Defending champs Force Hood, Hines lead Friday qualifying in Atlanta

Friday, April 17, 2009
by Phil Burgess, NHRA.com

Defending event champs Ashley Force (Funny Car) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are off to a good start in their hopes of repeating their victories from last year's event by qualifying No. 1 after the first day of action at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway, race six of the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season.

Morgan Lucas is in pursuit of his first No. 1 qualifying position of the season in Top Fuel and has the lead after one session with his GEICO Powersports dragster while Greg Anderson, representing event sponsor Summit Racing, is the No. 1 qualifier in Pro Stock after breaking both ends of the track record.

Just one event after teammate Shawn Langdon gathered in his first career No. 1 qualifying berth in Las Vegas, Lucas is halfway to accomplishing the same goal on a seasonal basis after posting a 3.844 on his Jimmy Walsh-tuned entry. Lucas has two previous No. 1 qualifying efforts, the first of which was recorded at this event in 2005.

First-session leader Brandon Bernstein slipped one spot to second behind his Lucas Oil teammate with a 3.866 from the Budweiser machine. Bernstein is followed in the top four by defending event champ Antron Brown (3.869) and Bob Vandergriff Jr., who is making his season debut at this event. The local racer (Alpharetta, Ga.) clocked a 3.878 in his Speedco-backed entry.

Two of the season's early stars, Gatornationals champ Larry Dixon and two-time winner Tony Schumacher are qualified Nos. 5 and 6, while Doug Kalitta and class rookie Spencer Massey, who won this race last year in the Alcohol Dragster class, round out the top eight.

Todd Paton's 4.038 is the 12th quickest and the last of Friday's runs that will carry over to Saturday's final two sessions. On the outside looking to get in are five other drivers, including two-time 2009 runner-up Cory McClenathan.

Force Hood is off to a quick start in hoping to defend the event title she earned with her first career Funny Car win at this event last year. Her 4.073 packleader in her Dean Antonelli- and Ron Douglas-tuned Castrol GTX Mustang came at a sizzling speed of 310.05, which ties her speed from last year in Las Vegas for the second fastest pass in the 1000-foot era.

On the weekend of the 45th anniversary of the Mustang, the defending champ cruised her pony car past that of her famous father, John, to take the No. 1 spot after he had claimed it earlier in the session with a solid 4.100 that held on for the No. 2 spot, just ahead of Las Vegas runner-up Matt Hagan's 4.114 in the Tommy DeLago-wrenched Shelor.com Charger. Hagan's Don Schumacher Racing teammate, points leader and first-session polesitter Ron Capps, is fourth after posting a 4.116 in his NAPA Auto Parts Charger. Jack Beckman (4.120), Tim Wilkerson (4.137), and the brothers Pedregon, Cruz (4.154) and Tony (4.158), round out the top eight.

Robert Hight's 4.244 in the Auto Club Mustang is the 12th quickest run and the last to transfer to Saturday's sessions. Below him and needing to run well to make the show on their final two passes are racers such as Del Worsham, Gatornationals champ Bob Tasca III, and Phoenix runner-up Mike Neff.

Anderson, not merely content to set both ends of the track record in the first session with a run of 6.574 at 210.93 mph, leadfooted his Summit Racing Equipment GXP down the Atlanta quarter-mile in the evening session to a quicker-still 6.568 (210.77 mph) to solidly hold the No. 1 spot heading into Saturday after pocketing the two quickest runs of the day.

"We've never had this good of conditions here," said Anderson. "When we got here this morning and looked at the weather gear, we thought they were broken. It's never been this dry with the barometer this high when we've raced here, and it's cool to go along with it. We've got conditions you could get in Gainesville or Houston. We knew that today was going to be a special day, and we don't know what tomorrow is going to bring for weather. Chances are, it's probably not going to be as good, and we knew we needed to make it happen today. We had two real sweet runs and I couldn't be happier with my racecar.

"I came here in a little bit of a slump; I've been making mistakes driving and my racecar has been good but not perfect, and we need a get well weekend where my car runs good and I don't make any mistakes. So far we're two for two. We have a far way to go but it sure gives you confidence, and I needed confidence. I'm just one win away from really turning my season around and having a great year."

Mike Edwards, who has qualified No. 1 at three of the season's first five events – in Phoenix, Gainesville, and Las Vegas – and is another one of last year's champs off to a good start, is No. 2 with a 6.578, a strong turnaround from his opening 12-second, tire-shaking effort that had his Young Life/Penhall GXP ranked last among the 21 qualifying hopefuls.

Anderson's teammate, Gainesville winner Jason Line, made it a 1-3 finish for the home Summit team at their event by placing his GXP solidly in the field with a 6.582 in the second session. Allen Johnson is right behind him with a 6.588 in the quickest non-Pontiac, his Mopar/J & J Racing Dodge Stratus. Greg Stanfield and Johnny Gray are fifth and sixth with identical 6.599 passes, just ahead of points leader and reigning season champ Jeg Coughlin's 6.610.

The 12-car break heading into Saturday's qualifying is at 6.629, set by Houston champ Ron Krisher, who's hoping to avoid another stunning DNQ after failing to make the cut in Las Vegas with his Valvoline Cobalt. On the outside looking in are drivers such as Rickie Jones, hometown hero Kurt Johnson, Steve Spiess, and Justin Humphreys.

After being just sixth quickest in the opening session with a 7.00, former NHRA world champ Hines rode his Screamin' Eagle V-Rod to a career-best 6.877 at 195.03, the fourth quickest pass in class history to lead qualifying after the first day. His teammate, Eddie Krawiec, the reigning season champ, is right behind him on the qualifying sheets with a 6.881 at 194.49, also career bests for the New Jersey rider.

"The conditions were excellent today," said Hines. "This is really nice for Atlanta. Last year it was really hot and humid here, especially on Sunday. We were going rounds and in the semifinals it was 70 or 80 percent humidity and it kind of caught us off guard. This year, having the weather like this in the low 70s and the dry air with a tail end - which our Harleys really enjoy, it makes it really fun to come out here and race.

"That last run, we really weren't expecting those numbers. I was really shocked when I rolled up into the water box and I looked up and saw Eddie's speed, 194.49, with an 8 at the end of the number and a 6 at the beginning. I said, 'Oh, a 6.98, that's number two. Not bad.' But I studied on it a little more and saw it was a 6.88, and I knew it was out there. I was just a little leery of what was going to happen after first round when my bike slipped a clutch and burned all the clutch plates out of it. I went to a final here the year I got married. I lost on a holeshot, but just getting to the final was really good. The string we had here last year [eight runs in the 6.9s] was probably the weekend of my career and it gives me a lot of confidence coming in here."

First session leader Karen Stoffer with a 6.913, improved by a thousandth with her GEICO Powersports Suzuki and holds the third spot. Gatornationals champ Hector Arana currently has the field's quickest Buell after running 6.924 aboard his Lucas Oil-sponsored ride. The Suzukis of Houston winner Craig Treble (6.929) and national record holder Matt Smith (6.932) are 5 and 6 on the grid following by Houston runner-up Doug Horne (6.934) and his engine builder, Junior Pippin (6.964), both aboard Buells.

Michael Phillips' 6.995 is the 12th quickest pass and the last to carry over to Saturday's sessions, where perennial qualifiers such as Steve Johnson and Angie McBride, along with 10 others, will hope to crack the 16-bike field.