PRO STOCK

(Ron Lewis photo)

 

There were a season-low 13 entries in Pro Stock at Seattle. Drew Skillman took the victory after driving to a 6.604 at 209.33 in his Ray Skillman Chevrolet Camaro to defeat Erica Enders who ran a 6.609 at 209.49 in her Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro in the final round. After qualifying second, Skillman earned his third victory of the season and third in the past four events.

 

Skillman edged Enders by .0006 seconds, or an estimated one inch, making it the closest drag race of the entire season.

 

“We definitely thought we had a car to sweep the Western swing and we missed it by two rounds, but today definitely makes up for that,” Skillman said. “Our team is working really well together right now, and I couldn’t be happier with the results over the past few events.”

 

Skillman moves up to fifth in the standings with the victory, as he is now tied for a category-best three victories on the season with points leader Bo Butner and Tanner Gray.

 

Skillman was the No. 2 qualifier and maintained his success with round wins over Alan Prusiensky and a red-lighting Butner on the way to his second victory of the Western Swing. Enders qualified in the fourth spot and took down Matthew Hartford, Jason Line and Tanner Gray before reaching her fourth final round of the season, as she searches for her first victory since Epping.

 

"Good for Drew," said Enders, the 2012 Seattle winner. "He's my bud so it's cool, but I will say he owes me one or two now so we'll have to get him next time. It was cool to be in the closest race of the year and really cool to make a little personal history in the semifinals also."

 

In reaching her 39th career final round, Enders reached the impressive milestone of 250 elimination-round victories when she beat a red-lighting Tanner Gray in the semifinals. Gray was an over-eager -.068 at the tree and could only watch as Enders zoomed to a 6.633 at 208.71 mph.

 

"Saying 250 round wins is pretty crazy because it was so hard to get there," Enders said. "But it's also been so rewarding. I wouldn't change my life for anything."

Tanner Gray turned on the red light in his semifinal match with Erica Enders. Ironically, Bo Butner did the same in his semifinal against Drew Skillman.  (Ron Lewis photo)

 

The NHRA tour takes a weekend off before returning to action Aug. 18-20 with the 36th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway.

 

Point standings (top 10) following the 30th annual NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways

 

Top Fuel: 1. Antron Brown, 1,418; 2. Steve Torrence, 1,405; 3. Leah Pritchett, 1,329; 4. Tony Schumacher, 1,064; 5. Brittany Force, 992; 6. Doug Kalitta, 977; 7. Clay Millican, 937; 8. Terry McMillen, 690; 9. Scott Palmer, 606; 10. Troy Coughlin Jr., 560.

 

Funny Car: 1. Ron Capps, 1,330; 2. Matt Hagan, 1,172; 3. Robert Hight, 1,164; 4. Jack Beckman, 1,104; 5. Tommy Johnson Jr., 1,081; 6. Courtney Force, 951; 7. John Force, 877; 8. Tim Wilkerson, 759; 9. J.R. Todd, 756; 10. Cruz Pedregon, 601.

 

Pro Stock: 1. Bo Butner, 1,423; 2. Greg Anderson, 1,183; 3. Tanner Gray, 1,174; 4. Jason Line, 1,045; 5. Drew Skillman, 1,035; 6. Erica Enders, 991; 7. Jeg Coughlin Jr., 974; 8. Vincent Nobile, 867; 9. Chris McGaha, 645; 10. Allen Johnson, 600. 

(Dave Stoltz photo)

 

Tommy Johnson Jr. and Terry Chandler's Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T led by crew chief John Collins and assistant Rip Reynolds advanced to their third final round in the past four races but lost to Robert Hight of John Force Racing for the second time in three weeks during the Western Swing.

 

In the opening round of competition, Johnson raced Jim Campbell of Jim Dunn Racing and got the win with a 3.953/325.92. He advanced to the second round to face Don Schumacher Racing and NHRA points leader Ron Capps and the NAPA AUTO PARTS team. Johnson left the starting line first at .053 seconds for the best reaction time of the round and clocked a pass of 3.957 at 323.19 mph and win over Capps' 3.976/311.41 effort.

 

In the semifinal, Johnson took out another DSR teammate, Matt Hagan in the Mopar/Express Lane Dodge. Johnson ran a 3.935 /319.67 to beat Hagan's 3.955/326.08.

 

"Our goal is to get our position the best we can going into the Countdown and we're doing a good job of that," said Johnson, who is fifth in points but only 17 out of fourth. The Make-A-Wish team clinched their place in the Countdown to the Championship.

