-
Home
- TV Shows
- TV Schedule
- NASCAR
-
Formula 1
- Auto Racing
- Moto Racing
- Cars
- Bikes
- Store
- Social
- Games
- Mobile
- Deals
- Videos
- Photos
- Home
- TV Shows
-
TV Schedule
-
SPEED Showcase
-
- NASCAR
- Formula 1
- Auto Racing
- Moto Racing
- Cars
- Bikes
- Store
- Social
- Mobile
- Deals
- Videos
- Photos
NHRA
NHRA: Line Wins Pro Stock Title In Las Vegas
One championship was settled in Sunday's Big O Tires NHRA Nationals, while two others tightened up after eliminations at The Strip Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The Summit Pro Stock team had plenty to celebrate at The Strip on Sunday. (Go2Geiger.com)
One championship was settled in Sunday's Big O Tires NHRA Nationals, while two others tightened up after eliminations at The Strip Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Jason Line red-lighted in the semifinals but clinched the Pro Stock championship when Mike Edwards failed to set a national record in the next pass. Edwards later got a consolation prize by winning the Las Vegas event trophy.
Heading to the season's final race, Line's points lead is 168 points – 56 times the margin from first to second over Top Fuel and Funny Car combined.
In Top Fuel, Del Worsham beat Spencer Massey in the finals to close the deficit to two points on Massey. And in Funny Car, Matt Hagan leads teammate Jack Beckman by one point as neither Don Schumacher Racing driver made it out of the second round.
Eddie Krawiec extended his points lead to 69 over Hector Arana Jr. after winning over teammate Andrew Hines in the finals.
For Line, Sunday was the culmination of a terrific season and an even better Countdown to the Championship. Trailing KB Racing teammate Greg Anderson as the Countdown started in Charlotte, Line qualified No. 1 and reached the finals in each of the first four races of NHRA's playoffs. He won three times, and as Anderson stumbled, built an insurmountable lead on the tough Pro Stock field.
"It feels unbelievable," Line said. "Timing is everything, especially in our sport. It's all about timing. We've certainly given a few away in the same fashion, so I don't feel guilty about getting one back (after red-lighting), that's for sure.
"It's a great day. It's unfortunate we couldn't have finished in true championship style, but I'm not giving the jacket or the trophy back. I'm very happy right now. I'm just the knucklehead who gets to drive the car. It takes a lot of ton of folks and lot of orchestration to make this all happen."
Line won six races this season in the Summit Racing Pontiac GXP, with two other final-round appearances and three semifinals. He qualified No. 1 seven times to win his second Pro Stock title. But his last was 2006.
"The second one means more," Line said. "As it sinks in that it really happened, it'll mean more yet. As I've gotten older, you realize how hard this is to do. There are guys like Greg who make it look easy, but for some of us, it's not that easy. We have to put a lot of effort to make it happen. And even then, there's no guarantee. Washing machines work hard, too, and they get nothing.
"It takes a little luck and the right folks to make it happen. Hard work's not a guarantee, but it is a guarantee if you don't work hard that it's not going to happen."
Worsham rode his final round victory in the Al-Anabi Racing dragster over Massey to the second spot in the Top Fuel standings.
"It's 21 years in the making," Worsham said. "My whole career has been leading up to this and is coming down to basically one race. I'm looking forward to it. I've got some confidence built up now."
Worsham made a 3.823 second pass at 318.77 mph which was enough to edge Massey and the Fram rail, which ran a 3.834 at 323.74 mph, at the line.
"Like Reading, I had the fastest car, and I didn’t want to let anybody on the team down. It was so close down there. You can't see the guy, but you get the same feeling you get when someone is standing beside you, staring at you. You know they are there. I knew he was lurking.
"When my big ol' win light flashed up there, I was pretty proud."
Massey leads Worsham by two points heading into the season finale in Pomona. Antron Brown's Matco Tools dragster is 12 points behind Worsham and fourth-place Larry Dixon, Worsham's teammate, is 30 points behind Brown.
Ron Capps and the Napa Dodge Charger rebounded from a DNQ in Phoenix at the last event to earn the victory over teammate Johnny Gray in the Service Central Dodge.
