The fastest sport on the planet also has one of the fastest-growing pages on Facebook.

Just 16 months after the NHRA page debuted on Facebook, today it added its 100,000th fan, culminating a seven-month run in which it has quadrupled.

“This really validates what we’ve known all along, that NHRA fans are among the most passionate, most dedicated, and most socially connected fans in all of sports,” said Gary Darcy, NHRA senior vice president, sales and marketing.

After growing at a steady rate of close to 3,000 fans per month from its debut in March 2009 through the end of the year, the NHRA page on Facebook has exploded in 2010, growing by 281.5 percent from 26,208 fans on Jan. 1 to 100,000 fans on July 22. In July alone, the page has grown by nearly 1,000 fans a day, or 23.3 percent.

“What’s been particularly encouraging for us is the number of posts we’ve seen from fans of the page who are planning on attending, or who just attended, their first NHRA race,” Darcy said. “And I think it’s pretty clear we have our core fans to thank for that. They have always been our greatest advocates, and the arrival of Facebook has given them an incredibly potent platform to spread that passion.”

NHRA originally built the page on Facebook to be the equivalent of a 24/7 virtual midway, a place on the Internet for fans to connect with one another, to talk about drag racing, and to catch up with their favorite racers and teams, and that remains the intent of the page.

NHRA also has a dedicated page on Twitter (http://twitter.com/NHRA) with 6,194 followers and a YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/user/nhra) with 900 subscribers and 284,864 upload views.

NHRA ON FACEBOOK
 

Allen Johnson has been treating the famed Western Swing as a dress rehearsal for the upcoming Countdown to 1, NHRA’s championship playoffs.

The way he figures, if his Team Mopar crew can put a lot of points on the board during the grueling three-week stretch of races near the end of NHRA’s 17-race regular season, it will give his team a small glimpse of what chasing the Pro Stock championship crown will be like come September.

As the team gears up for the third race in as many weeks, the 31st annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals near Denver, July 23-25, Johnson is hoping for a better outcome at scenic Bandimere Speedway. So far on the Western Swing, Johnson has two quarterfinal exits and earned a No. 1 qualifying position in Sonoma.

Johnson, the defending Pro Stock event champion at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals, was joined in the winner’s circle last year by Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Ron Capps (Funny Car), and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle). The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event will be televised on ESPN2HD.

“We’ve pretended that we’re already in the Countdown, and we’re trying to win races and do away with mistakes,” Johnson said. “That’s what I’ve challenged the guys to do. This Western Swing has been like a mini Countdown.”

Though Pro Stock points leader Mike Edwards has dominated for much of the season, no one has had the success of Johnson on the mountain in the last three years. Johnson has powered his Team Mopar Dodge Avenger to three straight finals, including a runner-up finish in 2008 and another victory in 2007. He was also runner-up at the high-altitude dragstrip in 2002.

“We’ve always tested at Bandimere Speedway, and my Mopar Dodge Avenger/J&J Racing team has really good notes,” Johnson said. “I’m a little bit nervous, though, because we haven’t tested there this year, but hardly any drivers did because of how the order of the Western Swing was changed. I feel like we have good enough notes to where we can go up there and start off right where we left last year.”

Johnson brings quite a bit of momentum from the season. He’s second in the points standings, elevated to that position with three runner-up finishes, three No. 1 qualifying positions, and a consistent on-track performance that hasn’t included a first-round loss in 15 races.

“I’d probably give us a B-plus,” Johnson said. “The reason being, we’ve done awful well and we’ve been consistent, but we haven’t been able to win yet. We haven’t sealed the deal. That’s what we’re looking to learn how to do in the races before the Countdown. We’re looking to be consistent through the semi's, and then learn how to win.”

Meanwhile, Edwards’ commanding lead includes eight victories and 10 No. 1 qualifying efforts in his Penhall/Interstate Batteries Pontiac GXP. But Johnson said that the rest of the pack has reeled in the 2009 world champ at recent events. In the back half of the regular season, Edwards showed a little vulnerability when he suffered first-round losses in Atlanta and Norwalk and a second-round exit last weekend in Sonoma. In Norwalk, Edwards qualified a season-low 12th.

“I think in the last three or four races, he’s been caught a bit,” Johnson said. “There are three or four cars that have caught up with him. The only thing is that he’s learned how to win, and we haven’t yet. I think in the next three or four races, you’ll see three or four different winners.”

Johnson said that his consistency this season has been the result of hard work from his crew, led by his dad, Roy, and his brand-new Avenger.

