Line and Vandergriff get first wins, Pedregon gets second and Arana takes third win this season

Results compiled by Kay Burk
Photos by Joe McHugh

Cruz Pedregon became the first two-time winner in the Funny Car category in 2013 by racing to the victory Sunday, April 28,  at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals at Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, Texas.

Bob Vandergriff Jr. (Top Fuel), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana Jr. (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also were winners at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event.

Persistent rains plagued the second day of qualifying at the NHRA Spring Nationals. Both Saturday qualifying sessions were canceled after a misty morning led to thundershowers in the afternoon.

Track conditions were the great equalizer Sunday as traction problems plagued many racers.

“Today was more about breaks than performance,” said Tony Schumacher. “The right lane was not the place to be. It just didn’t have what it took for a 10,000-horsepower car to get down it. We didn’t perform well enough qualifying Friday to get lane choice, and that really hurt us today.

TOP FUEL

Bob Vandergriff earned his third career victory by holding off Shawn Langdon in the final round. Vandergriff posted a winning run of 3.904 seconds at 316.38 mph in his C&J Energy Services dragster to defeat Langdon, whose Al-Anabi Racing dragster lost traction at the start.
 
After taking the win light in the final round, Vandergriff continued his tradition of jogging from the finish line to join his crew who had come part way to meet him.