When Brian “Lump” Self shook and rattled in the semifinals, Line advanced to his second consecutive final round and third of the year on a 6.590, 210.64 to 13.523, 62.95.

 

On the other side of the ladder, Anderson was knocking out the competition in the red Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro, starting with veteran driver Larry Morgan and moving on to a second-round defeat of Erica Enders by just .006-second with a 6.572/210.01 to a 6.575/210.37.

Hoping for another all-Summit Racing final round after their head-to-head match in St. Louis two weeks ago, Anderson was stopped short by Drew Skillman, 6.559 at 211.26 mph to 6.592/209.20.

 

In the final, Skillman left .001-second too soon and illuminated the red light, and Line sailed ahead to make his quickest pass of the weekend, a 6.548, 211.20 to his opponent's 8.237, 117.86.

 

"I saw the win light, and it made me botch one of the shifts. I don't normally do that, but I was like, 'why did he red-light? He was faster than me.' But I've been on both sides of that, so I'll take one."

 

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE

 

Eddie Krawiec rode his Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson to a pedestrian 9.336 pass at 92.62 mph, but it was enough for the win due to a red-light start from defending world champion Jerry Savoie. It is Krawiec’s sixth win of the season, 42nd of his career and second consecutive and third total at Texas Motorplex.

 

“This track really, leaving here kind of sets the tone for how that championship is going to shape up. I probably put more pressure on myself to do really good here,” Krawiec said. “You need to capitalize. For me, I had, I would say, a perfect weekend for how it worked out. I went out there got a lot of the little points in qualifying. I needed to capitalize, this was the opportunity for me to grab the ball and run with it. I think that was more of my drive for today. Lucky enough for me I had a great motorcycle under me.”

 

Krawiec road to victory was lined with wins over David Hope, Karen Stoffer and Scotty Pollacheck. The win puts him 107 points ahead of LE Tonglet who remains in second. Savoie, Tonglet's teammate, rode past Gunner Courtney, rookie Joey Gladstone, and former champion Matt Smith.

 

POINT STANDINGS AFTER 22 OF 24 EVENTS

 

Top Fuel: 1. Steve Torrence, 2,465; 2. Brittany Force, 2,408; 3. Doug Kalitta, 2,389; 4. Antron Brown, 2,360; 5. Leah Pritchett, 2,285; 6. Tony Schumacher, 2,273; 7. Clay Millican, 2,268; 8. Shawn Langdon, 2,193; 9. Terry McMillen, 2,147; 10. Scott Palmer, 2,137.

 

Funny Car: 1. Ron Capps, 2,495; 2. Robert Hight, 2,471; 3. Courtney Force, 2,324; 4. Jack Beckman, 2,309; 5. Matt Hagan, 2,269; 6. John Force, 2,252; 7. Tommy Johnson Jr., 2,224; 8. Tim Wilkerson, 2,206; 9. J.R. Todd, 2,199; 10. Cruz Pedregon, 2,128.

 

Pro Stock: 1. Greg Anderson, 2,471; 2. Bo Butner, 2,456; 3. Jason Line, 2,441; 4. Tanner Gray, 2,360; 5. Drew Skillman, 2,301; 6. Erica Enders, 2,252; 7. Allen Johnson, 2,183; 8. Jeg Coughlin, 2,180; 9. Chris McGaha, 2,154; 10. Vincent Nobile, 2,052.

 

Pro Stock Motorcycle: 1. Eddie Krawiec, 2,506; 2. LE Tonglet, 2,399; 3. Andrew Hines, 2,364; 4. Jerry Savoie, 2,360; 5. Scotty Pollacheck, 2,330; 6. Matt Smith, 2,313; 7. Hector Arana Jr, 2,297; 8. Karen Stoffer, 2,200; 9. Angie Smith, 2,174; 10. Joey Gladstone, 2,169. 

John Force got a little bit crooked during qualifying with Tim Wilkerson. In the first round of eliminations Force ran 4.413/234.61 to defeat Tommy Johnson’s 4.467/192.44. Force uncharacteristically turned on the red light against Capps. Wilkerson defeated Cruz Pedregon in the first round and Jonnie Lindberg in the second before succumbing to Hight in the semifinal.

In recognition of October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Courtney Force went with an all-pink color scheme.

While Alexis DeJoria opted for a more artistic rendering.

 

PRO STOCK

Reigning Pro Stock world champion Jason Line will be the first to tell you that he has not exactly had a stellar season. It's been a battle for the driver of the blue Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro to show his full potential this year, but in Dallas, he got back in the game in a big way with a victory at the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals. The win marked the fifth time that a Summit Racing Chevy parked in the winner's circle this year, and it also brought Line to within 30 points of the top spot, currently occupied by Team Summit's Greg Anderson.

 

"For me, this weekend was honestly do-or-die," said Line, who now owns 47 NHRA Pro Stock Wally trophies and has raced in 95 final rounds. "If you didn't win here this weekend, the chance of winning the championship was slim to none, so we really just had to win. There is no question, it's not over. They're going to have to pry that No. 1 off the window. I kinda like it on there, and it's one of my favorite numbers, so I think we'll just try to keep it."