“This Mopar Dodge Avenger is the best car we’ve ever had. Period,” Johnson said. “The aero guys at Dodge and Mopar did an excellent job on it. For the first time in a long time, I really believe we have a car equal to or better than our competitors.”

Other pre-race favorites in the 200-mph category include Norwalk and Seattle winner Greg Anderson, Sonoma winner Jeg Coughlin Jr., and Sonoma runner-up Jason Line.

In Top Fuel, eight-time season winner Larry Dixon holds the series lead over a strong field of challengers, including Cory McClenathan, seven-time world champ Tony Schumacher, defending event winner Brown, Doug Kalitta, and Brandon Bernstein.

John Force is back to his winning ways in Funny Car after a lackluster 2009 season that was one of the worst in his legendary career. Defending world champ Robert Hight has been strong in his Auto Club Ford Mustang, as have Don Schumacher Racing drivers Capps, who has been to the last two finals and won in Sonoma, two-time winner Matt Hagan, and Sonoma No. 1 qualifier Jack Beckman. A hot summer surge that included three consecutive final rounds and two victories pushed noted independent racer Tim Wilkerson into the championship mix as well.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, defending world champ Hector Arana has held the series lead all season with his Lucas Oil Buell despite not winning a race. Matt Smith, Andrew Hines, Steve Johnson, and red-hot Michael Phillips, who won in Sonoma on his Racers Edge Suzuki, have been consistent final-round performers this season and will be in the hunt in Denver on their two-wheel machines.

• SCHEDULE: NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series qualifying sessions are scheduled for 4:45 and 7:15 p.m. July 23 and 1:45 and 4:15 p.m. July 24. Final eliminations will begin at 11 a.m. July 25.

• TICKETS: For tickets for the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals, call Bandimere Speedway, 800-664-UWIN (8946), or log on to www.ticketreturn.com.

• ON TV: ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise a 90-minute qualifying highlights show at 6:30 p.m. ET July 24. ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise NHRA Race Day presented by Lucas Oil, a 30-minute race-preview show, at 10 a.m. ET July 25. Also on July 25, ESPN2HD will televise three hours of eliminations coverage at 7 p.m. ET.

• LUCAS OIL SERIES: The Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals also will feature competition in several categories in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, where the future stars of the NHRA Full Throttle Series are born. Lucas Oil Series qualifying will begin at noon July 23, and eliminations will begin at 10 a.m. July 24 and continue July 25.
 

Tony Mandella scored an interesting double at Infineon Raceway Monday, following his win in the Super Stock final Sunday at the Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals with another in the completion of the postponed NHRA Arizona Nationals. Kyle Rizzoli (Stock), Greg Boutte (Super Comp), and Justin Lamb (Super Gas), also scored.

The NHRA Arizona Nationals, originally scheduled for February, had to be postponed due to problems with the racetrack surface.

Mandella held off Dan Fletcher with a holeshot win for his second trophy in as many days. He had knocked out reigning Super Stock national champion Jimmy DeFrank in Sunday’s final.

Lamb went seven rounds for the Super Gas win, capping it with a nearly perfect run against Jim Hughes in the final: 9.901 on the 9.90 index with an .008-second reaction time. Rizzoli defeated Toby Lang in the Stock trophy dash, and Boutte beat Steve Casner in the Super Comp title round.

Full results

Infineon Raceway will host this weekend's Division 7 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event, July 23-25.  Top Alcohol Dragsters and Top Alcohol Funny Cars get their first shot at the track on Friday at 3 p.m. followed by two more qualifying sessions on Saturday at noon and 4 p.m.  Racing kicks off each day at 8 a.m. and runs until approximately 5 p.m. each day.  Friday and Saturday are time trials and qualifying with elimination rounds on Sunday.  For more information, visit www.infineonraceway.com.

 

Info | Tickets | Schedule | Entries | Results

Team reports | Audiocast | Photos | Video

Ron Capps scored his first victory of the season in Funny Car and was joined in the winner’s circle at the Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma by Larry Dixon (Top Fuel), Jeg Coughlin Jr. (Pro Stock), and Michael Phillips (Pro Stock Motorcycle) at race two of the annual Western Swing.

Seattle winners Cory McClenathan in Top Fuel and Greg Anderson in Pro Stock had their bids cut short for what would have been the middle leg of an unprecedented second sweep of the Western Swing. McClenathan reached the semifinals of his sponsor’s event, and Anderson was knocked out a round earlier. Seattle Funny Car champ Tim Wilkerson, who won two of the three Swing races last year, was defeated in round one. The teams head now to Denver for the Swing’s conclusion at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals, the second-to-last event before the Countdown to 1 playoffs begin Labor Day weekend in Indianapolis, but a number of drivers clinched their playoff berths in Sonoma [complete story on Countdown clinches].

