Points Leaders Worsham, Neff Lead Norwalk Winners

Mike Neff

Mike Neff raced to his third win of the season Sunday as racing came to an end at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio.

Del Worsham, Vincent Nobile, and Eddie Krawiec also won in their respective categories at the 10th of 22 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

Neff drove his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang to a 4.211-second run at 289.94 mph past Ron Capps in the final round to collect his third win of the season and fourth career win. It was also Neff’s fifth final-round appearance in the past six races.

“I feel fortunate to get another win," Neff said. “I can’t thank my team enough. My car had been getting real fast in the right lane, chopping the tire pretty good at about 80 feet. It got worse in the second round. I lost lane choice to Cruz (Pedregon) in the semi’s, and I thought, ‘Good, because I would have taken the left lane anyway.’ It’s one of those things where you can look real stupid picking the left lane in the final, because everyone was winning out of the right."

Neff kept the points lead with his win, while runner-up finisher Capps moved up from ninth to sixth in the point standings.

Del Worsham

In Top Fuel, after collecting the No. 1 qualifier on Saturday, Worsham powered his Al-Anabi dragster to his fourth win of the season. Worsham posted an impressive time of 3.905 at 298.14 past runner-up Spencer Massey to collect his 29th career win.

“It’s pretty amazing to go to five final rounds in the first 10 races and win four," said Worsham. “It’s the kind of season that anybody would dream of, and it’s amazing to get it in my 21st season of racing. I have pretty high expectations, and I expect this team to compete for a championship, but I thought we’d get rolling and have to get things ironed out before we got in our groove. It shows what kind of team Sheik Khalid (Al-Thani), Alan Johnson, Brian Husen, and Jason McCulloch put together. I’m a lucky passenger in this car."

The win kept Worsham in the No. 1 spot in the point standings while runner-up Massey strengthened his second spot in the standings with his third final round appearance in four races.
Rookie sensation held off a hot-charging Larry Morgan to collect the win in Pro Stock. Nobile drove his Mountain View Tires Dodge Avenger to a 6.615 at 208.26 mph to collect his second win of the season and move up to third-place in the point standings.

“This is seriously a nonstop dream, and I’m waiting until I wake up from it, but it’s still going," said Nobile. “We’re just going to take it one race at a time. Yes, we’re doing very well, but it’s still real early in the season. I believe there’s still six more races until the Countdown actually begins, so we’re just going to take it one step at a time and hopefully get a few more wins before the Countdown starts."

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Krawiec held off Matt Smith in the final round to get the win. Krawiec drove his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson to a 7.077 run at 187.81 to get his second win of the season and ninth of his career.

“It’s awesome to be back in the No. 1 spot," said Krawiec, who moved into the points lead with the win. “I want it. I’m not going to exaggerate. I want to hold that No. 1 spot all year long. My goal coming into this season was to see if and hope that Wally had 15 brothers. I’ve got two of them so far, and I’m just going to continue doing what I’ve been doing and just try and improve on my riding itself, and hopefully, more wins will come."

NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing will return July 7-10 for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill.