NHRA Pros at Brainerd, Minnesota

PRO STOCK

Tanner Gray looks to be a shoe-in for Rookie of the Year honors as he racked up in fourth event win of the season. The last rookie to win four races in one season was Jason Line, who has been a mentor to Gray this season.

In the final Gray defeated points leader Bo Butner with a 6.610 at 208.04 in his Gray Motorsports / Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro. Butner, who has secured the No. 1 seed heading into the Countdown to the Championship raced a 6.629 at 207.85 in his Jim Butner’s Auto Chevy Camaro.

“I’m not sure what my team has done but they’ve got a handle on this car the last few races," Gray said. "They got something going right for them over there. They’re making my job a whole lot easier and I’m just blessed to be able to sit in the driver’s seat.”

Gray defeated two-time world champion Erica Enders and reigning world champion Jason Line before reaching the finals. Butner defeated Doug Rivers, Gray’s father, Shane Gray, and KB Racing teammate Greg Anderson to get to his eighth finals appearance of the season.

Although she was unable to capture her third career Brainerd win at this weekend's 36th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals, Erica Enders says progress is being made with her Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro, as witnessed by her race day performance.

After qualifying with a 6.665-second quarter-mile pass at a top speed of 206.42 mph, Enders managed to improve her best time of the event twice on Sunday, first beating teammate Jeg Coughlin Jr. with a 6.659 at 207.78 mph and then running a 6.648 at 207.66 mph in a close loss to Tanner Gray.

"We made some gains this weekend in regards to getting the car up and moving off the starting line," Enders said. "But we're still not running as well as we should. This team is used to winning championships. This team is used to contending for every race win. Anything less than that just doesn't measure up for us.

"It's really hard for our whole team to race like this. We are definitely behind the eight ball right now with all four of the team cars. We have to fix our hotrods and until we do it's going to be hard to expect different results."

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE

Jerry Savoie, the Pro Stock Motorcycle reigning world champion, defeated teammate and points leader LE Tonglet in the finals for his second win of the season and eighth of his career. Savoie’s 6.846 pass at 194.80 on his White Alligator Racing Suzuki bettered Tonglet’s 6.910 at 194.02 on his Nitro Fish Racing Suzuki.

“The season has been really good," Savoie said. "I’ve had some misfortune a couple times and my riding hasn’t been like it should be. LE is solid as a rock so when you beat him it’s pretty rewarding. He’s taught me a lot and I’ve taught him some things and we thrive off each other. We bring out the best in each other and that’s what it takes to win races.”

Savoie faced Mike Berry, Angie Smith and Matt Smith before lining up against Tonglet in his third finals appearance of the season. Tonglet, who has five victories this season, raced past 2016 Rookie of the Year Cory Reed and five-time world champ Andrew Hines before facing his teammate.

Steve Johnson turned on the red light to get Tonglet into the second round where he defeated Cory Reed (6.850/194.77 to 6.961/190.00). In the semifinal Tonglet’s 6.869/194.63 was enough for Andrew Hines’ 6.952/195.79.

After securing his first No. 1 qualifier award in slightly more than two years, Lucas Oil Racing TV Buell rider Hector Arana Jr. had big plans for hoisting the trophy of the 36th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals late Sunday afternoon. But a fading motor ended his day in the quarterfinal round, a result that didn't sit well with the fourth-ranked rider in the world.

"Our bike was running great on Friday but for whatever reason, she kind of went downhill from there," Arana said. "We ran the same motor all weekend. It was one of two new motors we brought here and it showed itself really well early on. Now we'll have to take it apart and see why it started going south on us.

"We didn't drop off a cliff, performance-wise, but it really started dragging between the 60-foot and 330-foot timers, which is where you do most of your accelerating. When you look at the data you can see it's down in that area. We'll just have to get home and go through everything and try to figure out why."

FUNNY CAR

Along the way to the Brainerd Winner's Circle, Alexis DeJoria defeated Tim Wilkerson, Cruz Pedregon, John Force and Tommy Johnson Jr. Sunday’s victory was DeJoria’s fifth career Funny Car win and eighth visit to the final round.

The Patrón Funny Car pilot qualified 10th for the Brainerd event and started race day ranked 14th in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship, 48 points out of the No. 10 spot. After defeating Tim Wilkerson in the first round of eliminations, DeJoria found herself in a Countdown-critical matchup with Pedregon. Both DeJoria and Pedregon are part of a fierce five-way battle for the coveted final NHRA Countdown Top 10 spot. DeJoria’s 3.883-second pass easily defeated Pedregon’s 4.505 and advanced Team Patrón to the semifinals.