Larry Dixon

The Top Fuel final featured Dixon and archrival Tony Schumacher, two guys who not only have dominated the winner’s circle this season, but in the last decade as well. Dixon remained perfect in final rounds this season, collecting his eighth win of 2010 and expanding  his points lead to 211 over Schumacher with a 3.87 to 4.00 victory. The win is the 56th of Dixon’s career; only Schumacher, with 64 victories, owns more Top Fuel Wallys.

"The car was flawless," said Dixon. "It was just an unbelievable job by Alan Johnson and Jason McCulloch and everybody on the Al-Anabi team. You’re seeing the numbers up there, and being around the sport and the cars for a long period of time and seeing those numbers, that was, to me, a little humbling. They were on their game. They weren’t leaving anything in their back pocket, that’s for sure.

"You just know when you’re racing Tony — he’s obviously won a lot of races and the last six championships — he’s going to keep you honest. That team doesn’t stumble very often, so you’ve got to go up there and fire your best shot and hope it’s enough. I’m cool with it. I enjoy racing him because when you win, you know you earned it. There’s no backing into it or blower belt coming off or anything. You know he’s going to make you earn it, so when you do win, it makes it that much more gratifying."

Dixon, a Sonoma winner in 2003, reached his milestone 100th Top Fuel final by racing the Al-Anabi dragster from the No. 1 qualifying position with a pair of 3.84s that sandwiched a 3.87. He defeated Steve Chrisman and Steve Torrence in the first two rounds, then ended McClenathan’s bid for a Western Swing sweep in the semifinals.

Schumacher, who won this event back to back in 2007 and 2008, raced the U.S. Army dragster past Morgan Lucas, Terry McMillen, and Brandon Bernstein with passes of 3.88, 3.94, and 3.91 to reach his 101st Top Fuel final.

Ron Capps

Don Schumacher Racing teammates Capps and Jack Beckman squared off in the Funny Car final, each looking for his first win at this event after both had clinched their spots in the Countdown to 1 earlier in the day. Capps scored his first win of the season and the 31st of his career, 4.16 to 4.21. He jumped from seventh to fifth place with his day’s actions.

"I feel like I can conquer the world in the car right now," said Capps. "It’s all confidence, and confidence is built on success. We’ve been testing a lot of things all season long. Obviously, when John [Medlen] went over to Matt Hagan’s car, we saw what happened over there. Matt won two races and set the national record. I’ve always wanted to work with John, and it has been such a pleasure with the confidence that I’ve been given in the car. I now go up there without really being afraid of the Tree and really worrying about the car.

"It’s great for Don [having an all-DSR final and three of the four semifinalists]. One thing I’ve learned about Don Schumacher is you never doubt him. He’s always two steps ahead of what everybody is thinking. His passion could be elsewhere, but his passion is the racing, and he loves nothing more than to win racing."

Capps, runner-up a week earlier in Seattle, earned lane choice for his 65th final by beating DSR teammate Hagan in the semifinals, 4.16 to 4.19. Prior to that, he had powered his NAPA Auto Parts Dodge to runs of 4.18 and 4.23 to get past Wilkerson, avenging his final-round loss in Seattle and ending Wilkerson’s two-race winning streak at eight rounds, and Melanie Troxel.

Beckman had wheeled the Valvoline/MTS Charger past Jeff Diehl and world champ Robert Hight with a pair of 4.25s, then eked out an ultraclose win over Bob Tasca III’s Mustang, scoring on a holeshot by just .0004-second, 4.221 to 4.220. The final round was Beckman’s third of the season and the 20th of his Funny Car career.

Jeg Coughlin Jr.

Coughlin collected his third win of the season and denied Jason Line back-to-back victories in Sonoma with a decisive 6.59 to 6.60 victory made even wider by a significant holeshot. The win is Coughlin’s 51st in Pro Stock and 65th overall.

"We had a great race car, and that’s exactly what you need in Pro Stock," said Coughlin. "When you’re separated by 10-thousandths of a second, there literally is no room for error. We’ve certainly had our races this year with errors. We approached this race a little differently and had a good game plan coming in and just executed from square one. Friday Q1, we were fourth-best of that session and came back for the night session and were second-best with a 6.55. On Saturday, we ran two .57s, and we were third-best in that third session, and then we were the quickest car in that fourth session. Confidence-wise, that was exactly what the team was looking to do, and when we came into today, we had that confidence. From behind the wheel, I had four clean runs to work with, and we were able to get through some really, really tough competition.

