Team Press Releases

<img src="http://gallery.nitromater.com/files/6/5/t_schumacher06.jpg" alt="t_schumacher06" align="right"borders="0"/>Schumacher in the U.S. Army Top Fuel dragster fourth after first day Denver, Friday: U.S. Army NHRA drivers Tony "The Sarge" Schumacher, aboard his U.S. Army Top Fuel dragster, ended up fourth. Schumacher put up a 4.642-second quarter-mile trip at 321.96 mph in the evening qualifying session to secure the fourth slot. "We actually had two terrific laps today," said the defending NHRA POWERade Top Fuel world champion. "We got down the track in the heat of the day and then came back again at night with a better run. To me, that's quite encouraging." The Chicago native is coming off his first win of the year at St...

<img src="http://gallery.nitromater.com/files/6/5/a_brown.jpg" alt="a_brown" align="left"borders="0"/>Antron Brown settled into the ninth positions with his U.S. Army Suzuki Antron Brown settled into the ninth positions with his U.S. Army Suzuki at the Mopar Mile-High Nationals following the first day of qualifying at Bandimere Speedway. Brown recorded a 7.505-second run at 179.56 mph to just miss a spot in the upper half of the order. "The good news is that there's plenty more left in my motorcycle," said Brown. "I'm definitely confident we can move up in the field tomorrow. Come Sunday, I'm looking forward to finally closing the deal in Colorado." Brown lost in the finals of the 2005 Mopar Mile-High Nationals.

<img src="http://gallery.nitromater.com/files/6/5/A_Sampey.jpg" alt="A_Sampey" align="right"borders="0"/>Sampey finishes Friday in third on U.S. Army Suzuki Angelle Sampey piloted her U.S. Army Suzuki into the third position for the Mopar Mile-High Nationals following the first day of qualifying at Bandimere Speedway. Sampey, who entered the race weekend holding the point lead, posted a 7.427-second pass at 177.91 mph to grab a top three berth going into the final two qualifying sessions on Saturday. "Given the hot conditions (the air temperature reached a high of 102 degrees) and the altitude, we did pretty well today," said the three-time world champion. "We'll come back tomorrow with the idea of improving. Steve Tartaglia...

<img src="http://gallery.nitromater.com/files/6/5/t_johnson06.jpg" alt="t_johnson06" align="left"borders="0"/>Johnson Jr. qualifies Skoal Racing Chevy Monte Carlo second Denver, Friday: On the first day of qualifying behind the wheel of his striking special edition Skoal Racing Chevy Funny Car, veteran nitro pilot Tommy Johnson Jr. drove to the No. 2 qualifying position Friday at Bandimere Speedway to kick-off qualifying for the 27th annual Mile-High Nationals. On his opening effort of the weekend, the seven-time NHRA winner’s Chevy flopper spun the tires as Johnson coasted to a 6.810-second elapsed time. Johnson then used a tune-up from veteran crew chief Mike Green to blast his newly painted silver-and-blue Skoal Racing Monte...

<img src="http://gallery.nitromater.com/files/6/5/l_dixon06.jpg" alt="l_dixon06" align="right"borders="0"/>Dixon drives Miller Lite Dragster to No. 6 spot Two-time NHRA Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon opened the first day of qualifying for the 27th annual Mile-High Nationals with two solid runs to position his Miller Lite dragster in the No. 6 position Friday at Bandimere Speedway. The 38-time NHRA winner opened qualifying with a solid run of 4.866 seconds at 303.03 mph to claim the fourth quickest time of the first qualifying session in his Miller-backed rail. Then, under the lights at the scenic Colorado drag strip, the veteran Top Fuel racer powered his Don Bender-tuned dragster to a pass of 4.654 at 314.90 to capture the...

<img src="http://gallery.nitromater.com/files/6/5/MoparMile-Highlogo.gif" alt="MoparMile-Highlogo" align="left"borders="0"/>KALITTA LOOKS TO CONTINUE CHARGE ON TOP FUEL POINTS LEAD; ROCKETS TO PROVISIONAL NO. 1 IN DENVER MORRISON, Colo. - Doug Kalitta continued to close the gap on NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Top Fuel points leader Melanie Troxel during Friday's qualifying action at the Mopar Mile High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway. Kalitta rocketed to the provisional No.1 qualifying spot with a 4.631-second finish at 319.60 mph in his Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster. Kalitta has won four of the last seven national events but has yet to qualify No. 1 this year. "It was a big relief to...

<img src="http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b72/Deby706/T_Wilkerson.jpg"align="right"borders="0"/>Wilkerson believes in a better tomorrow Denver, Friday: After two rounds of qualifying on the opening day at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway, Tim Wilkerson, pilot of the Levi, Ray & Shoup Funny Car sits in the No. 15 qualifying position. On his first qualifying attempt, Wilkerson smoked the tires, but in a rare turn of events for the talented Funny Car driver, he pedaled the car and it hooked back up. Wilkerson posted a 6.133 at 207.56 mph. "Fred (Mandoline) got on the radio and told me that the track was really bad," explained Wilkerson, "so I was just going to grab a handful of brake when I got out...

<img src="http://gallery.nitromater.com/files/6/5/m_ashley06.jpg" alt="m_ashley06" align="left"borders="0"/>Ashley conquers tough Friday conditions to qualify early MORRISON, Colo. --Mike Ashley walked around to the rear of his car after smoking the tires in first round qualifying at the Mopar NHRA Mile High Nationals. He had every reason to write the experience off with various excuses but instead it got his competitive juices flowing. It was the glimpse of a graphic he had applied to the rear-window of his SKULL Gear/Knoll Gas – Torco Race Fuels Stratus that really caught his eye and started his adrenalin pumping. Ashley, a noted self-improvement enthusiast, briefly studied the rendering of a water glass filled to the halfway. He...

<img src="http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b72/Deby706/P_Burkart.jpg"align="right"borders="0"/>BURKART'S SOLID EFFORT IS GOOD ENOUGH FOR No. 6 OVERNIGHT Phil Burkart ran right with his Checker, Schuck's, Kragen teammate, Del Worsham, with a pair of solid laps on Friday in Denver. In the first session, contested under a sizzling Colorado sun, Burkart posted a 5.318 which was actually good enough for the No. 5 spot at the time, while Worsham was No. 4 after one lap. Under the lights on Friday night, when the environment was far more conducive to solid performance, Burkart streaked to a much quicker 4.952 to land in the No. 6 spot overnight. His speed reading of 313.37 mph was second-best of the day, and only trailed Worsham's...