J. FORCE, SCHUMACHER, AND A. JOHNSON RACE TO NO. 1 QUALIFYING POSITIONS AT O’REILLY AUTO PARTS NHRA NORTHWEST NATIONALS

On Saturday, August 2, John Force raced to his 150th No. 1 qualifying position in Funny Car at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Northwest Nationals.Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel) and Allen Johnson (Pro Stock) also will lead their categories into Sunday’s 11 a.m. eliminations at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event near Seattle.

Force entered Saturday as the top qualifier but briefly lost the top spot to his daughter Courtney in the final qualifying round. John rallied with a track record run of 4.057 seconds at 307.86 mph in his Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang Funny Car on the final run of the day to take the top position from his daughter. This is Force’s fourth No. 1 of the season and sixth at Pacific Raceways.

“I was overloaded today, had too much on my plate,” said Force. “And then she bumped me. I figured Robert (Hight) would do it, he didn’t. (Crew chief) Jimmy (Prock) turned around and said, ‘What do you want to do?’ I said, ‘Turn ‘er up.’ We knew what it would do, but you really don’t want to show the competition what you have. If you can hold your cards and get them in the evening, then you can step on it.”

Courtney, who won last weekend in Sonoma and moved to the number two position with her run of 4.082 at 306.33 in her Traxxas Ford Mustang, will face Gary Densham on Sunday. The 2011 Funny Car world champion Matt Hagan qualified third with a run of 4.100 at 302.69 in his Mopar Express Lane/Rocky Boots Dodge Charger and will aim for his second win of the season when he faces Terry Haddock.

Piloting his U.S. Army dragster, Schumacher retained his No. 1 qualifying position from Friday and will lead the Top Fuel category into eliminations. Schumacher will make his 400th NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series start against rookie Jenna Haddock in the opening round.

“We have a great car,” Schumacher said. “I wouldn’t want to race me tomorrow. The fact that we went down both lanes just shows what (crew chiefs) Mike [Green] and Neal [Strausburg] have been looking for for a long time. We just didn’t go down the track but we were first or second each session and had some .820 60-foot times. They’re making some great calls. Our initial launch is what we’ve been longing for. Everyone knows that if you get the car moving, you can apply clutch quicker.”

Top Fuel points leader Doug Kalitta qualified second in his Mac Tools dragster with a run of 3.805 at 320.28 and is paired against Mike Salinas in the opening round. Shawn Langdon will begin eliminations in the third position with his run of 3.807 at 317.05 and will face Clay Millican. Most recent event winner Khalid alBalooshi qualified sixth in his Al-Anabi Racing dragster with a run of 3.813 at 319.22 and faces Brittany Force.

Pro Stock’s Johnson retained his No. 1 qualifying position with his Friday effort in his Mopar / Magneti Marelli Dodge Dart, with his run of 6.535 at 211.86. It is the 35th No. 1 of his career and his third at this event. He has four No. 1 qualifying positions this season, but has yet to win when he starts from the top spot.

“The guys did an awesome job here,” Johnson said. “All four rounds low and building up them baby points. That last round the track was representative of what we will see tomorrow. We made a really good run and we just need to keep doing what we are doing and be very consistent. If the driver does his job, we can get this thing done.”

Teammate to Johnson, Jeg Coughlin qualified fourth with a run of 6.553 at 211.13 and he will face Larry Morgan in eliminations. Shane Gray, who was the No. 1 qualifier at the most recent event, qualified second at 6.538 at 211.96 in his Gray Manufacturing Chevy Camaro and will race Travis Mazza in the opener.

Sunday’s first-round elimination pairings for the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Northwest Nationals presented by Super Start Batteries at Pacific Raceways, the 16th of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs listed below pairings.

Top Fuel — 1. Tony Schumacher, 3.804 seconds, 320.20 mph vs. 16. Jenna Haddock, 4.176, 273.44; 2. Doug Kalitta, 3.805, 320.28 vs. 15. Mike Salinas, 4.158, 283.79; 3. Shawn Langdon, 3.807, 317.05 vs. 14. Clay Millican, 3.967, 305.77; 4. Richie Crampton, 3.809, 317.19 vs. 13. Terry McMillen, 3.931, 313.73; 5. Bob Vandergriff, 3.812, 318.77 vs. 12. Antron Brown, 3.884, 309.34; 6. Khalid alBalooshi, 3.813, 319.22 vs. 11. Brittany Force, 3.848, 310.84; 7. Spencer Massey, 3.815, 318.09 vs. 10. Troy Buff, 3.845, 311.41; 8. J.R. Todd, 3.827, 314.83 vs. 9. Steve Torrence, 3.834, 316.45. Did Not Qualify: 17. Ron Smith, 4.339, 269.83.

Funny Car — 1. John Force, Ford Mustang, 4.057, 308.07 vs. 16. Jeff Diehl, Toyota Solara, 4.361, 283.49; 2. Courtney Force, Mustang, 4.082, 306.33 vs. 15. Gary Densham, Chevy Impala, 4.303, 292.46; 3. Matt Hagan, Dodge Charger, 4.100, 302.69 vs. 14. Terry Haddock, Impala, 4.199, 292.46; 4. Alexis DeJoria, Toyota Camry, 4.101, 303.23 vs. 13. Tony Pedregon, Camry, 4.175, 294.18; 5. Tommy Johnson Jr., Charger, 4.102, 304.19 vs. 12. Jack Beckman, Charger, 4.156, 297.29; 6. Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.107, 303.91 vs. 11. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 4.150, 301.40; 7. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.120, 306.40 vs. 10. Del Worsham, Camry, 4.136, 298.34; 8. Cruz Pedregon, Camry, 4.126, 296.18 vs. 9. Ron Capps, Charger, 4.131, 300.53. Did Not Qualify: 17. Bucky Austin, 4.398, 276.63; 18. Paul Lee, 4.979, 204.20.

Pro Stock — 1. Allen Johnson, Dodge Dart, 6.535, 211.86 vs. Bye; 2. Shane Gray, Chevy Camaro, 6.538, 211.96 vs. 15. Travis Mazza, Ford Mustang, 8.038, 129.28; 3. Jason Line, Camaro, 6.549, 211.36 vs. 14. Mark Wolfe, Mustang, 7.060, 205.57; 4. Jeg Coughlin, Dart, 6.553, 211.13 vs. 13. Larry Morgan, Mustang, 6.695, 207.82; 5. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.556, 211.56 vs. 12. Deric Kramer, Dodge Avenger, 6.615, 209.85; 6. V. Gaines, Dart, 6.561, 211.26 vs. 11. Matt Hartford, Avenger, 6.597, 210.67; 7. Jonathan Gray, Camaro, 6.562, 211.46 vs. 10. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.588, 210.57; 8. Vincent Nobile, Camaro, 6.569, 210.73 vs. 9. Dave Connolly, Camaro, 6.587, 210.60

Adam Sinclair