"The KB cars are definitely extremely tough. Greg Anderson and Jason Line do an extremely efficient job at building horsepower and running the race operation. They’re multitime world champions in Pro Stock, so anytime you get by them is awesome. To get by both of them in one day, that’s a tough feat, and we were able to do that."

Coughlin, like Dixon, was appearing in his 100th final round, his 81st in Pro Stock. He raced his JEGS.com Cobalt to a steady trio of passes -- 6.58, 6.59, and 6.58 – to defeat Larry Morgan, Seattle champ Anderson – ending his winning streak at 12 rounds – and, in the semifinals, rookie Shane Gray.

Line, winner at the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals this season, reached his third final of 2010 and the 49th of his career with victories over V. Gaines, Greg Stanfield, and Kurt Johnson with consistent passes of 6.59 and two 6.57s from his Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac.

Michael Phillips

Phillips, a winner this year in Madison and Englishtown, added another title with a seesaw victory over Andrew Hines in a Pro Stock Motorcycle final that both led twice before Phillips took the win light, 6.886, 196.76 to 6.909, 194.16. Phillips closed up the points gap on third-place Hines to just three markers and trails second-place Matt Smith by just five points. Arana leads Smith by 141 points.

"I’ve been working with some NASCAR guys on just playing with the carburetor, and that’s actually where my bike picked up," said Phillips. "We started working with the guys last year [starting with] Memphis. There were a couple of other things we did with the bike that they looked over and found that should have been done to the bike, and ever since then, the bike’s just been running crazy mph.

"Andrew had been whooping me pretty good. I don’t know what the winning record was, but that was the first time I had ever beat him on that bike. I bought the bike from him in ’03, and I just never could get him. I raced him maybe 10, 15 times, and he just kept beating me. I’d holeshot him, and he’d find some way to get around me. Pomona last year, I holeshotted him, and the carburetor jumped off my bike. I just finally got the monkey off my back."

Phillips and his Racers Edge Suzuki displayed top-end prowess early in producing a trio of mid-190-mph victories over Karen Stoffer, Smith, and Eddie Krawiec. After an opening 7.00 at 194 mph, Phillips improved to 6.89, 195 before bashing Krawiec’s Harley in the semifinals with a 6.871, 197.65, which set a new track record and new NHRA national speed record.

Hines, the defending event champ who also won at this stop in 2005 aboard his Screamin' Eagle Vance & Hines Harley, set down a trio of Buell riders -- Shawn Gann, David Hope, and Arana -- with a pair of 6.89s that bookended a 6.93 to reach his 34th final.

In the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series classes, Jimmy DeFrank Jr. nearly grabbed a rare double victory, winning in Stock but falling in the Super Stock final to Tony Mandella. Mike DePalma Jr. scored in Comp, Kyle Seipel in Super Comp, Top Fuel pilot Shawn Langdon in Super Gas, and Mike Ferderer in Top Sportsman.

Related stories:
Friday: Dixon, Beckman, Johnson, Smith lead Friday fields in Sonoma
Saturday: Arana takes over bike lead; Dixon, Beckman, Johnson maintain Friday leads
 

Defending NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car world champ Robert Hight clinched his berth in the Countdown to 1 playoffs, and reigning Pro Stock king Mike Edwards locked up the No. 1 seed as the result of qualifying at the Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals in Sonoma.

Hight was the final of the four defending series champs to secure his reservation for the NHRA Full Throttle playoffs that begin at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil Sept. 1-6 and conclude at the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals Nov. 11-14.

On Sunday, Matt Hagan, Jack Beckman, Tim Wilkerson, and Ron Capps also locked up their positions in the Funny Car playoffs, bringing to six the number of spots clinched in that class. Matt Smith, Andrew Hines, and Michael Phillips clinched their berths in Pro Stock Motorcycle, and Jason Line qualified in Pro Stock.

The 17-race regular season of the Countdown to the Championship runs through the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd Aug. 12-15 and sets 10-driver fields for the six-race Countdown to 1.