"It's so gratifying for the guys," Capps said. "It's a tough car to drive and keep in the groove. I've not had a challenge this this for a very long time, but it's a great car to drive."
Capps ran a 4.109 second pass at 311.34 mph while Gray dropped a cylinder on his run and crossed the line in 4.203 seconds at 295.08 mph.
"A 4.10 in the final – I couldn't believe it," Capps said. "I couldn't believe the car was staying hooked up. It was so nice to see that little win light on the guard rail."
The Phoenix DNQ pretty much ruled Capps out of contention despite his win on Sunday, but it doesn't mean the season finale will lack drama. Matt Hagan, driver of the DieHard Dodge Charger leads teammate Jack Beckman and the Valvoline/Aaron's Dodge by one point leaving Las Vegas. Cruz Pedregon reached the semifinals in Vegas and moved into third, 26 points out of the lead. Mike Neff's Castrol Ford Mustang is in fourth, 34 out of first.
Edwards and the Penhall Pontiac GXP ran a 6.641 second pass at 208.30 mph to beat the Mopar Dodge Avenger and driver Allen Johnson, who ran a 6.668 second run at 208.01 mph.
"We put four rounds together today," Edwards said. "We've been struggling to do that for the last six or seven races. It feels good to finally come out and win a race. We seem to run well at altitude tracks, we'll just need to get better at the other conditions."
Krawiec beat Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson teammate Andrew Hines in the final, but more importantly stretched his lead over second place Arana Jr. and the Lucas Oil Buell to 69 points.
"Consistency and round wins were the most important thing here this weekend," Krawiec said. "I didn't want to come into The Countdown and fumble. No. 1 qualifying plaques don’t get you Wallys and points at the end of the weekend. This race is by no means over, but it takes a lot of weight off my shoulders going into Pomona."
Krawiec made a pass of 6.936 seconds at 194.30 in the final to his teammate's 6.995 at 192.96 mph.
The championship dust will finally settle Nov. 10-13 at the Auto Club NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif.
Jason Line red-lighted in the semifinals but clinched the Pro Stock championship when Mike Edwards failed to set a national record in the next pass. Edwards later got a consolation prize by winning the Las Vegas event trophy.
Heading to the season's final race, Line's points lead is 168 points – 56 times the margin from first to second over Top Fuel and Funny Car combined.
In Top Fuel, Del Worsham beat Spencer Massey in the finals to close the deficit to two points on Massey. And in Funny Car, Matt Hagan leads teammate Jack Beckman by one point as neither Don Schumacher Racing driver made it out of the second round.
Eddie Krawiec extended his points lead to 69 over Hector Arana Jr. after winning over teammate Andrew Hines in the finals.
For Line, Sunday was the culmination of a terrific season and an even better Countdown to the Championship. Trailing KB Racing teammate Greg Anderson as the Countdown started in Charlotte, Line qualified No. 1 and reached the finals in each of the first four races of NHRA's playoffs. He won three times, and as Anderson stumbled, built an insurmountable lead on the tough Pro Stock field.
"It feels unbelievable," Line said. "Timing is everything, especially in our sport. It's all about timing. We've certainly given a few away in the same fashion, so I don't feel guilty about getting one back (after red-lighting), that's for sure.
"It's a great day. It's unfortunate we couldn't have finished in true championship style, but I'm not giving the jacket or the trophy back. I'm very happy right now. I'm just the knucklehead who gets to drive the car. It takes a lot of ton of folks and lot of orchestration to make this all happen."
Line won six races this season in the Summit Racing Pontiac GXP, with two other final-round appearances and three semifinals. He qualified No. 1 seven times to win his second Pro Stock title. But his last was 2006.
"The second one means more," Line said. "As it sinks in that it really happened, it'll mean more yet. As I've gotten older, you realize how hard this is to do. There are guys like Greg who make it look easy, but for some of us, it's not that easy. We have to put a lot of effort to make it happen. And even then, there's no guarantee. Washing machines work hard, too, and they get nothing.
"It takes a little luck and the right folks to make it happen. Hard work's not a guarantee, but it is a guarantee if you don't work hard that it's not going to happen."
