Schumacher Sets the Pace After First Day of Qualifying
Written by Josh Katinger · August 19, 2005
Hight Leads Funny Car, Kurt Johnson in Pro Stock and Tonglet in Pro Stock Motorcycle
MILLINGTON, Tenn. — Defending POWERade Series Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher set the pace after the first two rounds of qualifying at the 18th annual O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals Friday at Memphis Motorsports Park.
NHRA.com: Friday Recap
The other top qualifiers at the $1.6 million event, the 17th of 23 on the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, were Robert Hight (Funny Car), Kurt Johnson (Pro Stock) and GT Tonglet (Pro Stock Motorcycle).
Schumacher, whose first run in his U.S. Army dragster was disqualified for being too light, turned around in the night session and ran a 4.610 seconds at 309.56 mph to earn the provisional No. 1 qualifying position.
Qualifying No. 1 was icing on the cake for the two-time and defending POWERade Series champion, who has endured two spectacular crashes at Memphis Motorsports Park.
“I don’t care how many times I go down this track. It could be my thousandth lap when I’m 80 years old and I’ll still be ducking down in my seat at the top end of the track waiting for ‘chutes to come out,” Schumacher said. “You like to think you’re a big, bad man but I’m a little wussy when I get down there and the car’s trucking on through there.”
Schumacher needs a big week to close the gap between himself and first-place Doug Kalitta, who has pushed his Mac Tools dragster to a 70-point lead with seven events remaining.
“I thought about last weekend’s race all week,” said Schumacher, who could only watch from the sideline as Kalitta sped past Larry Dixon’s Miller Lite dragster to win the Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd. “[Doug] Kalitta is 70 points up on us and he gained 54 of those in one race. There are still plenty of points to pull down and if he wants to be the champ he’s got to beat me. Last week he did it. I can’t let that happen again.”
All of the top qualifying runs Friday came in the cooler evening second session.
Robert Hight (4.883 at 295.72) set the number in Funny Car in his Auto Club of Southern California Ford Mustang and if it holds up Saturday it would be the rookie and POWERade Series points leader’s sixth No. 1 qualifier of the season.
“It was very hot out there today and everyone struggled to some degree,” Hight said. “I don’t think that time will hold the No. 1 spot but if everyone else goes quicker we should be able to also.”
Ladders
Top Fuel
Funny Car
Pro Stock
Pro Stock Motorcycle
Friday Qualifying Results
Top Fuel
1. Tony Schumacher, 4.610 seconds, 309.56 mph
2. Larry Dixon, 4.618, 314.24
3. Rod Fuller, 4.625, 309.49
4. Doug Herbert, 4.655, 302.48
5. Clay Millican, 4.661, 307.86
6. Cory McClenathan, 4.673, 311.92
7. Melanie Troxel, 4.676, 312.78
8. Morgan Lucas, 4.691, 311.49
9. Doug Kalitta, 4.703, 304.53
10. David Grubnic, 4.734, 300.66
11. Scott Kalitta, 4.776, 302.48
12. Brandon Bernstein, 4.837, 301.54
13. Mitch King, 4.901, 269.73
14. John Smith, 5.094, 238.43
15. Scott Weis, 6.065, 148.84
16. Bobby Lagana Jr., 8.277, 86.71
Funny Car
1. Robert Hight, Ford Mustang, 4.883, 295.72
2. Gary Scelzi, Dodge Stratus, 4.906, 300.66
3. Tommy Johnson Jr., Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.936, 299.33
4. Tim Wilkerson, Monte Carlo, 4.940, 300.86
5. Eric Medlen, Mustang, 4.951, 294.37
6. Del Worsham, Monte Carlo, 4.955, 306.40
7. John Force, Mustang, 4.982, 292.90
8. Cruz Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.993, 301.20
9. Ron Capps, Stratus, 5.003, 295.46
10. Whit Bazemore, Stratus, 5.009, 289.88
11. Gary Densham, Monte Carlo, 5.010, 285.83
12. Tony Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 5.040, 294.05
13. Phil Burkart, Toyota Celica, 5.347, 258.91
14. Paul Lee, Monte Carlo, 5.364, 210.93
15. Bob Gilbertson, Monte Carlo, 5.921, 163.49
16. Tony Bartone, Monte Carlo, 9.023, 105.83
Pro Stock
1. Kurt Johnson, Chevy Cobalt, 6.787, 202.85
2. Rickie Smith, Chevy Cavalier, 6.792, 202.91
3. Greg Anderson, Pontiac GTO, 6.805, 202.55
4. Larry Morgan, Dodge Stratus, 6.812, 201.94
5. Jason Line, Pontiac Grand Am, 6.819, 202.09
6. Richie Stevens, Stratus, 6.822, 201.22
7. Warren Johnson, GTO, 6.824, 201.40
8. Greg Stanfield, Cavalier, 6.828, 201.49
9. Ron Krisher, Cobalt, 6.832, 201.61
10. Allen Johnson, Stratus, 6.833, 201.16
11. Dave Howard, Cobalt, 6.835, 201.43
12. Ronnie Humphrey, Cavalier, 6.845, 200.80
13. Jeg Coughlin, Stratus, 6.846, 201.61
14. Jim Yates, Grand Am, 6.847, 200.71
15. Kenny Koretsky, Stratus, 6.847, 200.83
16. Dave Connolly, Cobalt, 6.850, 201.40
Pro Stock Motorcycle
1. GT Tonglet, Harley-Davidson, 7.148, 187.68
2. Antron Brown, Suzuki, 7.182, 184.90
3. Chip Ellis, Buell, 7.183, 183.97
4. Michael Phillips, Suzuki, 7.187, 186.72
5. Shawn Gann, Suzuki, 7.210, 186.18
6. Matt Guidera, Buell, 7.212, 181.23
7. Ryan Schnitz, Buell, 7.220, 185.89
8. Joe DeSantis, Suzuki, 7.222, 183.72
9. Geno Scali, Suzuki, 7.228, 184.95
10. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 7.229, 176.93
11. Angelle Sampey, Suzuki, 7.234, 184.25
12. Matt Smith, Suzuki, 7.235, 187.99
13. Mike Berry, Suzuki, 7.238, 183.29
14. Chris Rivas, Buell, 7.248, 181.89
15. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 7.282, 177.70
16. Wesley Wells, Suzuki, 7.301, 183.27
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