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COMMERCE, Ga., April 27, 2008 - Mike Edwards' 14th career Pro Stock victory in today's rain-interrupted 28th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway was a memorable one as he defeated Jason Line in an all-Pontiac final round to win NHRA's 600th Pro Stock event. Edwards recorded a holeshot win in his Penhall/Young Life Pontiac GXP with a .009 reaction time to defeat Line's Summit Racing Pontiac GXP with a 6.680 elapsed time at 206.20 mph to Line's identical 6.680 e.t. at 206.92 mph. Edwards also showed his driving prowess with a holeshot win over Kurt Johnson in the in the semifinal round with an impressive .008 reaction time.
"You just can't describe winning one of these races in this class," Edwards said. "It's so hard, it's so competitive and so tough. There are so many good teams. I've tried and tried and tried and it's been since '06 since I've won. I was wondering if I was ever going to do it again, to be honest with you. I tell you what, it's just an unbelievable feeling to win one of these races because when you have to race these guys like the Summit team and the Jeg's team, they're the ones that we all try to get to. They've set the bar for us all and to come away with a win is just amazing. First of all, I'm so thankful for God; this win's for him and I give him all the glory. I'm so thankful for my team, and for all of those Penhall employees, all of those Penhall customers and for all of those Young Life (Youth Ministries) kids that came out Thursday. With this win I'm sending four more kids to Young Life camp. I am truly blessed.
"(Young Life's) Roger (Stull) made the commitment last September and said he's going to do this one time the right way and see how far it takes us. I can't even put this into words to do this so early in the season. This Pontiac GXP has two races on it. We ran good and we ran good in both lanes. This might be my best-feeling win because it's ours. It's all ours. It's our engine program with Nick and Paul at the engine shop. Terry Adams came on board this year, Josh Robinson, Alan Lindsey, John Phillips, I mean the whole team worked so hard and put in such a great effort. I'm so proud of them. I'm just very fortunate to have the opportunity to drive this thing. Hopefully we can keep this momentum going."
"This is a dream come true for Roger Stull, Mike Edwards and the whole crew," said crew chief Terry Adams. "Mike's an awesome driver and it's unbelievable. It's a dream come true for all of us."
Edwards joined four other "milestone" Pro Stock race winners including the winner of race No. 500, three-time Pro Stock champ Greg Anderson in the Summit Racing Pontiac; race No. 400 winner, ACDelco Chevy driver Kurt Johnson; and the winner of race No. 300, Jim Yates, driver of the WileyX Pontiac GXP. And the man who won the very first Pro Stock race 38 years ago was Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins, legendary racer, engine builder and continuing motorsports innovator, more times than not in conjunction with Team Chevrolet. Jenkins was voted No. 8 on NHRA's all-time driver list, and this past Thursday his racing exploits were recognized in the form of induction into the prestigious International Motorsports Hall of Fame in Talladega, Ala.
"That's kind of cool to win the 600th race," Edwards said. "Like I said, anytime you can win one of these races against these guys it's an unbelievable feeling. That's pretty good company. And to get in the winner's circle with Ashley Force, that kind of tops it off, doesn't it? What a great kid. I mean, she's under a lot of pressure, so to do what she's done is pretty awesome."
Ashley Force defeated her father John in the Funny Car final to record her first career win.
Line was making his second consecutive final-round appearance after a win two weeks ago at Las Vegas, but his loss today was a little easier to take as his wife Cindy will deliver their second child on Monday.
"Tomorrow's a big day for us, a big day for the Line family," Line said. "I'm excited and nervous all at once. I'm looking forward to finding out what it is, and hopefully everything goes smoothly and the baby is healthy.
"Mike deserved to win; he did a good job. There was a really good chance that no matter what light I had it wasn't going to be a .008. He deserved to win and is a really good guy. He's been doing this a long time so if you're going to lose to somebody, he's as good of a candidate as anybody."
Justin Humphreys in the RaceRedi Pontiac GXP backed up his career-best No. 3 qualifying position with his first semifinal appearance of the season. He defeated Greg Stanfield in Round 1, had a holeshot victory over Kurt Johnson in Round 2 and then faced Jason Line in hopes of reaching his second career final round. Line played spoiler, however, driving his Summit Racing Pontiac GXP to an elapsed time of 6.655 seconds at 206.45 mph as Humphreys fouled with a -.003 red light.