Clinched spots (in order of clinch)
Top Fuel
1. Larry Dixon
2. Tony Schumacher
3. Cory McClenathan
4. Doug Kalitta
5. Antron Brown
6. Brandon Bernstein

Funny Car
1. John Force
2. Robert Hight
3. Matt Hagan
4. Jack Beckman
5. Tim Wilkerson
6. Ron Capps

Pro Stock
1. Mike Edwards*
2. Allen Johnson
3. Greg Anderson
4. Jeg Coughlin Jr.
5. Jason Line

Pro Stock Motorcycle
1. Hector Arana
2. Matt Smith
3. Andrew Hines
4. Michael Phillips

* Clinched No. 1 seed
 

Info | Tickets | Schedule | Entries | Results

Team reports | Audiocast | Photos | Video

Reigning Full Throttle Pro Stock Motorcycle champ Hector Arana became the new qualifying leader at the Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., while Larry Dixon (Top Fuel), Jack Beckman (Funny Car), and Allen Johnson (Pro Stock) held onto their field-leading positions. Interestingly, of the No. 1 qualifiers, only Dixon has won the event before, and he's only done it once, in 2003.

The event is the middle leg of the annual Western Swing segment of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. After racing last weekend in Seattle, the teams will leave Wine Country and head east to Denver for the Swing’s conclusion in the challenging high-altitude conditions of the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals. After the Denver event, only one race, the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, Minn., will remain on the regular-season schedule before the Countdown to 1 playoffs begin Labor Day weekend in Indianapolis.

Larry Dixon

The Top Fuel teams, who lost their second shot at the track Friday night due to curfew, got in their two blasts Saturday, but Dixon remained atop the field with his Friday 3.839 from the Al-Anabi Racing dragster to claim his fifth No. 1 of the season and the 45th of his career.

“We weren’t really sure whether that pole time would stick or not,” said Dixon. “I think the conditions warmed up enough it made it difficult to get into the low 3.8s. We were fourth quick the first session today and second quick on the second session. There were some things that Alan [Johnson] and Jason [McCulloch] and the team were working on, some good, some bad, and hopefully, it will pay off tomorrow.

“It was a good day just being able to get two runs in under the sun, which is what we’ll be racing in tomorrow. Just getting runs down the racetrack, whether it’s a good run or a bad run, it’s all great information. It just allows you to take a look at it, running on this track with this air and how it’s prepped. It’s just making runs and hopefully getting useful information for tomorrow.”

Defending event champ Antron Brown remained second with the Matco Tools entry at 3.863 but Rod Fuller, in his season debut in the Abu Dhabi-based Yas Marina machine (3.873), and Cory McClenathan, flying event sponsor Fram’s colors (3.896), made moves into the top four. Cory Mac has the best run of the first session and Fuller the best of the second session.

Five-time Sonoma winner Doug Kalitta slid two spots to fifth after failing to improve on his Friday 3.899 and Brandon Bernstein (3.912) also fell a couple of positions despite improving marginally with his Copart/Lucas Oil dragster. Reigning season champ Tony Schumacher (3.926) and Steve Torrence (3.943) fill out the top half of the field.

Steven Chrisman placed his Chrisman Driveline entry in the field’s final spot with a 4.078 and will provide Dixon’s first-round opposition for the fourth time this season; Dixon holds a 2-1 edge.

Jacl Beckman

Beckman nailed down his first No. 1 spot of the season and the third of his career, hanging onto the top spot with his Friday clocking of 4.063, 311.56, which set both ends of the Infineon Raceway track record.

“The advantage to running good on Friday is that you have the ability to test on Saturday which is what we did,” said Beckman. “We tried some stuff with the clutch, and it looks promising. On the fourth run, we went back to our stock deal and the car responded like we thought it would with a 4.19. It was cool to come out and hit a home run on Friday night but it would have been wasted if we hadn’t run good today.

“This afternoon, I really wanted to make a good run and that 4.19 was safe. It’s important to be back where we wanted to be with our tune-up. I think NHRA gives us four darts to throw at every race and we just happened to put one close to the bullseye. Earlier today, I signed an autograph and I stared to write, ‘No.1 qualifier’ but I thought better of it. You’re never sure but I saw track temp go up, and I knew it was gonna be tough for anything better than a 4.12. I did tell the guy to come back at the end of the day I’d finish the autograph for him, though.”

Veteran Gary Densham held onto the No. 2 position despite not making a run Saturday as his team worked to repair damage done to his machine on his 4.10 qualifying pass. A new body will be delivered tonight from the team’s Southern California base to replace the one destroyed in Friday night’s explosion and Densham is expected to compete in Sunday’s first round. John Force’s Castrol GTX Mustang remained in the No. 3 spot with its Friday 4.104 and Cruz Pedregon stayed fourth with the 4.112 he recorded Friday with his Snap-On Solara.

