Kalitta, Medlen, Line & Tonglet Lead Friday Qualifying in Vegas
Written by Josh Katinger · October 30, 2004
LAS VEGAS - Scott Kalitta raced to the qualifying lead in Top Fuel Friday at the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals.
Eric Medlen, Jason Line and GT Tonglet also were qualifying leaders in their respective categories at the $1.8 million race, the 22nd of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.
NHRA.com: Friday Recap
Kalitta powered his dragster to a 4.491 second run at 333.00 mph at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Kalitta Motorsports claimed the top three spots in the field, as teammates Doug Kalitta (4.499) and David Grubnic (4.506) were second and third respectively in the 16-car lineup.
“We’ve been trying all year to use the team concept to help us tune but until recently we were comparing apples to oranges because the chassis I was using was so old,” Kalitta said. “We debuted this new pipe in Reading and we’ve been right there with Dave and Doug since. Now we’ll shift gears and get set for Sunday. We need to find a good low-4.5 second tune-up and ride it. We need to race smart. We’ve given a few away this year by being too aggressive and I don’t want that to happen again here. I think low 4.50s will win this race.”
Medlen raced to the lead in Funny Car, posting a 4.770 at 322.11 in his Castrol Syntec Ford Mustang. John Force, who can clinch his 13th world championship by maintaining his qualifying position tomorrow, was fourth, running 4.786 at 327.43 in his Castrol GTX Start Up Mustang.
“We ran a 4.79 in the first session and I heard other guys in front of us were running high 4.70s so I knew we could run a mid-4.70 if everything went right,” Medlen said. “The only thing worrying me was that they were saying some people were getting out of the groove. I didn’t want to waste a run like that so I tried real hard to keep it straight. It started moving around down there but I wasn’t hitting anything so I wasn’t about to lift.”
Ladders
Top Fuel
Funny Car
Pro Stock
Pro Stock Bike
Friday Qualifying Results
Top Fuel
1. Scott Kalitta, 4.491 seconds, 333.00 mph
2. Doug Kalitta, 4.499, 330.47
3. David Grubnic, 4.506, 323.04
4. Tony Schumacher, 4.579, 317.87
5. Morgan Lucas, 4.579, 317.79
6. Doug Herbert, 4.607, 310.63
7. Brandon Bernstein, 4.619, 325.53
8. Brady Kalivoda, 4.619, 323.58
9. John Smith, 4.627, 316.08
10. Cory McClenathan, 4.627, 312.13
11. David Baca, 4.631, 320.97
12. Larry Dixon, 4.663, 318.84
13. Andrew Cowin, 4.682, 314.97
14. Rhonda Hartman-Smith, 4.708, 300.20
15. Scott Weis, 4.735, 299.93
16. Joe Hartley, 4.846, 315.71.
Funny Car
1. Eric Medlen, Ford Mustang, 4.770, 322.27
2. Gary Scelzi, Dodge Stratus, 4.772, 322.42
3. Del Worsham, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.776, 321.73
4. John Force, Mustang, 4.786, 327.43
5. Tim Wilkerson, Monte Carlo, 4.796, 323.97
6. Phil Burkart, Monte Carlo, 4.797, 316.38
7. Ron Capps, Monte Carlo, 4.820, 318.39
8. Gary Densham, Mustang, 4.838, 322.34
9. Whit Bazemore, Stratus, 4.864, 315.86
10. Cruz Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.870, 318.47
11. Tony Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.877, 317.94
12. Bob Gilbertson, Pontiac Firebird, 4.880, 316.60
13. Frank Pedregon, Firebird, 4.885, 309.49
14. Tony Bartone, Firebird, 4.888, 306.26
15. Jeff Arend, Chevy Corvette, 4.909, 313.29
16. Jerry Toliver, Toyota Celica, 4.929, 308.00.
Pro Stock
1. Jason Line, Pontiac Grand Am, 6.789, 202.39
2. Greg Anderson, Grand Am, 6.790, 202.85
3. Kenny Koretsky, Dodge Stratus, 6.790, 202.58
4. Mike Edwards, Grand Am, 6.806, 202.09
5. V. Gaines, Stratus, 6.809, 202.48
6. Dave Connolly, Chevy Cavalier, 6.813, 202.15
7. Larry Morgan, Stratus, 6.817, 202.42
8. Jeg Coughlin, Cavalier, 6.821, 202.27
9. Steve Johns, Cavalier, 6.824, 201.64
10. Fernando Cuadra, Cavalier, 6.831, 201.82
11. Greg Stanfield, Cavalier, 6.832, 202.15
12. Kurt Johnson, Cavalier, 6.835, 200.71
13. Ben Watson, Cavalier, 6.841, 200.59
14. Bruce Allen, Grand Am, 6.844, 201.49
15. Rickie Smith, Cavalier, 6.846, 201.22
16. JR Carr, Cavalier, 6.848, 200.47.
Pro Stock Bike
1. GT Tonglet, Harley-Davidson, 7.213, 190.59;
2. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 7.213, 185.10
3. Geno Scali, Suzuki, 7.219, 183.17
4. Antron Brown, Suzuki, 7.250, 183.42
5. Shawn Gann, Suzuki, 7.259, 183.49
6. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 7.266, 183.10
7. Angelle Savoie, Suzuki, 7.277, 181.01
8. Michael Phillips, Suzuki, 7.287, 183.10
9. Chip Hunter, Suzuki, 7.291, 183.42
10. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.292, 187.21
11. Blaine Hale, Suzuki, 7.317, 184.35
12. Mike Berry, Suzuki, 7.327, 181.67
13. Matt Smith, Suzuki, 7.337, 182.13
14. Fred Camarena, Suzuki, 7.346, 181.89
15. Jay Matthews, Suzuki, 7.361, 181.20
16. Kurt Matte, Suzuki, 7.378, 180.81.
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