Hot Passes in Atlanta
Written by Sheila Scarborough · April 26, 2008
No surprise to anyone who’s spent time in this part of Georgia; track temperatures hit 120 degrees F as Cory McClenathan, Tim Wilkerson, Ron Krisher and Andrew Hines all held onto their low qualifier positions from Friday night.
In Top Fuel, Las Vegas Wally winner Cory Mac reveled in his team’s consistency, with a 4.562 seconds at 327.03 mph and his third pole at Atlanta Dragway.
“When things are going good, you kind of roll with it and it’s a snowball effect,” said McClenathan. “It makes all the difference in the world as far as the teams go and how they work. My guys are on a natural high right now and it’s incredible. When we put the FRAM Top Fuel dragster in the winner’s circle in Vegas we beat the odds there and once again we come in here with 16 good cars and we’ve been able to stay very consistent throughout the weekend.”
“Considering it was supposed to rain this morning, we didn’t see that, but we saw some heat,” McClenathan said. “I think that actually helped us. We were able to figure out some things with the race track and [crew chief] Mike Green has done a great job with that. The car is running good from beginning to end and the 60-ft. times are outstanding considering that it’s pretty warm out there. It ran a 4.58 and a 4.60 flat and I think that’s a good set-up for tomorrow if the weather stays the same.
“I hope the FRAM Top Fuel dragster will go some rounds because that’s what we really want. We’re not trying to win a bunch of races, we’re just trying to win a bunch of rounds,” added McClenathan, who is fourth in the point standings. “The more rounds we win, the better our points deal looks and we can stay with the top-five cars, and that’s really what we want for this team. Thanks again to everybody at DSR and [U.S. Army crew chief] Alan Johnson and Mike Green and all my guys.”
McClenathan will square off against Todd Paton in round one of eliminations on Sunday (16 showed up, so 16 qualified.)
In Funny Car, Tim Wilkerson’s 4.774 at 325.92 from Friday night held for his Levi, Ray and Shoup Impala, so he spent time today trying some setups for Sunday.
“It’s a good feeling to be first,” said Wilkerson. “Today was testing a little bit and trying some things, and it showed some promise. We ran a different clutch both runs and a different blower the last run. It was making a nice run on that last one, then it got out there and blew the tire off it.
“As soon as I saw the 4.8s by the Force team, I may have gotten a little greedy. That thing was only three-hundredths slower than my .77 to the 330, so I believe that we could have gone .82 or .83, but we got a little greedy. Hopefully, we can get it together tomorrow and win some rounds.”
The “Wild Thing,” Gary Scelzi, barely made it into the field after some crummy rounds, including avoiding an exploding Mike Neff coming into his lane after one run.
“We know we’re going to have the left lane tomorrow (without lane choice), which is a problem because it’s got such a big bump there at 140 feet that our car comes completely off the ground and hits the wheelie bar with 2400 pounds of pressure,” said Scelzi.
“So, we were going to try to drive around the bump and come back, try something a little bit unique, but it didn’t get that far. It spun the tire first, so tomorrow we’re just going to have to go up and run over the bump, hope that the car sticks, and try to take out Wilkerson.”
Ron Krisher has gone 123 races without a Pro Stock pole, so he’s obviously pleased that his 6.644 at 207.69 mph powered him to the low qualifier position.
“There’s a lot of emotion for us here,” said Krisher. “We had a really long streak of qualifying in 2003 that was broke here. We had qualified for 77 races, then the race here was the 78th where we didn’t qualify. The track owes me something, I think.
“The track’s real good. There’s a little bit of a bump in the left lane, but overall it’s pretty good. This is absolutely the best track I have ever seen in Atlanta.”
Andrew Hines’ Harley chewed up the Atlanta Dragway with a track record of 6.950 at 192.30 mph for the Pro Stock Motorcycle pole.
“Being No. 1 helps and it hurts. It puts a little added pressure on you, but at the same time, it makes you feel good going into race day,” said Hines. “That’s especially true with the motorcycle I have, which seems to run 6.95s no matter what. This is our first No. 1 of the year, and if you go back to
“We pretty much owe this to Matt Smith and Matt Guidera. They showed us what it’s like to get our butts kicked and motivated us to get back to work. This bike is just so consistent right now; it’s just a pleasure to ride, and I couldn’t be happier.”
