Dixon, Hagan, Johnson, Arana Take Reading NHRA Pole

Larry Dixon

NHRA

Larry Dixon, Matt Hagan, Allen Johnson, and Hector Arana topped the leaderboard in Saturday’s qualifying sessions for Sunday’s 26th annual NHRA Full Throttle Toyo Tires Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway – the fourth of six races in the Countdown for the Championship.

Top Fuel points leader Larry Dixon captured his eighth top qualifier spot of the season with a track-record time of 3.786 at 322.42 mph in the final session to knock Tony Schumacher off the pole for his third no.1 qualifier spot in the first four Countdown events.

“It was a great job by the team," said Dixon. “That was such a great number. I was happy to see it come up for Alan (Johnson, team manager) and Jason (McCulloch, crew chief) and Sheikh Kalid. Everybody on the team did a great job. I was pretty happy to see it come up.

“Weather conditions this weekend are pretty good to where you should be able to fire some shots. We’ve seen it in Funny Car and just hadn’t come up in Top Fuel, but I was glad to see us be able to do it in that last session. The racetrack’s a lot different when the sun’s on it versus when it’s dark. Last night, there was optimum conditions, but we just didn’t have the right setup in the car to take advantage of it. Fortunately for us, we’re racing during the day."

Schumacher held the lead after Saturday’s first session with a 3.823 that knocked teammate Cory McClenathan off the top spot. McClenathan then came into the last session of the day and with the final run of the session – with Schumacher in the other lane – ran a 3.815 to steal the no 2 spot from Schumacher. David Grubnic took fourth, followed by Doug Kalitta.

Terry McMillen held the bump spot and will face Dixon in Sunday’s opening round.

Matt Hagan, who set a new national record in the Funny Car class in Friday’s session, held onto the top spot to lead the field to Sunday final eliminations and earned himself 20 bonus points to vault him to the top of the Funny Car standings over John Force, who’s 4.057 from Friday held up to secure the second qualifier position.

“This is stuff you dream about out there," said Hagan. “It's just great that we have the car that's capable of coming up here and laying that kind of number down even with the sun out like that. It's a real testament to how smart (crew chief) Tommy DeLago is and how hard these DieHard guys are working.

“I was on pins and needles up there. It was just, try to do everything right to make this car go down, keep it in the groove and make it go to the other end. It was just an overwhelming feeling to be in the Countdown and I guess this evens up the points (with John Force) as for now. We still have a lot of racing to do, but, as of tonight, that's huge for us."

Hagan’s time was never threatened in Saturday’s final two sessions, as he himself came the closest with a 4.046 on the final run of the day. The rest of the top five remained unchanged from Friday’s sessions, with Robert Hight taking third with a 4.060, followed by Jack Beckman, who took fourth with a 4.068 at 308.00 mph to beat out Ron Capps’ 4.068 at 307.02 mph.

Phil Burkart took the 16th spot and will challenge Hagan in the first round on Sunday.

The top three in the Pro Stock class held onto their spots with Allen Johnson’s track record 6.551 taking the fast time of the weekend, giving Johnson his second straight no. 1 qualifier spot.

V Gaines held the second position with a 6.557, followed by series points leader Mike Edwards at 6.561. Jason Line and Rodger Brogdon both scored a 6.565 with Line’s 210.60 getting the edge on fourth to Brogdon’s 210.14.

Defending Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Hector Arana saved the best for last to nail down his fifth no.1 qualifying spot of the season, running a jaw-dropping 6.828 in the final to leap from eighth to first over Eddie Krawiec, breaking the track e.t. record Krawiec himself set on Friday with a 6.855.

“To make this run was awesome. You start asking in the back of your head what's going on and you wonder," Arana said. “But I didn’t give up. I just kept working hard and the guys kept working hard. I'm delighted. I'm grateful for everything and all the people supporting me.

“The guys at Larry (Morgan's) shop, every time I go there I always learn something and you have more people watching over to make sure everything goes well. I'll tell you, I'll take all the help I can get. It made a difference. This thing's an animal again."