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| Larry Dixon tied NHRA legend Joe Amato for the most
SuperNationals wins in the Top Fuel category with his win at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. |
NEWS NUGGETS
DIXON WINS SIXTH OF THE SEASON AND SIXTH SUPERNATIONALS WIN, TASCA GRABS FIRST OF THE SEASON IN ENGLISHTOWN: Larry Dixon drove his Al-Anabi dragster past runner-up Antron Brown to collect his sixth win of the season as rain pushed the final round of eliminations to Monday morning at the 41st annual NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey. The win also tied Dixon with NHRA legend Joe Amato for the most SuperNationals wins in the Top Fuel category and also marked his 10th career final-round appearance at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.
Only one other driver has as many final round appearances at a single event in the Top Fuel category—seven-time world champion Tony Schumacher has made 10 final-round appearances at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis.
“Trophies like these—from what I call the majors—always shine a little brighter for me,” said Dixon. “Indy, Pomona, Gainesville, even Columbus back then, you want to do well. I feel blessed to be able to race on tracks like these.”
With the win, Dixon was able to clinch his spot in the Countdown to 1 playoffs with just six races to go in the regular season.
In Funny Car, Bob Tasca drove his Fordparts.com Shelby Mustang past Del Worsham to earn his first win of the season. The win also pushed Tasca up to sixth place in the Funny Car point standings, just 28 points outside of the top five.
“It’s hard to put words together right now,” said Tasca. “This is a special place for my family and to win here with all of my family here is just unbelievable. These are the moments you dream about as a kid laying in bed. This is a moment I’ll treasure forever. I know that my grandfather is not here, but he’s looking on from above.”
Runner-up finisher Worsham was able to jump up a spot to eighth in the point standings.
For more results from last weekend’s NHRA SuperNationals, visit www.NHRA.com.
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| Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Michael Phillips grabbed the No. 1 qualifier and raced to his
second win of the season at the NHRA SuperNationals in Englishtown, New
Jersey. |
PHILLIPS RACES TO SECOND WIN OF THE SEASON; EDWARDS GRABS SEVENTH OF SEASON AT ENGLISHTOWN: Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Michael Phillips all but dominated his class this past weekend, grabbing the No. 1 qualifier and racing to his second win of the season at the NHRA SuperNationals in Englishtown, New Jersey. Phillips was the class of the field the entire week, setting a track record for time and speed during qualifying Friday and never looking back as he took the win and moved to the second spot in the point standings.
“It’s been a great weekend to set the track record now that we’ve finally gotten a handle on the clutch, which has always been my biggest problem,” said Phillips. “I can’t thank Craig Treble enough for coming over and showing me some things.”
While Phillips was the bike to beat in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class, Mike Edwards once again showed his dominance over the class, taking his ninth No. 1 qualifier of the season on Saturday and his seventh race win of the season Monday. It’s Edwards’ third consecutive race where he has taken the No. 1 qualifier and the race win in one weekend.
“Last year was a dream season with the championship, but this year is truly a dream come true,” said Edwards. “I’ve done this a long, long time, and to experience this kind of success, I just praise the Lord for his blessings. We have a great team and committed ourselves to doing this, and it’s good to see the results.”
For more results from last weekend’s NHRA SuperNationals, visit www.NHRA.com.
LUCAS OIL NAMED PRESENTING SPONSOR OF NHRA UNLEASHED SERIES: NHRA has signed Lucas Oil as the presenting sponsor of the NHRA Unleashed events that will take place across the country. With the sponsorship, Lucas Oil will reach the thousands of fans and hundreds of racers expected to participate in this one-of-a-kind event celebrating the American musclecar and the passionate world of NHRA racing.
NHRA Unleashed presented by Lucas Oil will be featured nationwide on Fox Sports Net in a series airing on consecutive weeks in November and December. Two half-hour shows will be produced from each of the four NHRA Unleashed presented by Lucas Oil events at Atlanta Dragway (June 11–13), O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis (August 6–8), National Trail Raceway near Columbus, Ohio (September 10–12), and Gainesville Raceway (November 5–7).
The shows will be hosted by Steve Watson and Sarah Karges and produced by Disrupt/ive Studios, producers of "Pinks," "Pinks All Outtakes" and "Pinks All Out."
For more information, visit www.NHRA.com.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
NHRA THUNDER VALLEY NATIONALS, BRISTOL DRAGWAY, June 18–20: The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series returns to the Thunder Valley of north Tennessee. Defending event winners include Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel); Del Worsham (Funny Car); and Mike Edwards (Pro Stock).
SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT NHRA NATIONALS, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT MOTORSPORTS PARK, June 24–27: The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series heads to Norwalk, Ohio, for the 13th stop on the series schedule. This is also the home of the K&N Horsepower Challenge for the Pro Stock Class. Defending event winners include Larry Dixon (Top Fuel); Jack Beckman (Funny Car); Jason Line (Pro Stock); and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle).
NHRA NORTHWEST NATIONALS, PACIFIC RACEWAYS, July 9-11: The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series heads to the Pacific northwest on the 14th of 17 races in the NHRA Countdown to 10 and the first of the grueling three-races-in-three-weeks Western Swing. Defending event winners include Antron Brown (Top Fuel); Tim Wilkerson (Funny Car); and Mike Edwards (Pro Stock).
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| Tim Wilkerson |
HE SAID, SHE SAID
FIRST ONE OUT OF THE GATE: Funny Car driver Tim Wilkerson on why he prefers to be part of the first pair of Funny Cars to run during Sunday eliminations:
“I’ll still prefer being the first pair if it’s on the table when I get my choice, and if we run one of the multicar teams, you almost have to take it so they don’t have the chance to watch their teammates run ahead of them. You just roll the dice out here sometimes.”
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
0: The number of wins that current Pro Stock Motorcycle points leader Hector Arana has this season. Arana is the only points leader in the four classes of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series that has not won a race in 2010.
DID YOU KNOW…
…that all three of the inaugural NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals winners will be racing in this weekend’s 10th annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway. Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel), Ron Capps (Funny Car) and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) will look to grab their first wins of the season at a track they became the first national event winners of 10 years previous.