Schumacher, Worsham, Line and Krawiec lead qualifying at Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals - Speedway Digest

Tony Schumacher raced to the Top Fuel qualifying lead Friday at the 60th annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals, the world’s most prestigious drag race.

Del Worsham (Funny Car), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also were qualifying leaders at the final regular season race in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. Following this event the top 10 fields in each class will be set for the six-race Countdown to the Championship playoffs, which starts Sept. 12-14 at zMAX Dragway near Charlotte, N.C.

Schumacher, a nine-time winner of this event, powered his U.S. Army dragster to a leading run of 3.777 seconds at 322.65 mph.

“It’s huge to get that run,” Schumacher said. “Now we can go out and try to dominate the weekend and win the Traxxas Nitro Shootout and the race. We have the opportunity to do something special here and win this race for a 10th time.”

Schumacher was one of only two drivers to record an elapsed time in the 3.7-second range. Steve Torrence, runner-up and No. 1 qualifier here one year ago, was second in his Capco Contractors dragster with a 3.786 at 318.09.

“It wasn’t anything special,” Schumacher said. “The car could’ve gone quicker. Mike (Green, crew chief) was turning knobs and pulling levers trying to make adjustments because a lot of cars weren’t making it down the track.”

Defending winner Shawn Langdon was third in his Al-Anabi Racing dragster with a 3.808 at 313.29 and current series points leader Doug Kalitta is 16th after his Mac Tools dragster launched hard but ultimately slowed near mid-track and posted an opening-day best of 5.066 at 137.36.

Former U.S. Nationals winner Worsham topped the Funny Car qualifying order with a 4.044 at 313.73 in his DHL Toyota Camry. Worsham is ninth in the points standings and says that every point is critical this weekend.

“It was a great run,” Worsham said. “Every run throughout the season is very important, but to get down to the final race of the (regular) season and you’re not locked into the Countdown, you’re paying attention. There’s pressure every run, but there’s a little bit added pressure here to make the Countdown. This sport comes down to a lot of pressure. I tell people every single run down the (track) for NHRA is like the last lap of the final straight of a NASCAR race; it’s that important.”

Ron Capps was second in his NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger with a 4.052 at 316.01 and Matt Hagan sits third in his Rocky Boots/Mopar Charger with a 4.067 at 318.47. Series points leader John Force, a four-time Indy winner, is 11th overall with a 4.865 at 168.94 in his Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang.

Force and Capps will decide the Brainerd final round tomorrow during the day’s final qualifying session.

In Pro Stock, new points leader Line continued his recent hot streak with a leading effort of 6.623 at 208.78 in his Summit Racing Equipment Chevy Camaro.

“It feels really good to get a good run under our belt,” said Line, who has won the last two races and is still in contention for the rain-delayed Brainerd event, which will be completed at this event. “Both of the Summit cars ran pretty sporty, so it’s a good day to be racing a Chevy Camaro. At least I know I have a good horse. A lot of times when you leave one (track) you wonder if it’s going to be as fast (at the next one).”

Three-time U.S. Nationals winner Dave Connolly was second in his Charter Communications Camaro with a 6.637 at 208.01, while six-time Indy winner Greg Anderson is third in his Summit Camaro with a 6.643 at 208.10.

In tomorrow’s Brainerd Pro Stock semifinals, which will also be held during the day’s second session, Line will face Dave River and Jeg Coughlin will race Vincent Nobile. The Brainerd Pro Stock final will be held on Sunday during the day’s first session.

Three-time world champ Krawiec, who is seeking his first Indy victory, rode to the Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying lead with a run of 6.930 at 193.57 on his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson.

“My Harley-Davidson has been awesome,” Krawiec said. “This is also a home race, and we want to do well for our guys. That was a good run, but I think there is a couple of hundredths left. I actually thought that low E.T. would be about a 6.89, but it’s warm and humid and there is a lot of water in the air. Personally, I don’t care if low E.T. is a 7.15; I just want to be the quickest rider out here.”

Past Indy winner Hector Arana Jr. qualified second on his Lucas Oil Buell with a 6.931 at 192.96 and 2012 U.S. Nationals winner Andrew Hines is third on his Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson with a 6.953 at 192.14.

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Adam Sinclair

NHRA, IHRA, Motocross and other forms of motorsports Staff writer
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.