Del Worsham managed to crack into the top eight Saturday with a 4.152, placing him in the sixth spot between Bob Tasca III’s 4.130 and Tim Wilkerson’s 4.170. Worsham’s improvement bumped Ashley Force Hood from eighth to ninth, meaning she’ll have race her teammate, reigning world champ Robert Hight, the No. 8 qualifier (4.172), in the first round.

Jeff Diehl qualified his Rimz One Monte Carlo on the bump for the fourth time this season, running a 4.352 that earns him a first-round date with Beckman.

Allen Johnson

Johnson remained No. 1 with his Friday effort of 6.545 but reigning season champ Mike Edwards is now breathing down his neck after posting a 6.549 in the day’s opening session, a run that was two-hundredths quicker than everyone that session. Johnson, who collected his third pole position of the season, spun the tires hard in his opening lap to a 6.60 then shook to a 14-second coaster on his final attempt in the Mopar Avenger.

“I think the conditions this afternoon are what we’ll start off with tomorrow,” said Johnson. “I think it will get a little warmer tomorrow, but we didn’t do too good of a job that last run tuning for tomorrow. We’ve got a good car and a veteran team. Unfortunately, I think somebody moved around and we have to run our other motor in Vinnie’s [Deceglie] car first round. For the most part, we’ve had a good weekend up to this point.

“The first run we didn’t make a good run, but the last run, we were really trying to see how far we could push the envelope for tomorrow. We just pushed it a little far. We just had a little bit too much wheel speed and shook the tires when I pulled second gear. I feel like we’ll hit it right on the head tomorrow and go out there and try to go win this race.”

Edwards just missed what would have been his 11th No. 1 in the season’s first 15 races, but did collect max bonus points in the first session to offset Johnson’s earlier gains. Jeg Coughlin remained third on the grid with his Friday 6.552, but his final pass of 6.576 was far and away the best effort of the final qualifying session. Ron Krisher is the no. 4 qualifier at 6.565.

Defending event champ Jason Line finished fifth with his Friday 6.569, but had the final session’s second-quickest pass, a 6.594, giving him optimism for Sunday. Summit Racing teammate Greg Anderson, riding an 11-round win streak, is qualified sixth at 6.570 while Johnny Gray (6.575) and Bob Yonke (6.584) fill out the top half of the field. Gray will face his son Shane in round one while Vinnie Deceglie, the No. 16 qualifier at 6.616, will face off with fellow Dodge pilot Johnson in round one.

Hector Arana

Arana, the No. 1 qualifier in Pro Stock Motorcycle three times already this season, broke a three-race string of No. 2 efforts and returned to the top of the pack for the first time since the Atlanta event with a track-record 6.876 aboard his Lucas Oil Buell. It’s the 13th career pole for the reigning world champ, who began the day sixth in the qualifying order.

“I was pleased with that,” said Arana. “We were struggling leaving the starting line yesterday but I knew if I could leave well, I could have qualified better. The bike drifted a bit to left but to my surprise, it was a 6.87. It sure didn’t feel like an .87; it felt slow to me. I didn’t have to work at it and the whole run seemed like it was happening in slow motion. I just waited for the shift light and then waited for the next [shift] it was all very smooth.

“I wasn’t sure if it was going to hold up, but I kept an eye on the weather and all day it was getting warmer and warmer. I never take anything for granted, because anyone can surprise you but I figured I was probably OK. We tried something for the fourth [qualifying] run just see how it was going to respond on race day and we made another good run this afternoon so I feel pretty good right now.”

Steve Johnson also made a quantum leap forward, posting a 6.904 on his Lincoln Tech Suzuki to move to the No. 2 position as both riders surpassed Matt Smith’s Friday-leading pass of 6.912. Smith was not able to improve Saturday and finished third, still ahead of yesterday’s No. 2 rider, 2002 Sonoma winner Craig Treble, who also could not improve on his Friday pass of 6.919. Smith will race his wife, Angie, in the first round Sunday for the second time this season; he defeated her in their only other meeting this year, in Houston.

Defending event champ Andrew Hines sits fifth with his Screamin' Eagle/Vance & Hines, also at 6.919, but Treble’s superior speed, 192.58 to 191.84, earned him the higher berth. Michael Phillips (6.926 at 195.45 mph, top speed of the meet), Eddie Krawiec (6.928), and rookie LE Tonglet (6.929) round out the top eight.

