Schumacher, Hight And Anderson Take No. 1 Qualifying Positions At Las Vegas
Written by Josh Katinger · April 8, 2006
LAS VEGAS — Reigning Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher leads all qualifiers at the seventh annual NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals. Schumacher covered The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s quarter-mile in 4.501 seconds at 327 mph in his U.S. Army dragster to post his fourth No. 1 qualifying effort of the first five races and 26th of his career.
NHRA.com: Saturday Recap
Robert Hight and Greg Anderson also finished qualifying at the front of their respective categories Saturday at the $1.7 million race, the fifth of 23 in the $50 million POWERade Drag Racing Series. Sunday’s eliminations start at 11 a.m.
Winless on the season thus far, Schumacher will now try and become the first top qualifier in a nitro-powered category this year to convert a No. 1 qualifying effort into a win on race day.
“You can’t win a championship eight points at a time,” Schumacher said of the extra bonus points he’s earned for qualifying No. 1. “All I know is there’s nothing we can do differently to make this car better. We’ve just been beaten down by stupid little things.
“I started worrying about the points race getting away from us two races ago. You just can’t post anyone too big a lead.”
Current Top Fuel point leader and Schumacher teammate Melanie Troxel improved to fourth place on the grid in the final session with a 4.543 in the Skull Gear/Torco Fuels dragster.
Ladders
First Round Pairings
Top Fuel
1. Tony Schumacher, 4.501 seconds, 329.91 mph
vs. 16. Alan Bradshaw, 4.702, 309.49
2. Larry Dixon, 4.528, 330.80
vs. 15. Mike Strasburg, 4.631, 330.15
3. Brandon Bernstein, 4.534, 330.23
vs. 14. Bob Vandergriff, 4.608, 326.16
4. Melanie Troxel, 4.543, 325.92
vs. 13. David Baca, 4.606, 327.66
5. Hillary Will, 4.559, 320.43
vs. 12. Morgan Lucas, 4.604, 315.86
6. Doug Herbert, 4.571, 320.97
vs. 11. J.R. Todd, 4.590, 315.64
7. Cory McClenathan, 4.579, 330.47
vs. 10. David Grubnic, 4.589, 325.69
8. Doug Kalitta, 4.580, 330.07
vs. 9. Rod Fuller, 4.586, 327.59
Funny Car
1. Robert Hight, Ford Mustang, 4.702, 327.11
vs. 16. Tony Bartone, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.870, 320.97
2. John Force, Mustang, 4.715, 326.16
vs. 15. Bob Gilbertson, Dodge Stratus, 4.841, 319.37
3. Del Worsham, Monte Carlo, 4.750, 325.61
vs. 14. Mike Ashley, Monte Carlo, 4.838, 322.81
4. Eric Medlen, Mustang, 4.758, 318.47
vs. 13. Gary Densham, Monte Carlo, 4.821, 300.33
5. Tommy Johnson Jr., Monte Carlo, 4.767, 327.82
vs. 12. Gary Scelzi, Dodge Charger, 4.813, 323.97
6. Ron Capps, Stratus, 4.771, 321.35
vs. 11. Scott Kalitta, Monte Carlo, 4.804, 317.49
7. Phil Burkart, Monte Carlo, 4.773, 325.37
vs. 10. Whit Bazemore, Charger, 4.799, 327.19
8. Cruz Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.780, 319.14
vs. 9. Jim Head, Stratus, 4.785, 325.14
Pro Stock
1. Greg Anderson, Pontiac GTO, 6.787, 203.31
vs. 16. Greg Stanfield, GTO, 6.832, 202.67
2. Warren Johnson, GTO, 6.790, 203.49
vs. 15. Mark Pawuk, Chevy Cobalt, 6.829, 201.82
3. Erica Enders, Cobalt, 6.790, 202.94
vs. 14. Larry Morgan, Dodge Stratus, 6.829, 202.00
4. Richie Stevens, Stratus, 6.790, 202.67
vs. 13. Allen Johnson, Stratus, 6.821, 202.58
5. Jim Yates, GTO, 6.793, 203.19
vs. 12. Shaun Carlson, Stratus, 6.816, 201.79
6. Kurt Johnson, Cobalt, 6.795, 203.34
vs. 11. Mike Edwards, GTO, 6.816, 203.09
7. Dave Howard, Cobalt, 6.797, 203.28
vs. 10. Jason Line, GTO, 6.814, 202.76
8. Dave Connolly, Cobalt, 6.806, 203.12
vs. 9. V. Gaines, Stratus, 6.810, 203.09
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