

He last won in Gainesville 2016, despite having one of the most consistently strong cars in the field. He has reached the final round just once this season (Houston) and has fallen to Ron Capps six times. That speaks to how good Capps has been this season, but it’s also a lopsided record (0-6) Hight would like to put behind him. 

To do that, Hight will need more clean runs down the race track. In 22 elimination-round passes, Hight averages a 4.55-second pass. That includes four runs higher than 4-seconds. Compare that to Capps, whose 33-pass average of 4.124 includes just two runs higher than 4-seconds. Sometimes it’s not about how fast you run in; it’s about how slow you don’t run.

Jack Beckman finally yanked the monkey off his back and picked up his first win of the season by beating Ron Capps in Englishtown two weeks ago. He followed that up by finishing second to his Don Schumacher Racing teammate in Bristol a week later in similarly warm conditions. It took a couple lucky runs to get there, but that didn’t keep “Fast Jack” from taking some confidence from his success.

“I gotta tell you getting that first win out of the way, that was the mountain,” said Beckman. “You have no idea, at many obvious and at many intangible levels, how important that is for a group of guys that haven’t worked as a team together.”

Both races had similarly not-so-spectacular weather. Englishtown boasted a first round where not a single Funny Car pulled off an elapsed time under 4 seconds. In Bristol, only Robert Hight ran a pass in the 3-second range. 

“Englishtown was incredibly difficult getting down the track,” said Beckman. “Bristol, you may argue was equally brutal, and maybe the difference is that everybody had a lot of hot track data from Englishtown to go into Bristol.”

That worked out for Beckman, despite falling to Capps on a holeshot. Capps pulled out a brand-new car on Saturday to defeat Beckman, and the driver of the Infinity Hero flopper may soon do the same. Beckman’s car now has 700 runs on the rear-half and is just about ready for retirement. 

“This car is ready for show-car status or the Smithsonian,” quipped Beckman. “We’ve got a brand-new car upstairs that we’ve been wanting to test since Atlanta. So, the plan would be to stay and test on Monday. If everything runs well it becomes our race car at that point it’s just (collecting) data. Since we’re a newly formed data, I think runs for us become more critical than for the average team.”

Sitting in third place, Beckman and company enter the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals with a 41-point lead over Robert Hight. Including the Norwalk race, there are seven races remaining in the regular season.

To the surprise of no one, Ron Capps, Rahn Tobler and the NAPA team will stick with the car that turned on four win lights at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals a week ago. The crew turned to the car Saturday after a frustrating day of qualifying Friday and got the results they were looking for, beating Alexis DeJoria, Robert Hight, Matt Hagan and Jack Beckman.

The car put out of commission will be serviced in the Don Schumacher Racing shop on Tuesday as the crew finally gets a respite after the Eastern Swing. This service was scheduled three months ago, said Tobler, but the performance of the car forced them to pull the new flopper out of the trailer. 

“The car just wasn’t reacting the way it had before,” said Tobler on the change. “Sometimes you get lucky. That and a lot of data and a lot of experience.”

Once the car gets serviced (it will be front-halved), it’ll be put up into the team’s trailer. From there, Tobler and company can decide to pull it out if need be. There aren’t too many teams in the Funny Car circuit who can say their backup car won a title; but Capps can. After wrecking a car in Indy, the team pulled it out and rode it all the way to the driver’s first ever championship. 

Capps hopes this is the last car change he’ll have to make this season, of course. But as far as backup plans go, this one isn’t too shabby. 

After back-to-back years as a runner up in Norwalk, and a pair of second-place finishes this season, Courtney Force is ready to capture her first Wally in the Buckeye State. Force has been an absolute wrecking ball in qualifying but hasn’t found the winners circle since Houston in 2016. 

“Our Advance Auto Parts Chevy Camaro team, all my guys – Dan Hood, Ronnie Thompson – we’re going to fight hard to end this streak on a high note,” said Force. 

Norwalk is something of a home race for the driver, whose husband Graham Rahal is from Columbus Ohio. The IndyCar driver picked up a win on June 4.  

“It almost feels like a second home track for me, just being that my husband is from Ohio,” Force said. “I know there’s a lot of close friends of ours who will be watching. Really hope to impress them and take home a win just like he did in Ohio last year.”

Force has qualified in the top half of the field in 35-straight races and has grabbed the pole in five races this season. Del Worsham holds the track record at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park (328.7 mph), but that might not be safe given the way Force has driven this season. She has made a habit of resetting track records all season long. 

Three-time and reigning Pro Stock champ Jason Line was one of the more than 400 people who sent a congratulatory text message to first-time Top Fuel winner Clay Millican last weekend. Line never had to endure the sort of frustration that Millican did, but with a winless drought that extends back to the season-opener in Pomona, he certainly understands the need for patience. 

“First off, it was great to see a guy like Clay finally get his first win,” said Line. There are not a lot of genuine people in this world and he’s certainly one of them. It was super cool and it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.”

