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

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WILKERSON, FULLER, K. JOHNSON AND HINES WIN; FORCE EARNS 1,000TH ROUND WIN

MADISON, Ill. - Tim Wilkerson denied John Force Racing’s Mike Neff his first career win on the same day Neff’s boss made history at the 12th annual O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals presented by Castrol.

Rod Fuller, Kurt Johnson and Andrew Hines also were winners in their respective categories Sunday at Gateway International Raceway near St. Louis.

Wilkerson earned his first win at his hometown track, his second of the season and seventh of his career when he drove his Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevy Impala SS to a 4.874-second finish at 317.27 mph to Neff’s 4.886 at 321.58 in his Old Spice Ford Mustang.

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COMMERCE, Ga. – In a final round for the ages Ashley Force beat father John, becoming the first woman in NHRA history to win a national event in Funny Car at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals in Commerce, Ga.

Ashley faced father and NHRA legend John Force in the final round, driving her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang pass the iconic legend with a run of 4.837 at 320.36. Though John was competing in his 500th race and came within one round win of reaching 1,000, it was the younger Force who stood in the winner’s circle at the end of the event.

“I’m just happy to win an event,” said Force. “That was the main thing. Being a female, that’s exciting for the record books and everything, but my team, we just wanted to get our first win. To get it finally done here in Atlanta, we’re just a little bit relieved but so excited as well.”

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Andrew Hines

COMMERCE, Ga. – The No. 1 provisional qualifiers from Friday in all four categories held on to those top spots as qualifying wrapped up Saturday for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals in Commerce, Ga.

Tim Wilkerson’s run of 4.774-second pass at 325.92 mph in his Levy Ray & Shoup Chevy Impala SS from the previous day was enough to keep him in the top spot in Funny Car. It is Wilkerson’s third No. 1 qualifier of the season and 13th of his career.

“It’s a good feeling to be first, no doubt about that,” said Wilkerson. “Hopefully we can win some rounds tomorrow. It would sure be special going in to St. Louis leading the points, especially for the people at Levy Ray & Shoup.”

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