DeJoria faced John Force in the semifinal round and once again, her expertly tuned Patrón Camry made another stout run (3.892) and ended the 16-time World Champion’s day.

The final round saw Team Patrón squaring off against Tommy Johnson Jr. Both drivers were quick off of the starting line but Johnson Jr.’s 3.933-second pass was no match for DeJoria’s 3.906.

Alexis drew a crowd while packing her ‘chute.

“I’m very resilient. That’s the way I was raised; you never give up,” DeJoria said after the win. “The last two years have been really difficult. Lots of ups and downs, injuries, no wins, we just couldn’t get up to speed. We’re fighting so hard out here. It’s the hard times that make the wins so much better. You really appreciate every moment.”

With the Brainerd victory, DeJoria has moved into the No. 10 Countdown spot and will go into the final event of the regular season defending her Countdown to the Championship berth opportunity, rather than chasing it. DeJoria has a 12-point lead over the 11th ranked Countdown contender.

Tommy Johnson Jr. began his day by besting Jonnie Lindberg on a clean pass when Lindberg smoked his tires, setting up a showdown between Johnson and Courtney Force in round two. Johnson turned on the win light again with a solid lap as Force's engine shut off shortly after leaving the starting line.

Johnson then beat Robert Hight in a wild semifinal race to reach the final round. Hight thought Johnson had turned on the red light and had trouble getting off the starting line, while Johnson lost traction and tried to keep the car off the wall as he pedaled and fishtailed down track to turn on the win light.

"It's another runner-up, which is frustrating, but at the same time it's a really good thing," said Johnson, who moved up one spot to fourth in the championship standings with Terry and Doug Chandler's Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T Powered by Pennzoil.

"We made a move in the points today, got ourselves in the top four and one of these days if we continue to run like that that runner-up's going to become a win.”

Auto Club of Southern California driver Robert Hight left Brainerd International Raceway on Sunday with the national elapsed time record, second place in the Funny Car points standings and his 400th elimination round victory after the NHRA Nationals.

But Hight, who turned 48 on Sunday, wanted more – much more.

A bizarre semifinal match Sunday resulted in Hight’s six-round winning streak coming to an end after an impressive weekend for him and his John Force Racing team.

In the fastest and quickest side-by-side run in NHRA Mello Yello history, Robert Hight of John Force Racing knocked Matt Hagan off the provisional pole Friday with the first Funny Car run to crack into the 3.7-second range. Hight, who has won two of the past three NHRA events, completed his run in 3.793 seconds at 338.50 mph to better Hagan's previous record of 3.802.

“I could tell it was running fast,” Hight said. “The clutch disc was boiling, and that’s the way Jimmy runs it. That’s how he wants to wear the clutch. It was hard to see, but I did see the 3.79 on the scoreboard, because we shut off at 1,000 feet, I had the chutes out, and I glanced up there but I didn’t know the speed.”

Hight also holds the Funny Car national speed record of 339.87 mph set recently at Sonoma Raceway.

And his first-round win at Brainerd over Dale Creasy was the 400th of his career.

But Hight was kicking himself for double-stepping in the semifinals, which eventually cost him a victory over Tommy Johnson Jr.

“It’s business as usual with this car lately,” Hight said. “I just screwed up. I did leave too soon, but I held the brake. I didn’t let go of the brake, so it didn’t go through the beams. I didn’t know that – I thought I red-lit.

“There’s a big yellow thing on the wall down there, and I looked and saw it and thought it was his win light on.”

Johnson struck the tires and started to pedal his car, while Hight thought the race was already over.

“Long Tree, and my foot moved,” Hight said. “I’ve got to do better. I cannot let this happen again. I’ve got to pay more attention and focus.”

Johnson’s pass was 6.875 seconds at 128.60 mph, while Hight coasted to a 9.806-second run at 78.40 mph.

Reigning Funny Car world champion Ron Capps made his 500th career NHRA start this weekend in central Minnesota becoming just the sixth NHRA racer to reach the milestone. Capps defeated J.R. Todd in the first round, but fell to Hight in the second.

Brittany Force qualified No. 2 in Top Fuel on Friday, making a run of 3.685 seconds at a track-record speed of 333.16 mph. That speed was the third best in NHRA history.