Tony Schumacher, eight-time world champion, piloted his Top Fuel dragster to the top of the class Friday at 17th annual NHRA Toyota Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Jack Beckman (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were also provisional No. 1 qualifiers in their respective categories at the fifth of six events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship.
Schumacher raced a track elapsed-time record of 3.673-seconds at 332.67 mph, which tied the division's mph track record, in his U.S. Army dragster. He is in hot pursuit of his fourth No. 1 qualifier of the season and 84th of his career.
Schumacher has the most Top Fuel victories at this track with eight wins on his resume.
"We've won this race a lot of times, and we probably have more data than anyone at this race track," Schumacher said. "We have a good quality map to look at, and we know what to do here. It's hard to run great here, yet we go out and do it."
Points leaders Steve Torrence is in second with his 3.694 at 330.15 in his Capco Contractors/Torrence Racing dragster. Shawn Langdon currently holds the third spot.
Beckman powered his Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger R/T to a 3.867 pass at 329.50 to take the preliminary lead in the Funny Car category. Beckman tied the track's ET track record and moved to the top of the order early in the second qualifying session.
"The problem with running good early is that the track is going to continue to cool down," Beckman stated. "It's going to get better and they just saw what the track is capable of. Everybody else is smart enough to go back and give it a little more clutch. To watch it stand for the rest of the Funny Cars surprised me."
Courtney Force follows right behind him in second after racing her Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro to a 3.878 at 331.77 and teammate and leading Funny Car championship contender Robert Hight currently holds the third position.
Points leader Anderson raced to a 6.663 at 204.73 in his Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro during Friday's final qualifying round to sit atop of the Pro Stock ladder.
"We stepped on them tonight," said Anderson. "Tonight, the sun went down, and we got after them. We knew the track would tighten up, and we went for it. That's what you do on Friday night qualifying. If you want the pole, you've got to be bold."
Drew Skillman is currently in the second spot with a 6.664 at 205.32 in his Ray Skillman Chevrolet Camaro and Bo Butner is in the third slot.
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Krawiec currently leads the class in points and in qualifying with a 6.936 pass at 191.76 on his Screamin' Eagle/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson from the evening qualifying session.
"I've got a great motorcycle under me and a great team behind me," Krawiec stated. "I think there's a good potential for people to go faster tomorrow though. You need to have your stuff together coming out of here and be on your game."
Hector Arana Jr. is in the No. 2 spot with a 6.940 pass at 192.55 on his Lucas Oil Buell and Andrew Hines rounds out the top three.
In Sportsman class action, two-time NHRA Lucas Oil Series National Champion Justin Lamb secured the 2017 NHRA Super Stock national championship while racing at the NHRA Toyota Nationals in Las Vegas Friday morning. He's also a serious contender for the Stock national championship.
"We set out this year with several goals, and one of them was to win a championship in Super Stock," Lamb said. "We brought out a new Stocker, and we weren't sure how that would go, but we thought we had a good chance in Super Stock. It's very rewarding and it's nice that it's done now.
"Both times I won championships in the past, it went down to the wire and there was a ton of pressure. It's cool that we get to enjoy this one, especially here in Vegas at our home race."
With the Super Stock title locked up, Lamb can focus on chasing the Stock Eliminator national championship in his Redback Boots '17 COPO Camaro.
"It's obviously a ton of pressure, and I'm sure it will only build as I hopefully win more rounds, but it's almost like a bonus at this point," Lamb added. "I've already won one, so anything else would be icing on the cake. I'm sure I'll be super disappointed if we don't win it, but at least we have the one."
Lamb will continue racing on Saturday beginning with the third round of Stock at 8 a.m., followed by the second round of Super Stock in the Silverstate Plumbing Cobalt.
Pro qualifying at the 17th annual NHRA Toyota Nationals continues Saturday at 1:15 p.m. at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
NHRA Toyota Nationals
Qualifying Day 1 results
Top Fuel
1. Tony Schumacher, 3.673 seconds, 332.67 mph; 2. Steve Torrence, 3.694, 330.15; 3. Shawn Langdon, 3.742, 319.98; 4. Leah Pritchett, 3.754, 324.20; 5. Brittany Force, 3.758, 327.51; 6. T.J. Zizzo, 3.758, 327.35; 7. Antron Brown, 3.760, 325.61; 8. Doug Kalitta, 3.764, 324.83; 9. Terry McMillen, 3.789, 307.65; 10. Shawn Reed, 3.854, 315.64; 11. Terry Haddock, 3.953, 286.25; 12.Troy Buff, 3.978, 260.01; 13. Scott Palmer, 4.065, 226.81; 14. Clay Millican, 4.666, 156.41; 15. Mike Salinas, 7.480, 74.15; 16. Richie Crampton, 9.863, 77.09.