Top Fuel Final Qualifying Positions
1. Cory McClenathan 4.562 (ET) 327.03 (mph)
2. Rod Fuller 4.572 320.74
3. Tony Schumacher 4.582 324.44
4. Larry Dixon 4.597 313.66
5. Brandon Bernstein 4.601 320.05
6. Hillary Will 4.604 324.67
7. Doug Kalitta 4.620 323.58
8. David Grubnic 4.628 319.90
9. Antron Brown 4.635 314.83
10. Doug Herbert 4.656 310.91
11. Alan Bradshaw 4.701 299.13
12. J.R. Todd 4.725 299.20
13. Bob Vandergriff 4.729 314.83
14. Morgan Lucas 4.739 317.27
15. Terry McMillen 4.740 315.19
16. Todd Paton 6.474 0.00
Funny Car Final Qualifying Positions
1. Tim Wilkerson 4.774 (ET) 325.92 (mph)
2. Cruz Pedregon 4.812 314.53
3. Tony Bartone 4.829 318.02
4. Gary Densham 4.849 308.78
5. Tony Pedregon 4.853 316.90
6. Del Worsham 4.858 313.95
7. Robert Hight 4.860 312.93
8. Mike Neff 4.867 309.42
9. John Force 4.868 313.80
10. Ron Capps 4.882 310.34
11. Ashley Force 4.897 310.05
12. Bob Tasca III 4.898 316.30
13. Jack Beckman 4.900 314.17
14. Jim Head 4.901 318.39
15. Jerry Toliver 4.911 311.70
16. Gary Scelzi 4.939 311.92
——— Not Qualified ———
17. Melanie Troxel 4.971 314.53
18. Frank Hawley 4.983 304.12
19. Tommy Johnson Jr. 4.993 303.03
20. Bob Gilbertson 5.028 311.27
21. Scott Kalitta 5.639 316.60
Pro Stock Final Qualifying Positions
1. Ron Krisher 6.644 (ET) 207.69 (mph)
2. Jason Line 6.650 207.53
3. Justin Humphreys 6.655 207.24
4. Allen Johnson 6.656 207.69
5. Mike Edwards 6.656 206.83
6. Dave Connolly 6.662 207.05
7. Greg Anderson 6.662 207.24
8. Jeg Coughlin 6.668 206.92
9. Warren Johnson 6.673 207.98
10. V. Gaines 6.673 205.72
11. Kurt Johnson 6.684 206.86
12. Dave Northrop 6.684 205.91
13. Rickie Jones 6.684 205.47
14. Greg Stanfield 6.707 206.86
15. Todd Hoerner 6.726 205.51
16. Bill Glidden 6.728 205.66
——— Not Qualified ———
17. Matt Hartford 6.731 205.79
18. Max Naylor 6.733 203.74
19. Kenny Koretsky 6.734 205.29
20. Johnny Gray 6.736 205.69
21. Jim Yates 6.738 205.07
22. Larry Morgan 6.750 205.29
23. Tom Hammonds 6.758 204.94
24. Jim Cunningham 6.807 201.97
25. Matt Scranton 6.833 201.04
26. Lamar Swindoll Jr. 6.837 203.22
27. John Nobile 12.840 205.88
Pro Stock Motorcycle Final Qualifying Positions
1. Andrew Hines 6.950@ (ET) 192.30 (mph)
2. Chip Ellis 6.973 191.67
3. Matt Smith 6.999 188.89
4. Chris Rivas 7.008 189.92
5. Hector Arana 7.010 191.48
6. Eddie Krawiec 7.012 189.52
7. Steve Johnson 7.022 192.25
8. Karen Stoffer 7.037 191.32
9. Matt Guidera 7.038 188.38
10. Shawn Gann 7.063 188.28
11. Angelle Sampey 7.068 185.87
12. Craig Treble 7.075 190.46
13. Edward Murphy 7.101 187.99
14. Mike Berry 7.119 187.44
15. Junior Pippin 7.147 187.18
16. Michael Phillips 7.198 189.04
——— Not Qualified ———
17. Redell Harris 7.246 182.58
18. Darin McCurdy 7.312 181.84
19. Wes Wells 7.346 183.29
20. Angie McBride 10.728 102.32
@ = Track ET Record
Comments
Got something to say?
You must be logged in to post a comment.