Mike Berry qualified on the bubble with a 7.079 and will be Arana’s initial opponent Sunday. GT Tonglet, the older brother of LE who was making his 2010 debut, did not qualify; his 7.190 best was 18th quickest.

Related story:
Friday: Dixon, Beckman, Johnson, Smith lead Friday fields in Sonoma

Info | Tickets | Schedule | Entries | Results

Team reports | Audiocast | Photos | Video

Larry Dixon, Jack Beckman, Allen Johnson, and Matt Smith are the opening-day qualifying leaders at the Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.

The event is the middle leg of the annual Western Swing segment of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. After racing last weekend in Seattle, the teams will leave Wine Country Sunday and head east to Denver for the Swing’s conclusion in the challenging high-altitude conditions of the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals. After the Denver event, only one race, the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, Minn., will remain on the regular-season schedule before the Countdown to 1 playoffs begin Labor Day weekend in Indianapolis.

Larry Dixon

Friday ended one session early as a strict 10 p.m. curfew did not allow for the second session of Top Fuel, so Larry Dixon, whose Al-Anabi Racing machine ran 3.839 in the day’s first session, will head to bed as the provisional polesitter in Top Fuel. His 317.79 speed is a track record. Dixon, the current points leader, has four previous No. 1 efforts so far this season.

“The first run was great for us,” said Dixon. “I’m glad we got down the track and made a good run the first session. Alan [Johnson, team manager] and Jason [McCulloch, crew chief], they hit it good. It was a good run.

“Gosh, I’m just disappointed we didn’t get a chance to get on it tonight. We were running a little bit late, and to make it fair to everybody, they decided not to run any of the fuel cars. It’s a bummer. There were a lot of people on he stands and all that stuff, and we would have liked to have gone out there, but it is what it is.”

Antron Brown, who swept all three races in the Swing last year, is qualified No. 2 with his Matco Tools dragster with a 3.863 while Seattle field leader Doug Kalitta, who has won this event five times, is third in the Kalitta Air dragster with a 3.899. Brandon Bernstein’s Copart/Lucas Oil entry is fourth at 3.914.

Tony Schumacher (3.926), Steve Torrence (3.943), Morgan Lucas (3.966) and Rod Fuller, who is making his 2010 debut in theYas Marina dragster out of Abu Dhabi (3.977), round out the top eight.

Terry McMillen sits in the 12th spot overnight with a 4.066. Currently on the outside looking in are perennial qualifiers Cory McClenathan in the Fram flagship machine, David Grubnic, and Bob Vandergriff Jr. Seventeen Top Fuelers are battling for 16 spots.

Jack Beckman

Beckman is halfway to what would be his first No. 1 qualifying award of the season after booting the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Charger to both ends of the track record with a 4.063, 311.56-mph pass. Beckman’s season best is a trio of No. 3 berths, but he also owns two previous No. 1s in his career.

“We ran OK in the day session but we knew track was gonna get a little better tonight. I love the Bruton [Smith] tracks. We come here and there are no question marks about the track surface. By the time I was 250 feet into run, I knew it was going to be good. When it feels like it’s trying to shove you out of the back of the car, it’s good.

“I thought a 4.06 was great but I felt like we also tipped our hand on what the track would handle and I could see the all the guys behind us making adjustments. I thought it would be cool if everyone after us smoked the tires and we ended up No. 1 but I’m very surprised that we outlasted the 10 cars that ran after us. As for tomorrow, I think it will be extremely difficult for someone to get under that run. It’s possible, but it will be tough. As a driver I’m all about win lights but for the crew, its elapsed time and speed so it was awesome to see the crew guys go in and high-five [tuners] John Collins and Rahn Tobler.”

Veteran privateer Gary Densham is surprisingly in the No. 2 position, but his impressive 4.103 was costly as his Neal Investments/Lawson Rock & Oil machine suffered an engine explosion at the finish line that vaporized the car’s Impala body. Densham was not injured. Points leader John Force, a six-time winner here, is third with the Castrol GTX Mustang at 4.104 while Cruz Pedregon, a former two-time Sonoma winner, has his Snap-On Solara in the fourth spot after a 4.112.

A quartet of Fords round out the top eight with Bob Tasca III (4.130), Robert Hight (4.172), Ashley Force Hood (4.187), and Seattle winner Tim Wilkerson (4.188) holding down positions 5 through 8. Jeff Arend and the Kalitta/DHL Solara are 12th with a 4.253. Eighteen Funny Cars made passes Friday.