"Like I said before, we're excited we have a car that goes from A to B," Humphreys said. "This Pontiac GXP is coming around. We were hoping to get back into the final, but at least we went some rounds. Running Jason is always tough, he went out there and laid one down and I went three thousandths the wrong way.
"You can't give anybody out here room; everybody out here is good. We had a tough side of the ladder so we were glad to be able to get around Kurt and Greg. They're two of the best out here. If you're in the game on Sunday, anybody can win, so we go to St. Louis and hope to get there."
Cagnazzi Racing driver Dave Connolly made his long-awaited debut to the 2008 NHRA drag-racing season this weekend behind the wheel of his new Charter Communications Chevy Cobalt Pro Stocker. Despite a stellar 2007 season where he finished third in the final Pro Stock standings, the 25-year-old Ohio native was forced to sit out this year's first five races due to lack of sponsorship. Connolly won eight races last year including a record-equaling five in a row, but his race day ended early today with a first-round loss to Kurt Johnson in the ACDelco Chevy Cobalt.
"That was not the kind of start we were looking for," Connolly said. "But there's still some rust on the driver and the car doesn't have quite as many runs as we'd need to have on it. There's still quite of bit of work that has to be done there. All-in-all, at least we got out here and got our feet wet. I guess it's like (fellow Pro Stock racer) V. Gaines said, we aren't rookies anymore. Next week we'll be better."
In the Sportsman classes Frank Manzo of Morganville, N.J., defeated Steve Harker from Gainesville, Ga., to win Top Alcohol Funny Car in an all-Chevy Monte Carlo final round. Other winners included Super Stock winner Kevin Helms from Belle Rose, La., in a '95 Achieva, and Stock Eliminator winner Lee Zane from Perry Hall, Md., in a '98 Firebird.
The next stop on the 24-race NHRA POWERade circuit is the 12th annual O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Ill., on May 1-4, 2008.
PRO STOCK
Winner - Mike Edwards (Pontiac GXP), 6.680ET/206.20MPH
Runner-up - Jason Line (Pontiac GXP), 6.680ET/206.92MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Ron Krisher (Chevy Cobalt), 6.644ET/207.69MPH
Low elapsed time - Ron Krisher (Chevy Cobalt), 6.644 seconds
Top Speed - Warren Johnson (Pontiac GXP), 207.98MPH
Top 10 - 1. Jason Line (Pontiac GXP), 489; 2. Jeg Coughlin (Chevy Cobalt), 465; 3. Greg Anderson (Pontiac GXP), 428; 4. Kurt Johnson (Chevy Cobalt), 394; 5. Allen Johnson (Dodge), 372; 6. Mike Edwards (Pontiac GXP), 359; 7. V. Gaines (Dodge), 314; 8. Warren Johnson (Pontiac GXP), 307; 9. Justin Humphreys (Pontiac GXP), 276; 10. Greg Stanfield (Pontiac GXP); 275.
FUNNY CAR
Winner - Ashley Force (Ford), 4.837ET/320.36MPH
Runner-up - John Force (Ford), 11.223ET/ 85.97MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Tim Wilkerson (Chevy Impala SS), 4.774ET/325.92MPH
Top 10 - 1. Ashley Force (Ford), 438; 2. Tim Wilkerson (Chevy Impala), 379; 3. Cruz Pedregon (Chevy Impala), 351; 4. Robert Hight (Ford), 323; 5. John Force (Ford), 321; 6. Tony Pedregon (Chevy Impala), 319; 7. Gary Densham (Chevy Impala), 315; 8. Jack Beckman (Dodge), 311; 9. Ron Capps (Dodge), 276; 10. Del Worsham (Chevy Impala), 253.
TOP FUEL
Winner - Antron Brown, 4.537ET/325.14MPH
Runner-up - Larry Dixon, 4.521ET/329.58MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Cory McClenathan, 4.562ET/327.03MPH
Top 10 - 1. Tony Schumacher, 511; 2. Antron Brown, 485; 3. Larry Dixon, 415; 4. Cory McClenathan, 386; 5. Brandon Bernstein, 322; 6. Rod Fuller, 321; 7. Hillary Will, 305; 8. Doug Herbert, 226; 9. Dave Grubnic, 265; 10. Doug Kalitta, 254.
