Wurtzel's run was 3.911 seconds at 310.84, with the margin of victory only .0357-second.

Crampton willed his GEICO/Lucas Oil dragster to the finish line, but it wasn't quite enough.

"I knew I wasn't on a heck of a run, but nonetheless I thought we were out in front by a good amount," Crampton said. "I was hoping that we'd have enough momentum to coast over the finish line first. Evidently, it was a heck of a close race at the finish line when he drove around us.

"It's just unfortunate that we've got something going on with the race car right now. We've got to figure out what made it shut off and fix it."

Tony Schumacher, who had won the last two events, was eliminated in the first round when his U.S. Army dragster went up in smoke shortly after leaving the line. Terry McMillen was the beneficiary, but he could not capitalize on the gift, losing to Brown in the next round.

Top Fuel points: 1. Tony Schumacher, 2,337; 2. Shawn Langdon, 2,280; 3. Steve Torrence, 2,266; 4. Antron Brown, 2,257; 5. Doug Kalitta, 2,250; 6. J.R. Todd, 2,228; 7. Spencer Massey, 2,199; 8. Khalid alBalooshi, 2,188; 9. Richie Crampton, 2,125; 10. Brittany Force, 2,085.

FUNNY CAR

 (Ron Lewis photo)

Courtney Force qualified in the No. 4 spot for the third consecutive year at St. Louis and picked up her fourth Funny Car win of the season. She moved from the No. 4 spot in the Mello Yello points to the No. 2 position, right behind her father with her win.

“I think the good news is at least our team is making the right moves at the right time, right here in the Countdown to the Championship. It was tough going up against dad; I didn’t want to race him, but all I thought about was how he took me out in Charlotte and he didn’t feel bad, so I thought, ‘Alright, we’re going for it!’ Our Traxxas team got the win,” said Force.

In the opening round, the 2012 Auto Club “Rookie of the Year” took on Bob Tasca III for the 13th time in her three year Funny Car career. She has now faced him in the opening round eight times, but this is the first time she has raced him in St. Louis. She posted an impressive 4.101 ET at 314.31 mph to Tasca’s tire-smoking 8.380 ET and was second-quickest of the round. Force is now 11-2 to the fellow Ford driver.