Backstretch Motorsports

MADISON, Ill. – The racing at Gateway International Raceway began under clear blue skies Saturday, a marked difference from Friday, when the first day of the O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals Presented by Castrol was rained out after only one round of NHRA Full Throttle Series Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying.

Cool temps provided great racing as defending GIR PSM winner Andrew Hines broke the national ET record with a 6.860 and Greg Stanfield earned the top qualifier in Pro Stock for Sunday’s eliminations with a Gateway speed record of 210.37 mph. Morgan Lucas, two weeks removed from his first-ever Top Fuel win, took the pole for Sunday’s finals with a top speed of 307.02 and an ET of 3.881. Funny Car points leader

“It feels great to keep the momentum going. You never want to have something really big happen and then just fail the next week miserably, you always want to do the best you can,” said Lucas. “Its not making big changes, not doing anything radical and getting ourselves lost, staying down the path we’ve been going down.”

Ron Capps, who earned his first FC win at GIR in 1997, topped the qualifying charts in that class with a speed of 298.80 and an ET of 4.111

“For a while, No. 1 always felt like you were a little bit jinxed going into Sunday and it didn’t really matter as long as you were top four and you had lane choice,” said Capps in the post-qualifying press conference. “The more impressive thing was to be rained out yesterday and then have (crew chief) Ed McCulloch put me in a car that ran 4.11 in both lanes. The left lane (in the second session) has a slightly bigger bump and they’re pretty equal. I was astounded when they told me on the radio I ran another .11. That was pretty neat.”

Last year’s Funny Car winner and Springfield, Ill.-native Tim Wilkerson, qualified sixth, facing off against John Force Racing’s Mike Neff tomorrow. It’s an ironic pairing as the two faced each other in the finals last year, a day that saw Neff take his first-ever NHRA Full Throttle Series round win. Six-time Top Fuel champion and current points leader Tony Schumacher qualified third with an ET of 3.885, just .003 seconds behind his Don Schumacher Racing teammate, Cory McClenathan.

Spectator gates for the finals of the O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals Presented by Castrol at Gateway International Raceway open at 9 a.m., with pre-race ceremonies starting at 10 and Pro series racing scheduled to kick off at 11.

Race fans can purchase tickets at the gate Sunday morning as some seats are still available. The finals will air on ESPN2 tomorrow at 6 p.m.

MADISON, Ill. — First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for the 13th annual O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals presented by Castrol at Gateway International Raceway, the seventh of 24 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs listed below pairings.

Top Fuel — 1. Morgan Lucas, 3.881 seconds, 307.02 mph vs. 16. Kevin Jones, 4.459, 194.02; 2. Cory McClenathan, 3.882, 305.08 vs. 15. Chris Karamesines, 4.435, 214.66; 3. Tony Schumacher, 3.885, 302.75 vs. 14. Todd Simpson, 4.308, 269.13; 4. Spencer Massey, 3.896, 296.44 vs. 13. John Smith, 4.061, 287.23; 5. Larry Dixon, 3.904, 304.25 vs. 12. Joe Hartley, 4.022, 298.40; 6. Shawn Langdon, 3.906, 306.05 vs. 11. T.J. Zizzo, 3.969, 297.16; 7. Antron Brown, 3.906, 298.67 vs. 10. Doug Kalitta, 3.965, 299.60; 8. Clay Millican, 3.910, 294.82 vs. 9. Brandon Bernstein, 3.944, 297.02.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Scott Palmer, 4.720, 167.93; 18. Luigi Novelli, 6.817, 98.56.

Funny Car — 1. Ron Capps, Dodge Charger, 4.111, 298.80 vs. 16. Terry Haddock, Dodge Stratus, 6.072, 110.08; 2. Matt Hagan, Charger, 4.143, 282.84 vs. 15. Jeff Arend, Toyota Solara, 4.740, 173.96; 3. Del Worsham, Solara, 4.144, 298.40 vs. 14. Jerry Toliver, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.715, 173.61; 4. Cruz Pedregon, Solara, 4.144, 297.81 vs. 13. Jim Head, Solara, 4.612, 187.42; 5. Bob Tasca III, Ford Mustang, 4.147, 298.67 vs. 12. Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.294, 280.60; 6. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.150, 299.33 vs. 11. Mike Neff, Mustang, 4.222, 271.35; 7. Ashley Force Hood, Mustang, 4.162, 294.95 vs. 10. Tony Pedregon, Chevy Impala, 4.200, 290.51; 8. John Force, Mustang, 4.170, 290.32 vs. 9. Jack Beckman, Charger, 4.178, 299.80.

Pro Stock — 1. Greg Stanfield, Pontiac GXP, 6.573, 210.37 vs. 16. Dave Northrop, Dodge Stratus, 6.636, 208.17; 2. Mike Edwards, GXP, 6.575, 209.85 vs. 15. Justin Humphreys, GXP, 6.636, 208.17; 3. Kurt Johnson, Chevy Cobalt, 6.576, 210.21 vs. 14. Steve Spiess, Cobalt, 6.633, 207.98; 4. Greg Anderson, GXP, 6.580, 210.05 vs. 13. Rodger Brogdon, GXP, 6.627, 208.94; 5. Allen Johnson, Stratus, 6.586, 209.92 vs. 12. Rickie Jones, Stratus, 6.620, 208.91; 6. Jason Line, GXP, 6.595, 210.24 vs. 11. Tom Hammonds, Cobalt, 6.620, 208.42; 7. Ron Krisher, Cobalt, 6.601, 209.04 vs. 10.
Larry Morgan, Stratus, 6.615, 208.30; 8. Jeg Coughlin, Cobalt, 6.609, 209.56 vs. 9. Johnny Gray, Stratus, 6.611, 209.14.
Did Not Qualify: 17. David Beckley, 6.643, 208.14; 18. Warren Johnson, 6.648, 208.97; 19. Steve Schmidt, 6.655, 207.85; 20. Ronnie Humphrey, 6.676, 207.59; 21. V. Gaines, 6.679, 206.70; 22. Erica Enders, 6.740, 203.65; 23. Dave River, 7.015, 196.50; 24. Mark Hogan, 7.399, 154.35.

Pro Stock Motorcycle — 1. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.860, 192.14 vs. 16. David Hope, Buell, 7.114, 185.36; 2. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.907, 192.00 vs. 15. Bailey Whitaker, Buell, 7.108, 183.29; 3. Hector Arana, Buell, 6.921, 190.14 vs. 14. Joe DeSantis, Suzuki, 7.065, 190.30; 4. Matt Smith, Suzuki, 6.927, 191.16 vs. 13. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.042, 189.39; 5. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 6.956, 191.13 vs. 12. Junior Pippin, Buell, 7.031, 186.02; 6. Angie McBride, Buell, 6.958, 187.65 vs. 11. Matt Guidera, Buell, 7.024, 186.87; 7. Shawn Gann, Buell, 6.973, 184.07 vs. 10. Michael Phillips, Suzuki, 6.997, 192.55; 8. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 6.986, 189.71 vs. 9. Douglas Horne, Buell, 6.994, 187.57.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Mike Berry, 7.223, 182.13; 18. Wesley Wells, 7.269, 178.35.