Capps leads in Funny Car; Johnson third in Pro Stock

Posted on October 30th, 2011 • by Bill Cawthon

Saturday’s action in the Big O Tires NHRA Nationals at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was all a drag racing fan could want: lead changes, upsets and cars blowing up on the track.

In Funny Car, Ron Capps, who had been having some trouble recently, got his mojo back and blew down the quarter mile in 3.080 seconds at 315.49 miles per hour. Capps is now first in the qualifying for today’s elimination rounds.

Matt Hagan wasn’t able to improve his time from Friday’s second qualifying round, but Mike Neff, Robert Hight and Cruz Pedregon were able to beat it, dropping Hagan from second to fifth.

Jack Beckman had a great run in the fourth round and moved up to eighth while Canadian newcomer Todd Lesenko was able to make the cut. Gary Densham missed qualifying by .025 seconds. As it is, there are five Chargers in today’s finals.

One of those Chargers will be substantially different from the one that raced Friday and Saturday. Johnny Gray was making his fourth and final run when he banged the blower about halfway down the track. The Service Central Charger’s body went flying higher than the scoreboard and ended up in the grass beside the track. No one was hurt and Gray finished his run in a convertible, qualifying tenth.

FINAL QUALIFYING – BIG O TIRES NHRA NATIONALS – FUNNY CAR
Position	Driver	Sponsor & Car	ET	Speed
1	Ron Capps	NAPA Charger	4.080	315.49
2	Mike Neff	Ford Drive One Mustang	4.083	312.71
3	Robert Hight	Auto Club Mustang	4.085	311.27
4	Cruz Pedregon	Snap-On Solara	4.087	309.49
5	Matt Hagan	DieHard Charger	4.093	310.05
6	Bob Tasca III	Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang	4.096	310.91
7	Melanie Troxel	In & Out Solara	4.103	310.20
8	Jack Beckman	Aaron’s/Valvoline Charger	4.105	311.34
9	John Force	Castrol GTX Mustang	4.118	312.57
10	Johnny Gray	Service Central Charger	4.118	311.99
11	Alexis DeJoria	Tequila Patron Solara	4.121	305.15
12	Tim Wilkerson	Levi Ray & Shoup Mustang	4.148	299.46
13	Jeff Arend	DHL Solara	4.162	305.29
14	Tony Pedregon	Herzog Impala SS	4.166	297.48
15	Paul Lee	Jim Dunn/Rislone/Bars Leaks Impala	4.218	304.19
16	Todd Lesenko	Jolly Rogers Charger	4.236	298.60
*Did Not Qualify*
17	Gary Densham	Lawson Rock & Oil Charger	4.261	296.11
18	Jeff Diehl	J.G. Parks & Son Monte Carlo	4.269	286.25
19	Jim Head	Head Racing Solara	4.797	268.17
20	Bob Bode	Alard Machine Products Solara	4.807	302.01
21	Peter Russo	Russo Racing Monte Carlo	7.025	99.79
22	Terry Haddock	Acme Refining Solara	NT

In Pro Stock, Allen Johnson had a great pass in the Third Round that jumped him to third. Vincent Nobile couldn’t improve on his best time from Friday and qualified eleventh. V. Gaines managed to make the cut on Saturday, so all three Dodge Avengers will be in the running.

FINAL QUALIFYING – BIG O TIRES NHRA NATIONALS – PRO STOCK
Position	Driver	Sponsor & Car	ET	Speed
1	Mike Edwards	Penhall/K&N/Interstate GXP	6.594	208.84
2	Jason Line	Summit Racing Equipment GXP	6.624	208.49
3	Allen Johnson	Mopar/J & J Racing Avenger	6.630	208.33
4	Rodger Brogdon	The Edge GXP	6.632	207.85
5	Greg Anderson	Summit Racing Equipment GXP	6.633	208.14
6	Larry Morgan	Lucas Oil/Summit Mustang	6.633	207.91
7	Ron Krisher	Valvoline GXP	6.637	208.33
8	Ronnie Humphrey	Genuine Hot Rod Hardware GXP	6.639	207.72
9	Erica Enders	ZaZa Energy Cobalt	6.640	207.82
10	Shane Gray	Service Central GXP	6.641	207.88
11	Vincent Nobile	Mountain View Tire Avenger	6.644	207.94
12	Steve Kent	Kent Trucking & Services GXP	6.651	207.50
13	Kurt Johnson	Total Seal GXP	6.652	207.53
14	Greg Stanfield	Nitro Fish GXP	6.654	207.53
15	V. Gaines	Kendall Oil Avenger	6.655	207.27
16	Mark Wolfe	Wolfe Racing Probe	6.657	206.89
*Did Not Qualify*
17	Warren Johnson	K&N Filters GXP	6.693	207.27
18	Buddy Perkinson	Wealth Mgt Strategies/AXA Mustang	6.699	205.63
19	Grace Howell	Cunningham Sand & Gravel Musta	6.736	205.22
20	Gordie Rivera	Gordies Speed Center GXP	6.799	203.03