Worsham rode his final round victory in the Al-Anabi Racing dragster over Massey to the second spot in the Top Fuel standings.
"It's 21 years in the making," Worsham said. "My whole career has been leading up to this and is coming down to basically one race. I'm looking forward to it. I've got some confidence built up now."
Worsham made a 3.823 second pass at 318.77 mph which was enough to edge Massey and the Fram rail, which ran a 3.834 at 323.74 mph, at the line.
"Like Reading, I had the fastest car, and I didn’t want to let anybody on the team down. It was so close down there. You can't see the guy, but you get the same feeling you get when someone is standing beside you, staring at you. You know they are there. I knew he was lurking.
"When my big ol' win light flashed up there, I was pretty proud."
Massey leads Worsham by two points heading into the season finale in Pomona. Antron Brown's Matco Tools dragster is 12 points behind Worsham and fourth-place Larry Dixon, Worsham's teammate, is 30 points behind Brown.
Ron Capps and the Napa Dodge Charger rebounded from a DNQ in Phoenix at the last event to earn the victory over teammate Johnny Gray in the Service Central Dodge.
"It's so gratifying for the guys," Capps said. "It's a tough car to drive and keep in the groove. I've not had a challenge this this for a very long time, but it's a great car to drive."
Capps ran a 4.109 second pass at 311.34 mph while Gray dropped a cylinder on his run and crossed the line in 4.203 seconds at 295.08 mph.
"A 4.10 in the final – I couldn't believe it," Capps said. "I couldn't believe the car was staying hooked up. It was so nice to see that little win light on the guard rail."
The Phoenix DNQ pretty much ruled Capps out of contention despite his win on Sunday, but it doesn't mean the season finale will lack drama. Matt Hagan, driver of the DieHard Dodge Charger leads teammate Jack Beckman and the Valvoline/Aaron's Dodge by one point leaving Las Vegas. Cruz Pedregon reached the semifinals in Vegas and moved into third, 26 points out of the lead. Mike Neff's Castrol Ford Mustang is in fourth, 34 out of first.
Edwards and the Penhall Pontiac GXP ran a 6.641 second pass at 208.30 mph to beat the Mopar Dodge Avenger and driver Allen Johnson, who ran a 6.668 second run at 208.01 mph.
"We put four rounds together today," Edwards said. "We've been struggling to do that for the last six or seven races. It feels good to finally come out and win a race. We seem to run well at altitude tracks, we'll just need to get better at the other conditions."
Krawiec beat Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson teammate Andrew Hines in the final, but more importantly stretched his lead over second place Arana Jr. and the Lucas Oil Buell to 69 points.
"Consistency and round wins were the most important thing here this weekend," Krawiec said. "I didn't want to come into The Countdown and fumble. No. 1 qualifying plaques don’t get you Wallys and points at the end of the weekend. This race is by no means over, but it takes a lot of weight off my shoulders going into Pomona."
Krawiec made a pass of 6.936 seconds at 194.30 in the final to his teammate's 6.995 at 192.96 mph.
The championship dust will finally settle Nov. 10-13 at the Auto Club NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif.
Auto Racing Photos
LATEST HEADLINES: AUTO-RACING
-
V8: Nissan Coming To Grips With New Altima
John Dagys explores Nissan's new factory venture in V8 Supercars… -
V8: COTA Saturday Notebook
John Dagys explores some of the storylines from Saturday’s… -
V8: Whincup Sweeps Saturday's Rounds At COTA
Red Bull Racing goes 1-2 in opening rounds of V8 Supercars at Circuit… -
ELMS: TDS Oreca-Nissan Wins Imola
Mathias Beche, Pierre Thiriet claim victory in second round of European… -
INDYCAR: Ed Carpenter Scores Shock Indy 500 Pole At 228.782 MPH
Carpenter had the Brickyard in a state of rapture as he knocked off… -
V8: Coulthard, Whincup On Top In Qualifying At COTA
Brad Jones Racing and Red Bull Racing Australia end up on top for… -
PHOTOS: V8 Supercars COTA Gallery
UPDATED: View more than 90 photos from Austin as V8 Supercar drivers… - More News