 

No. 2 qualifier Line got a lucky break in the first round when he was delayed leaving the starting line but still managed to oust Alan Prusiensky with a 6.550-second pass at 210.60 mph to 6.788, 178.50. In round two, Line and Alex Laughlin left the starting line nearly in sync, but at the stripe it was Line getting the nod, 6.552/210.87 to 6.565/210.37. The margin of victory was just .006-second.

Kebin Kinsley’s dragster (far lane) lifted the front end at the green light and was sideways before he clicked it off. Doug Kalitta got the win but with a flash of flames at the finish. Kalitta fell to Brittany Force in the second round.

Richie Crampton (shown) met Billy Torrence, Steve’s father, in the first round with both drivers making their career quickest passes. Torrence’s 3.726/326.95 could not defeat Crampton’s 3.683/326.79.

 

FUNNY CAR

Robert Hight – second in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series points standings – took the AAA Texas FallNationals victory, besting Jim Campbell, Alexis DeJoria and Tim Wilkerson in the opening three rounds and defending Funny Car champion and current points leader Ron Capps in the finals.

 

That final-round victory meant a 40-point swing either way – 20 points are awarded for each round win – and Hight closed to within 24 points of Capps with two races remaining on the circuit.

 

It also gave him his second Countdown to the Championship victory in four races, tying Capps.

 

In the first round against No. 16 qualifier Campbell in the other lane, Hight pushed to break both ends of the track record with a pass of 3.828 seconds at 338.60 mph. It tied the seventh quickest pass of Hight’s career and matched the third fastest run of his career – both of which were set earlier this season.

 

It also marked the second time this year Hight set the No. 1 qualifying time, set event low ET and top speed, and went on to win the race.

Capps with crew chief Rahn Tobler advanced to their 12th final round through 22 events and kept his points lead by 24 points with two events remaining in the season.

 

“It always hurts a little bit when you get into the final and then you fall a little bit short. But reflecting right now, we didn't beat ourselves. We gave them a great race and that's where you've just got to go over and shake their hands and tell them, 'great race' because that was a pretty awesome side-by-side run."

 

Capps took a big lead at the starting line with a 0.038-second reaction time to Hight's 0.054, but was unable to hold off Hight. Hight's winning time was 3.877 seconds at 332.34 mph to Capps' 3.927 at 329.18.

VOLUME XIX,  NUMBER 10 - OCTOBER  2017

race reports

NHRA Pros at Dallas

Points change with two to go

Results compiled by Kay Burk

Photos by Ron Lewis

Robert Hight powered to the Funny Car victory Sunday, Oct. 15, at the 32nd annual AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex.

 

Brittany Force (Top Fuel), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also earned victories at the fourth of six playoff events during the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship.

 

TOP FUEL

Brittany Force showed why she is a title contender, by beating some of the top drivers in her class – including the then top-two drivers in the standings – and winning her second race in three events to catapult into second in points.

 

With consistent runs all day, Force defeated Terry McMillen (3.708/327.27 to 3.754/317.57), then second-place Doug Kalitta (3.719/326.56 to 3.739/323.43) and championship leader Steve Torrence (3.685/327.43 to 3.728/323.35) in the first three rounds before getting past champion Shawn Langdon in the finals.

 

Force edged ahead of Langdon at 60 feet in a contest that was nearly even the entire way. Even after Force’s Monster Energy dragster crossed the finish line – at an event top elapsed time of 3.681 seconds at 326.87 mph – she only managed to defeat Langdon by about eight inches, in their first finals matchup. Langdon turned in a 3.693 at 326.56 mph.

 

“Two people that are ahead of us, (Doug) Kalitta and (Steve) Torrence, and we took them out,” Force said. “It felt good. A lot needed to happen but it went our way. We needed to go rounds. I felt confident we were going to turn on those win lights. It was a huge win for us.”

 

The win put her ahead of Kalitta by 19 points, and she now trails Torrence by 57 points. It is also the highest she has been in the points standings this late in the season.

 

Robert Hight and the AAA Texas Chevrolet Camaro SS won in Funny Car to give JFR its second-ever Top Fuel/Funny Car double-win.

The Capco team got help from several other crews to get the back-up car ready to run within the time allotted.

 

Steve Torrence rode out a crash in the second round on Sunday that demolished his Top Fuel dragsters but was in the cockpit of his back-up car for the third round.

 

Torrence was racing Richie Crampton in the second round when the left rear tire exploded, sending the dragster into the left concrete guardwall and then across track. Torrence emerged from the wreckage unscathed – and with the round-win -- and his crew immediately started working to get the back-up car ready.

 

“The Lord was looking out for us today,” Torrence said. “I felt the tire go. The car went left and then right. After that first hit, though, when it knocked the front end off, I was just along for the ride.”

Less than an hour and a half later, Torrence was again on the starting line. This time he lost to Brittany Force, however, and an engine explosion put a loud exclamation point on Torrence’s day.

 

“I’ve said it all year long,” Torrence said. “I wouldn’t trade these Capco guys for anyone. To get the back-up car assembled and to have it run 3.72, you don’t know how incredible that is.”

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