Funny Car
1. Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger, 3.867, 329.50; 2. Courtney Force, Chevy Camaro, 3.878, 331.77; 3. Robert Hight, Camaro, 3.880, 329.99; 4. J.R. Todd, Toyota Camry, 3.884, 330.23; 5. Cruz Pedregon, Camry, 3.897, 329.67; 6. Ron Capps, Charger, 3.916, 325.06; 7. Alexis DeJoria, Camry, 3.927, 326.71; 8. Matt Hagan, Charger, 3.929, 330.88; 9. Jonnie Lindberg, Camry, 3.937, 322.50; 10. Del Worsham, Camry, 3.953, 287.60; 11. Gary Densham, Ford Mustang, 3.999, 317.87; 12. John Force, Camaro, 4.013, 302.82; 13. Tommy Johnson Jr., Charger, 4.021, 286.74; 14. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.029, 302.55; 15. Jim Campbell, Charger, 4.117, 302.62; 16. Bob Bode, Charger, 4.257, 275.28.
Not Qualified: 17. Jeff Arend, 4.530, 185.03; 18. Jeff Diehl, 4.641, 189.98; 19. Tim Gibbons, 6.184, 114.67.
Pro Stock
1. Greg Anderson, Chevy Camaro, 6.663, 205.04; 2. Drew Skillman, Camaro, 6.664, 206.16; 3. Bo Butner, Camaro, 6.672, 205.51; 4. Jason Line, Camaro, 6.679, 205.82; 5. Jeg Coughlin, Camaro, 6.686, 205.98; 6. Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.687, 206.42; 7. Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.696, 205.98; 8. Alex Laughlin, Camaro, 6.701, 205.13; 9. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.716, 206.32; 10. Allen Johnson, Dodge Dart, 6.717, 204.42; 11. Brian Self, Camaro, 6.735, 205.10; 12. Larry Morgan, Camaro, 6.740, 204.82; 13. Shane Tucker, Camaro, 6.741, 204.98; 14. Deric Kramer, Dart, 6.743, 204.20; 15. Alan Prusiensky, Dart, 6.765, 204.14; 16. Kenny Delco, Camaro, 6.769, 204.11.
Not Qualified: 17. Steve Graham, 6.771, 203.40; 18. Val Smeland, 6.866, 200.44; 19. Joey Grose, 6.911, 199.05; 20. Tanner Gray, 6.977, 156.68.
Pro Stock Motorcycle
1. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.936, 191.76; 2. Hector Arana Jr, Buell, 6.940, 192.55; 3. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.955, 193.82; 4. Scotty Pollacheck, Suzuki, 6.958, 190.48; 5. Angie Smith, Buell, 6.970, 190.92; 6. Jerry Savoie, Suzuki, 6.977, 191.73; 7. LE Tonglet, Suzuki, 6.986, 191.00; 8. Mike Berry, Buell, 6.998, 189.39; 9. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 7.002, 189.73; 10. Joey Gladstone, Suzuki, 7.017, 189.12; 11. Melissa Surber, Buell, 7.026, 188.67; 12. Matt Smith, Victory, 7.039, 189.02; 13. Katie Sullivan, Suzuki, 7.043, 189.71; 14. Angelle Sampey, Victory, 7.053, 185.59; 15. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.055, 188.60; 16. Freddie Camarena, Suzuki, 7.067, 189.66.
Not Qualified: 17. John Hall, 7.084, 186.69; 18. Charles Sullivan, 7.090, 186.92; 19. Ron Tornow, 7.111, 187.68; 20. Cory Reed, 7.130, 184.80; 21. David Hope, 7.149, 182.08; 22. Mark Paquette, 7.175, 182.77; 23. Scott Bottorff, 7.183, 184.77; 24. Lance Bonham, 7.190, 185.69; 25. Andie Rawlings, 7.899, 166.97; 26. Hector Arana, 10.777, 76.33.
Pro Modified
1. Dan Stevenson, Chevy Camaro, 5.804, 252.95; 2. Steve Jackson, Camaro, 5.823, 245.99; 3. Mike Castellana, Camaro, 5.839, 247.88; 4. Troy Coughlin, Chevy Corvette, 5.857, 254.47; 5. Shane Molinari, Pontiac Firebird, 5.863, 253.18; 6. Rickie Smith, Camaro, 5.876, 247.38; 7. Steven Whiteley, Cadillac CTS-V, 5.879, 245.49; 8. Jonathan Gray, Camaro, 5.883, 245.72; 9. Harry Hruska, Camaro, 5.907, 249.58; 10. Mike Janis, Camaro, 5.908, 242.32; 11. Michael Biehle, Ford Mustang, 5.911, 251.63; 12. Jim Whiteley, Camaro, 5.914, 245.90; 13. Danny Rowe, Corvette, 5.918, 244.52; 14. Chip King, Dodge Charger, 5.942, 243.06; 15. Khalid alBalooshi, Camaro, 5.955, 244.56; 16. Bob Rahaim, Camaro, 5.956, 242.36. Not Qualified: 17. Steve Matusek, 5.969, 243.90; 18. Michael Bowman, 5.980, 259.91; 19. Billy Harper, 6.024, 236.84; 20. Mike Knowles, 6.058, 209.46; 21. Rick Distefano, 6.143, 232.47; 22. Derek Menholt, 6.182, 235.89; 23. Clint Satterfield, 6.235, 240.17; 24. Sidnei Frigo, 7.185, 136.69; 25. Carl Stevens, 11.388, 78.03; 26. Eric Latino, broke.