Mike Edwards Wins NHRA's 600th Pro Stock Race at Atlanta
Defeats Line in All-Pontiac Final Round for 14th Career Win
COMMERCE, Ga., April 27, 2008 - Mike Edwards' 14th career Pro Stock victory in today's rain-interrupted 28th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway was a memorable one as he defeated Jason Line in an all-Pontiac final round to win NHRA's 600th Pro Stock event. Edwards recorded a holeshot win in his Penhall/Young Life Pontiac GXP with a .009 reaction time to defeat Line's Summit Racing Pontiac GXP with a 6.680 elapsed time at 206.20 mph to Line's identical 6.680 e.t. at 206.92 mph. Edwards also showed his driving prowess with a holeshot win over Kurt Johnson in the in the semifinal round with an impressive .008 reaction time.
"You just can't describe winning one of these races in this class," Edwards said. "It's so hard, it's so competitive and so tough. There are so many good teams. I've tried and tried and tried and it's been since '06 since I've won. I was wondering if I was ever going to do it again, to be honest with you. I tell you what, it's just an unbelievable feeling to win one of these races because when you have to race these guys like the Summit team and the Jeg's team, they're the ones that we all try to get to. They've set the bar for us all and to come away with a win is just amazing. First of all, I'm so thankful for God; this win's for him and I give him all the glory. I'm so thankful for my team, and for all of those Penhall employees, all of those Penhall customers and for all of those Young Life (Youth Ministries) kids that came out Thursday. With this win I'm sending four more kids to Young Life camp. I am truly blessed.
"(Young Life's) Roger (Stull) made the commitment last September and said he's going to do this one time the right way and see how far it takes us. I can't even put this into words to do this so early in the season. This Pontiac GXP has two races on it. We ran good and we ran good in both lanes. This might be my best-feeling win because it's ours. It's all ours. It's our engine program with Nick and Paul at the engine shop. Terry Adams came on board this year, Josh Robinson, Alan Lindsey, John Phillips, I mean the whole team worked so hard and put in such a great effort. I'm so proud of them. I'm just very fortunate to have the opportunity to drive this thing. Hopefully we can keep this momentum going."
"This is a dream come true for Roger Stull, Mike Edwards and the whole crew," said crew chief Terry Adams. "Mike's an awesome driver and it's unbelievable. It's a dream come true for all of us."
Edwards joined four other "milestone" Pro Stock race winners including the winner of race No. 500, three-time Pro Stock champ Greg Anderson in the Summit Racing Pontiac; race No. 400 winner, ACDelco Chevy driver Kurt Johnson; and the winner of race No. 300, Jim Yates, driver of the WileyX Pontiac GXP. And the man who won the very first Pro Stock race 38 years ago was Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins, legendary racer, engine builder and continuing motorsports innovator, more times than not in conjunction with Team Chevrolet. Jenkins was voted No. 8 on NHRA's all-time driver list, and this past Thursday his racing exploits were recognized in the form of induction into the prestigious International Motorsports Hall of Fame in Talladega, Ala.
"That's kind of cool to win the 600th race," Edwards said. "Like I said, anytime you can win one of these races against these guys it's an unbelievable feeling. That's pretty good company. And to get in the winner's circle with Ashley Force, that kind of tops it off, doesn't it? What a great kid. I mean, she's under a lot of pressure, so to do what she's done is pretty awesome."
Ashley Force defeated her father John in the Funny Car final to record her first career win.
Line was making his second consecutive final-round appearance after a win two weeks ago at Las Vegas, but his loss today was a little easier to take as his wife Cindy will deliver their second child on Monday.
"Tomorrow's a big day for us, a big day for the Line family," Line said. "I'm excited and nervous all at once. I'm looking forward to finding out what it is, and hopefully everything goes smoothly and the baby is healthy.
"Mike deserved to win; he did a good job. There was a really good chance that no matter what light I had it wasn't going to be a .008. He deserved to win and is a really good guy. He's been doing this a long time so if you're going to lose to somebody, he's as good of a candidate as anybody."
Justin Humphreys in the RaceRedi Pontiac GXP backed up his career-best No. 3 qualifying position with his first semifinal appearance of the season. He defeated Greg Stanfield in Round 1, had a holeshot victory over Kurt Johnson in Round 2 and then faced Jason Line in hopes of reaching his second career final round. Line played spoiler, however, driving his Summit Racing Pontiac GXP to an elapsed time of 6.655 seconds at 206.45 mph as Humphreys fouled with a -.003 red light.
