POMONA, Calif. (Feb. 14, 2013) - The 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series opened Thursday afternoon under beautiful blue skies and temperatures in the 70s.
A pair of Don Schumacher Racing teams produced top-three qualifying efforts in the first of four qualifying sessions in the 53rd annual NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona in Southern California.
Tony Schumacher was the second quickest Top Fuel Dragster when his U.S. Army team produced a run of 3.777 seconds at the event's top speed of 326.08 mph.
"I think it was a fantastic run because you come in really not knowing the track and you watch most of the cars running fairly average, which throws you a curveball and you start turning knobs," said Schumacher, the seven-time NHRA world champion who finished second in last year's championship race.
"We came off a great test session (in January) where we got down the track almost every time. We come back here and we run the exact same number we did testing.
"Repeatability wins championships, and that's what this U.S. Army team is doing. What that tells me is when we practiced, we made changes, we understood what the changes would do, what we saw in testing was spot on."
In Funny Car, Johnny Gray gave his dad a ride like never before when his Pitch Energy Dodge Charger R/T reached a top speed of 308.79 mph in 4.087 seconds, which was third quickest in the category.
"Yeah, I'm sure that was the fastest dad's ever been. Absolutely. I'm sure he loved it."
Johnny and his sister, Terry Chandler, are sponsoring the DSR Funny Car this year in memory of their late father, John R. Gray, who founded Pitch Energy that is named after Pitch, his dad's favorite card game.
A portrait of the family patriarch adorns the rear quarter panels of the Dodge. Johnny is dedicating his final, full-time pro racing season to his father.
"The driver let the car get a little to the left, and the driver needs to do a little better job," said Johnny Gray the sponsor. "We'll give the driver another shot."
Johnny, who turns 60 this year, is intent on improving his career-best sixth-place finish in the 2012 Funny Car standings with crew chief Rob Wendland.
"It was a great way to open the season up," Johnny said. "It chattered the tires a little bit out there and Rob said that's what got me over the left. He said it wasn't my fault, but I'll still take the rap because I was driving it."
Matt Hagan produced an impressive run with new crew chief Dickie Venables with a time of 4.097 (304.46) in the Mopar/Rocky Boots Dodge that is qualified fifth.
The second qualifying session is Friday afternoon with two more on Saturday before championship eliminations on Sunday.
The following are qualifying results from Thursday session and other notes:
TOP FUEL
Provisional No. 1 qualifier: Brandon Bernstein (Morgan Lucas Racing) 3.761 sec., 325.22 mph
Tony Schumacher, U.S. Army dragster
Provisional qualifying position: No. 2
THURSDAY:
Session 1: 3.777 sec., 326.08 mph
Antron Brown, Matco Tools dragster
Provisional qualifying position: No. 6
THURSDAY:
Session 1: 3.834 sec., 322.19 mph
Spencer Massey, Battery Extender Powered by Schumacher dragster
Provisional qualifying position: No. 18
THURSDAY:
Session 1: 6.160 sec., 103.54 mph
FUNNY CAR
Provisional No. 1 qualifier: Gary Densham 4.053 sec., 307.09 mph
Johnny Gray, Pitch Energy Dodge Charger R/T
Provisional qualifying position: No. 3 THURSDAY Session 1: 4.087 sec., 308.78 mph
Matt Hagan, Mopar/Rocky Boots Dodge Charger R/T
Provisional qualifying position: No. 5
THURSDAY:
Session 1: 4.097 sec., 304.46 mph
Jack Beckman, Valvoline NextGen/MTS Mail for Wounded Warriors Dodge Charger R/T
Provisional qualifying position: No. 7 THURSDAY Session 1: 4.148 sec., 309.13 mph
Ron Capps, NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T
Provisional qualifying position: No. 12 Session 1: 5.115 sec, 146.91 mph
From: Jeff Wolf
More...
A pair of Don Schumacher Racing teams produced top-three qualifying efforts in the first of four qualifying sessions in the 53rd annual NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona in Southern California.
Tony Schumacher was the second quickest Top Fuel Dragster when his U.S. Army team produced a run of 3.777 seconds at the event's top speed of 326.08 mph.
"I think it was a fantastic run because you come in really not knowing the track and you watch most of the cars running fairly average, which throws you a curveball and you start turning knobs," said Schumacher, the seven-time NHRA world champion who finished second in last year's championship race.
"We came off a great test session (in January) where we got down the track almost every time. We come back here and we run the exact same number we did testing.
"Repeatability wins championships, and that's what this U.S. Army team is doing. What that tells me is when we practiced, we made changes, we understood what the changes would do, what we saw in testing was spot on."
In Funny Car, Johnny Gray gave his dad a ride like never before when his Pitch Energy Dodge Charger R/T reached a top speed of 308.79 mph in 4.087 seconds, which was third quickest in the category.
"Yeah, I'm sure that was the fastest dad's ever been. Absolutely. I'm sure he loved it."
Johnny and his sister, Terry Chandler, are sponsoring the DSR Funny Car this year in memory of their late father, John R. Gray, who founded Pitch Energy that is named after Pitch, his dad's favorite card game.
A portrait of the family patriarch adorns the rear quarter panels of the Dodge. Johnny is dedicating his final, full-time pro racing season to his father.
"The driver let the car get a little to the left, and the driver needs to do a little better job," said Johnny Gray the sponsor. "We'll give the driver another shot."
Johnny, who turns 60 this year, is intent on improving his career-best sixth-place finish in the 2012 Funny Car standings with crew chief Rob Wendland.
"It was a great way to open the season up," Johnny said. "It chattered the tires a little bit out there and Rob said that's what got me over the left. He said it wasn't my fault, but I'll still take the rap because I was driving it."
Matt Hagan produced an impressive run with new crew chief Dickie Venables with a time of 4.097 (304.46) in the Mopar/Rocky Boots Dodge that is qualified fifth.
The second qualifying session is Friday afternoon with two more on Saturday before championship eliminations on Sunday.
The following are qualifying results from Thursday session and other notes:
TOP FUEL
Provisional No. 1 qualifier: Brandon Bernstein (Morgan Lucas Racing) 3.761 sec., 325.22 mph
Tony Schumacher, U.S. Army dragster
Provisional qualifying position: No. 2
THURSDAY:
Session 1: 3.777 sec., 326.08 mph
Antron Brown, Matco Tools dragster
Provisional qualifying position: No. 6
THURSDAY:
Session 1: 3.834 sec., 322.19 mph
Spencer Massey, Battery Extender Powered by Schumacher dragster
Provisional qualifying position: No. 18
THURSDAY:
Session 1: 6.160 sec., 103.54 mph
FUNNY CAR
Provisional No. 1 qualifier: Gary Densham 4.053 sec., 307.09 mph
Johnny Gray, Pitch Energy Dodge Charger R/T
Provisional qualifying position: No. 3 THURSDAY Session 1: 4.087 sec., 308.78 mph
Matt Hagan, Mopar/Rocky Boots Dodge Charger R/T
Provisional qualifying position: No. 5
THURSDAY:
Session 1: 4.097 sec., 304.46 mph
Jack Beckman, Valvoline NextGen/MTS Mail for Wounded Warriors Dodge Charger R/T
Provisional qualifying position: No. 7 THURSDAY Session 1: 4.148 sec., 309.13 mph
Ron Capps, NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T
Provisional qualifying position: No. 12 Session 1: 5.115 sec, 146.91 mph
From: Jeff Wolf
More...