 

"It's frustrating to lose a final again, but three of the last four races (we've been) runner-up so you can't complain too much. Final rounds are great, you just like to finish the job when you get there. But six finals in the Countdown would be just fine with me, too."

Courtney force defeated Cruz Pedregon and Jack Beckman before falling to JFR teammate Hight in the semis. (Aaron Anderson photo)

Alexis DeJoria ran 3.931/327.90 to win over Jonnie Lindberg’s 3.999/322.81, but fell to Matt Hagan in the second round. Here is a lovely shot of the patterns in the cockpit.  (Aly Anderson photo)

race reports

NHRA Pros at Seattle

Brown, Hight and Skillman step up to end Western Swing

 

Results compiled by Kay Burk

Photos by Ron Lewis, Dave Stoltz, Aaron Anderson and Aly Anderson

(Ron Lewis photo)

 

Antron Brown piloted his dragster to the Top Fuel victory Sunday, Aug. 6, at the 30th annual NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways. Robert Hight (Funny Car) and Drew Skillman (Pro Stock) were also victorious at the 16th of 24 events in the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.

 

There were 16 entries in the Top Fuel and Funny Car classes with only 13 Pro Stock cars.

 

TOP FUEL

 

Brown used his quicker reactions Sunday to win the NHRA Northwest Nationals Top Fuel title and take the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series points lead for the only the second time this year and first since early June.

 

Brown's fourth win of the season in nine final rounds was won on a holeshot at the starting line when he left slightly ahead of Terry McMillen, whose elapsed time of 3.772 seconds wasn't enough to hold off the 3.776 produced by the Matco Tools/U.S. Army dragster Powered by Pennzoil with crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald.

 

Three-time and reigning world champion Brown started as the No. 1 seed after earning his second pole of the season that led to DSR winning its 313th event title and 20th of the year including seven in Top Fuel. The victory is the fourth this year for Brown, 49th in Top Fuel and 65th overall including Pro Stock Motorcycle.

Ironically, it was McMillen (far lane) who upset previous points leader Steve Torrence in the opening round that coupled with Brown's victory will gives him a 13-point lead over Torrence when the series resumes in two weeks at Brainerd, Minn.  (Dave Stoltz photo)

 

"Terry was strong today,” Brown said. “When they threw that (3.72) out in the first round, it really turned some heads. He's like 'I'm in the party now, boys. Here I am, ladies and gentlemen.'

 

Terry McMillen’s road to the final round was a tough one, but a challenge that the team was ready for. His day started by knocking off points leader and six time 2017 winner, Steve Torrence with a 3.725, the second quickest of round one. Wins over Doug Kalitta and Lean Pritchett set the scene for the showdown with Brown in the finals.

 

“We had a fabulous weekend,” McMillen said. “I was the weak link today. Rob Wendland had this hot rod tuned to win. I’m really proud of my team. They worked really hard. We’ve got two new members of the team that are starting to gel with our program and they were a big part of our success today as well.”

 

While McMillen hasn’t mathematically clinched a spot in the NHRA post-season, but he has virtually stamped his card for The Countdown with five round wins in the past two races.

 

“We can’t count our chickens just yet,” McMillen said. “But we’re well on our way to meeting one of our goals of making The Countdown. I think we're peaking at the right time to make a run in The Countdown.”

Mike Salinas ran 3.821/282.19 to defeat Shawn Langdon’s 3.821/271.35 in the first round, but a big fireball took him out of competition with Antron Brown in the second. Salinas was charged with his second oildown of the season, which cost him 10 points and $2,000.  (Dave Stoltz photo)

 

FUNNY CAR

(Ron Lewis photo)

 

Auto Club of Southern California Funny Car driver Robert Hight completed a near-perfect weekend, sweeping to the victory in the NHRA Northwest Nationals on Sunday at Pacific Raceways.

 

Hight qualified No. 1, was quickest in three of the four qualifying sessions and then was quickest in all four elimination rounds Sunday. He outran Tommy Johnson Jr. in the final round with a pass of 3.890 seconds at 328.62 mph that was low of race day.

 

With the victory, Hight earned his second win of the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season – and second in the three-race Western Swing – the 39th of his career and first in Seattle. He now stands at 399 round wins, as well.

 

Plus, Hight’s victory upped John Force Racing’s Funny Car win total to 250 – the most of any team in NHRA history.

 

Finally, Hight clinched a spot in the Countdown to the Championship, the six-race stretch that concludes the season and determines the NHRA champs.

VOLUME XIX,  NUMBER 8 - AUGUST   2017

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