"Like I said before, we're excited we have a car that goes from A to B," Humphreys said. "This Pontiac GXP is coming around. We were hoping to get back into the final, but at least we went some rounds. Running Jason is always tough, he went out there and laid one down and I went three thousandths the wrong way.
"You can't give anybody out here room; everybody out here is good. We had a tough side of the ladder so we were glad to be able to get around Kurt and Greg. They're two of the best out here. If you're in the game on Sunday, anybody can win, so we go to St. Louis and hope to get there."
Cagnazzi Racing driver Dave Connolly made his long-awaited debut to the 2008 NHRA drag-racing season this weekend behind the wheel of his new Charter Communications Chevy Cobalt Pro Stocker. Despite a stellar 2007 season where he finished third in the final Pro Stock standings, the 25-year-old Ohio native was forced to sit out this year's first five races due to lack of sponsorship. Connolly won eight races last year including a record-equaling five in a row, but his race day ended early today with a first-round loss to Kurt Johnson in the ACDelco Chevy Cobalt.
"That was not the kind of start we were looking for," Connolly said. "But there's still some rust on the driver and the car doesn't have quite as many runs as we'd need to have on it. There's still quite of bit of work that has to be done there. All-in-all, at least we got out here and got our feet wet. I guess it's like (fellow Pro Stock racer) V. Gaines said, we aren't rookies anymore. Next week we'll be better."
In the Sportsman classes Frank Manzo of Morganville, N.J., defeated Steve Harker from Gainesville, Ga., to win Top Alcohol Funny Car in an all-Chevy Monte Carlo final round. Other winners included Super Stock winner Kevin Helms from Belle Rose, La., in a '95 Achieva, and Stock Eliminator winner Lee Zane from Perry Hall, Md., in a '98 Firebird.
The next stop on the 24-race NHRA POWERade circuit is the 12th annual O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Ill., on May 1-4, 2008.
PRO STOCK
Winner - Mike Edwards (Pontiac GXP), 6.680ET/206.20MPH
Runner-up - Jason Line (Pontiac GXP), 6.680ET/206.92MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Ron Krisher (Chevy Cobalt), 6.644ET/207.69MPH
Low elapsed time - Ron Krisher (Chevy Cobalt), 6.644 seconds
Top Speed - Warren Johnson (Pontiac GXP), 207.98MPH
Top 10 - 1. Jason Line (Pontiac GXP), 489; 2. Jeg Coughlin (Chevy Cobalt), 465; 3. Greg Anderson (Pontiac GXP), 428; 4. Kurt Johnson (Chevy Cobalt), 394; 5. Allen Johnson (Dodge), 372; 6. Mike Edwards (Pontiac GXP), 359; 7. V. Gaines (Dodge), 314; 8. Warren Johnson (Pontiac GXP), 307; 9. Justin Humphreys (Pontiac GXP), 276; 10. Greg Stanfield (Pontiac GXP); 275.
FUNNY CAR
Winner - Ashley Force (Ford), 4.837ET/320.36MPH
Runner-up - John Force (Ford), 11.223ET/ 85.97MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Tim Wilkerson (Chevy Impala SS), 4.774ET/325.92MPH
Top 10 - 1. Ashley Force (Ford), 438; 2. Tim Wilkerson (Chevy Impala), 379; 3. Cruz Pedregon (Chevy Impala), 351; 4. Robert Hight (Ford), 323; 5. John Force (Ford), 321; 6. Tony Pedregon (Chevy Impala), 319; 7. Gary Densham (Chevy Impala), 315; 8. Jack Beckman (Dodge), 311; 9. Ron Capps (Dodge), 276; 10. Del Worsham (Chevy Impala), 253.
TOP FUEL
Winner - Antron Brown, 4.537ET/325.14MPH
Runner-up - Larry Dixon, 4.521ET/329.58MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Cory McClenathan, 4.562ET/327.03MPH
Top 10 - 1. Tony Schumacher, 511; 2. Antron Brown, 485; 3. Larry Dixon, 415; 4. Cory McClenathan, 386; 5. Brandon Bernstein, 322; 6. Rod Fuller, 321; 7. Hillary Will, 305; 8. Doug Herbert, 226; 9. Dave Grubnic, 265; 10. Doug Kalitta, 254.