Allen Johnson

Johnson set both ends of the Pro Stock track record with a sparkling 6.545 pass at 210.77 mph with his Mopar Dodge Avenger as he continues to pressure seasonlong points and performance leader Mike Edwards. Johnson, the No. 1 qualifier earlier this season in Atlanta and Bristol, has qualified in the top four at 12 of the season’s first 14 events.

“That was pretty much an above-average run,” said Johnson. “It’s 300 feet [above sea level], so it’s the best conditions we’ve had in a while, other than the humidity. When the humidity rolls in, it slows us down a little on the mph, but the track’s awesome, the air’s awesome, and we made a decent run. Hopefully, that will hold.

“The morning session normally is the best session here, but will it get better than this because we were running late. I don’t know. It would have to get pretty good. As late as it was and as cool as it was tonight, I believe tomorrow it will be tough to take that away.”

Former world champ Jeg Coughlin, who won this race in 2003, sits No. 2 with the JEGS.com Cobalt after charting a 6.552 pass while Ron Krisher is third after coaxing a 6.565 from his Valvoline Cobalt. Greg Anderson, winner of the last two events plus the K&N Horsepower Challenge, remains red-hot with a fourth-ranked 6.570.

Reigning season champ Edwards, who led after the first session, dropped four spots to fifth despite improving from a 6.60 to a 6.574 and sits just a thousandth ahead of Johnny Gray’s 6.575. Bob Yonke has the No. 7 spot at 6.584 while Kurt Johnson, who won this event 10 years ago, anchors the quick eight at 6.595.

Defending event champ Jason Line’s Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac sits in the No. 12 spot with a 6.615. With 19 entries in the pits, there will be a battle Saturday to fill the field’s remaining opening spots.

Matt Smith

Smith, winner in Norwalk three weeks ago in the most recent event for Pro Stock Motorcycles, continued to be the class of the field in Sonoma. Smith, whose Al-Anabi Buell was the No. 2 qualifier after the first session, picked up six-hundredths in the evening session and rocketed to a 6.912 to take over the No. 1 spot. If it sticks it will be his third No. 1 of the season and the 18th of the former world champ’s career.

“When we came up, I thought we might be able to run about a 6.91 or .92,” said Smith. “The air got better and the track got tighter. We had to wait a while and if I knew we had to wait that long I might have put some more fuel into it and maybe we would have run a 6.89 or 6.90.

“We have three bikes here so I have my hands full but I’m happy with the way it went today. We had a little problem with GT’s [Tonglet] bike but we’ll have it fixed. Tomorrow morning, I could be really fast. Normally it’s cool and we get a tail wind and if that happens we will see some 6.8 runs for sure.”

Smith is followed on the grid by a pair of Suzuki riders, Craig Treble and Michael Phillips, who rode to respective passes of 6.919 and 6.926. Eddie Krawiec made it three different manufacturers in the top four when he rode his Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson to a 6.928. Steve Johnson’s Lincoln Tech Suzuki occupies the fifth spot at 6.934 while reigning world champ Hector Arana sits in the No. 6 spot with his Lucas Oil Buell at 6.936. Jim Underdahl (6.965, Suzuki) and David Hope (6.989, Buell) round out the top eight.

Karen Stoffer’s Geico Suzuki holds down the No. 12 spot at 7.045. Twenty-two teams are battling for a spot in Sunday’s 16-bike field.
 

Matt Hagan, who admits that he's better at racing the DieHard Dodge Charger Funny Car in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series than he is at pitching baseballs, threw his inaugural first pitch at the San Francisco Giants vs. New York Mets game at AT&T Park in San Francisco Thursday night.

He made a valiant attempt in the single pitch offered him after saying that he had practiced with his dad David and wife Rachel back home on the 500-acre Angus cattle farm that he manages in Christiansburg, Va., but fell just inches short of a perfect strike.

"It was a great opportunity," said Hagan, 27, who received an official Giants jacket and cap. "It was so exciting because I got to walk through the tunnel right onto the field like the major league players do. It was just an awesome experience, something I'll remember for the rest of my life.

"I would have loved to have thrown a great strike, but I bounced it in front of home plate. Hey, that's just how it goes. I don't get paid to throw a baseball; I get paid to drive a race car. I'll stick with driving the race car.

"At first there was a big 'awwww' from the fans, then a huge round of applause. Maybe in the future I'll get to do it over again.

"Thanks to the Giants and Valerie McGuire [director of special events for the Giants] for the opportunity," added Hagan, who is competing at the Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals this weekend at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma. "My racing buddies and teammates and I got to sit behind the Mets' dugout to watch the game, and we all had a good time. I'm glad the Giants won."