“As for us, we’re always learning,” Line said. “We’re just not going forward at the moment. This is all part of testing. You understand that you won’t always go forward. We’re working in a very small box and sometimes you need to take a step backward. There’s where we’re at right now.”

One are that is off particular concern for Line and the Summit team is qualifying position. Line opened the 2017 campaign by qualifying No. 1 at the first four events, but more recently, he’s dropped to as low as seventh in Epping. A week ago in Bristol, he began from the No. 5 spot and lost in the first round to Shane Gray. As a result, he’s dropped to No. 5 in the Mello Yello standings. 

“I didn’t know I was fifth until just now,” Line noted. “I’ve been worse than fifth before but no one remembers who was fifth at this time last year. I don’t see it as a big deal. This is a different year [than 2016]. Things are a lot different. Last year, we were able to adapt to the new rules faster than everyone else. There are still areas where we can make gains, but it takes a lot of time and money. It’s not any harder; just different.”

Line might be tempted to be frustrated, but he’s encouraged when he looks at the standings and sees that his two teammates, Bo Butner and Greg Anderson, are ranked first and second, respectively. 

“As long as one of our cars is leading I’m happy,” he said. “Bo’s car is not a test car. He doesn’t need to test. Greg and I are trying to get the best stuff we have right now and there is a price to pay for it. We’re sacrificing a little right now in order to hopefully gain a lot in the future. However hard you think [Pro Stock] is, it’s harder times two. This class is way different than it was 10 years ago.”

After winning the Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte, Chris McGaha sat out the races in Topeka, Epping, Englishtown, and Bristol, but he’s hesitant to call it a vacation.  McGaha spent the last month working at his shop in Odessa, Texas, and he’s eager to see his on-track results.

“I’m really excited to be back racing in Norwalk,” said McGaha, who remains in the top ten, in spite of the haitus. “I watched NHRA All Access every weekend and I’m really motivated to come back out here and win again like we did a few months ago in Charlotte. Our team hopes we’ll be right back where we left off.”

During the “summer break” McGaha not only worked on his Pro Stock program, but he also took time to race with his son, Mason, and daughter, Berkley. The McGaha kids currently race in the NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League but Mason will soon be racing a full-size car, most likely in Comp Eliminator, where his father and grandfather, Lester, previously raced. Mason’s eventual plan includes a move to Pro Stock after he turns 18. The Harlow Sammons team already has a ’15 Camaro, previously driven by Mike Edwards, that will be used for the transition.   

“My son Mason is almost old enough to race Pro Stock,” McGaha said. “It’s important that he gets seat time in any kind of racecar before that. I’m out on the road at least 24 weekends a year racing Pro Stock and it doesn’t allow a lot of time to go racing with my kids. I made the decision to run a limited schedule this season to prepare for years to come racing with my family.”
 

 
With 293 races on his resumé, Hector Arana Sr. was on pace this year to become just the second Pro Stock Motorcycle racer to compete in 300 races, joining Steve Johnson. Arana was supposed to hit that milestone at the fall Charlotte event, the first race of the Countdown, but that total is on indefinite hold after the former world champ underwent shoulder surgery earlier this week. Arana suffered the injury to his right rotator cuff while changing a flat tire after the Englishtown event. Arana’s doctors informed him that he’s will likely be off his Lucas Oil Buell for three months. 

“This is not a good deal; the bike was just starting to run the way it should,” said Arana, who won his first NHRA national event title at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park in 2008. “I was changing the tire and I just felt my shoulder pop. I knew right away it was bad and when I saw the doctor, he told me I need to get it fixed now.”

At the most recent Pro Stock Motorcycle event in Englishtown, the Arana team enjoyed one of their best outings of the season. Hector Sr. qualified No. 3 and defeated Steve Johnson in round one and Hector Jr. started from the No. 2 spot and reached the final before falling to Jerry Savoie. Arana Sr. credits the improved performance to the addition of two-time Pro Stock champ Jim Yates. 

“We did a lot to improve our program this winter but Jim was a key addition,” said Arana Sr. “He has already learned a lot about our motorcycles and a lot of what he learned racing a Pro Stock car has been useful to us. We were doing a lot better so this is a big set-back for us. The only good thing is that we can now focus everything on getting my son into the winner’s circle. He can have the best of everything on his bike. Seeing him win a race would be the best thing for my arm.”

Michael Ray wondered if his days as a Pro Stock Motorcycle rider were over when he left the tour a year ago but the likable Texan is back this weekend aboard John Hammock’s Vroom Racing Buell. Ray was asked to race in Norwalk when Hammock’s regular rider, David Hope, was not able to make it due to business commitments. 

“I am supposed to do this race and then go to Chicago and after that, we’ll see what happens,” said Ray. “I just renewed my [NHRA competition] license so this was really convenient. I wasn’t sure if I’d get another opportunity to come out here and race. If nothing else, it’s flattering just to be the guy who is close to the top of the list when someone needs a rider. I’m sure there are a lot of folks that John could have called to race this weekend. He called me. That means a lot. Hopefully, I can reward him by having a long weekend.”

Matt Smith only has 10 DNQ’s in his entire career but three of them have come in the last two years including the most recent Pro Stock Motorcycle event in Englishtown. What is most puzzling is the lack of consistency Smith has shown with the Victory/Polaris bikes he’s run for the last few seasons. One race after missing the field, Smith picked up three bonus points when he made the quickest run of the first session with a 6.903, 195.39. Smith tested extensively after Englishtown, but he also insists his bike has had the power to qualify at the top of the pack all along.

“On that [6.903] run we blew the tire off,” Smith said. “We were still too aggressive. It ran well out the back so I’m happy with the results. There is no reason that we shouldn’t be able to qualify well at every race. We shouldn’t be fighting just to get in the field. When this bike is right, it’s just fine. We’ll just see what happens next round.”

Smith won the Norwalk race in 2010 when he defeated Hector Arana Sr. in the final and again in 2013, with a win over Scotty Pollacheck. Smith was also a runner-up to Eddie Krawiec at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park in 2011.

PHOTOS

PREVIEW

The 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing season will reach the midway point with this weekend’s Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals. A popular stop on the tour since 2007, the Norwalk event, famous for its $1 ice cream, will host more than 500 pro and sportsman entries.

Clay Millican

The man of the hour in Top Fuel is Clay Millican, who scored what can easily be described as the most popular win in the history of the class last week in Bristol when he ended a 253-race drought by claiming his first NHRA win. Buoyed by his recent success, it isn’t a stretch to see Millican and the Stringer Performance team win a couple more events this season.

So far this season, Leah Pritchett (3 wins), Steve Torrence (3 wins) and Antron Brown (2 wins) have just about owned the class  but of the three, Brown is the only one with a previous win in Norwalk. Kalitta racing teammates Shawn Langdon and Doug Kalitta, have won the last two races at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park and both are eager to close out the first half with a victory.

Ron Capps

Reigning Mello Yello Funny Car champ Ron Capps has been red hot this year with five wins in seven final rounds including a victory a week ago in Bristol. As if that wasn’t enough to make him the favorite, Capps is also the defending Norwalk champion with a win against Courtney Force in the final round. Capps has led a near-sweep by the Don Schumacher team in Funny Car this season with Matt Hagan, Jack Beckman, and Tommy Johnson Jr. also scoring with regularity. The only non-DSR driver to win a race this season is John Force although Robert Hight and Courtney Force have come close.

The big teams aside, Johnnie Lindberg has been impressive with a pair of final rounds this season. Lindberg is driving for Ohio-based team owner Jim Head, which fives this weekend’s event an added sense of importance. Another single car outfit that favors the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals is Tim Wilkerson, who won this event in 2010 behind the wheel of his Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford. Long overdue for a win this season, team Kalitta Funny Car drivers J.R. Todd and Alexis DeJoria, have shown significant improvement lately. IF either one can make the final, it will provide a significant morale boost for the Ypsilanti, Mich. Based squad.

It’s unlikely that anyone would have predicted that there would be eight different Pro Stock winners this entries season, much less eight in the first 11 events but that’s where the class is after Alex Laughlin’s Bristol win. So far, Laughlin, Greg Anderson, Bo Butner, Jason Line, Erica Enders, Chris McGaha, Shane Gray, and Tanner Gray have won events this season. That leaves Drew Skillman, Jeg Coughlin Jr., and Vincent Nobile as the only full-time NHRA Pro Stock drivers without a victory.

Greg Anderson

Racing at his sponsor’s event, Anderson has three wins and a runner-up in Norwalk while Line has two wins in three finals and is also the defending event winner. After a hot start, both Summit drivers have backslid lately and Line’s performance is especially puzzling after back-to-back round one losses in Englishtown and Epping. If Line and Anderson are indeed testing new parts, as has often been rumored, this would be a good time to shelf an unproven combination and get back to the set-up that produced 15 combined wins last season.

Also worth watching is Tanner Gray, who already has wins in Houston and Topeka. 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.

The Pro Stock Motorcycle class is missing two of its most competitive racers this weekend with Hector Arana Sr. sidelined by shoulder surgery and reigning class champion Jerry Savoie is at his home in Louisiana tending to business in the wake of Tropical Storm Cindy. The loss of Savoie and Arana Sr. should be welcome news for the rest of the field including Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson riders Eddie Krawiec and Andrew Hines, who continue to try and work the bugs out of their new Street Rod bikes. Hines and Krawiec tested earlier this week and reportedly made progress with the new bikes, but the team still feels there is a way to go before they approach the performance level of their old V-Rod bikes.

Eddie Krawiec

The absence of Savoie and Arana Sr. also means that LE Tonglet and Hector Arana Jr. will be racing as single-bike teams this weekend. Tonglet, who already has two wins this season, will have the undivided attention of White Alligator crew chief Jerry Savoie while Arana Jr. will be the sole focus of Lucas Oil crew chief and former Pro Stock champion Jim Yates.

Hines and Krawiec have combined to win six Norwalk titles in the last decade while Karen Stoffer, Matt Smith, and Arana Sr. also have victories at this race.