NHRA Series Norwalk Final Eliminations Report

Neff Wins His Third Race Of The Season; Worsham, Nobile, Krawiec Also Winners In Norwalk

NORWALK, Ohio – 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.”

Del Worsham celebrates his victory

Photo by: Ted Rossino

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

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.

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Final finish order (1-16) for professional categories at the Fifth annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park. The race is the tenth of 22 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

TOP FUEL: 1. Del Worsham; 2. Spencer Massey; 3. Larry Dixon; 4. Morgan Lucas; 5. Brandon Bernstein; 6. Antron Brown; 7. Tony Schumacher; 8. Shawn Langdon; 9. David Grubnic; 10. Ike Maier; 11. Luigi Novelli; 12. Doug Kalitta; 13. Scott Palmer; 14. Pat Dakin; 15. Bob Vandergriff; 16. Terry McMillen.

FUNNY CAR: 1. Mike Neff; 2. Ron Capps; 3. Cruz Pedregon; 4. John Force; 5. Daniel Wilkerson; 6. Jack Beckman; 7. Robert Hight; 8. Matt Hagan; 9. Tim Wilkerson; 10. Melanie Troxel; 11. Paul Lee; 12. Tony Pedregon; 13. Jeff Arend; 14. Jim Head; 15. Bob Tasca III; 16. Bob Bode.

PRO STOCK: 1. Vincent Nobile; 2. Larry Morgan; 3. Jason Line; 4. Greg Stanfield; 5. Allen Johnson; 6. Rodger Brogdon; 7. Ronnie Humphrey; 8. Mike Edwards; 9. Ron Krisher; 10. Greg Anderson; 11. Shane Gray; 12. V. Gaines; 13. Richard Freeman; 14. Erica Enders; 15. Warren Johnson; 16. Kurt Johnson.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE: 1. Eddie Krawiec; 2. Matt Smith; 3. Hector Arana; 4. David Hope; 5. GT Tonglet; 6. Michael Phillips; 7. Steve Johnson; 8. Jim Underdahl; 9. Jerry Savoie; 10. Angie Smith; 11. Mike Berry; 12. Shawn Gann; 13. Andrew Hines; 14. Hector Arana Jr; 15. Chip Ellis; 16. Karen Stoffer.

Pro Stock Driver Vincent Nobile

Photo by: Ted Rossino

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Final round-by-round results from the Fifth annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park, the tenth of 22 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series:

TOP FUEL:

ROUND ONE -- Antron Brown, 3.865, 313.95 def. Doug Kalitta, 4.377, 231.28; Spencer Massey, 3.869, 304.94 def. Terry McMillen, DQ; Shawn Langdon, 9.747, 78.34 def. Scott Palmer, foul; Morgan Lucas, 3.908, 303.71 def. David Grubnic, 3.983, 256.41; Del Worsham, 3.866, 313.88 def. Luigi Novelli, 4.080, 290.57; Tony Schumacher, 3.894, 312.28 def. Pat Dakin, 4.999, 151.58; Brandon Bernstein, 3.884, 313.37 def. Ike Maier, 4.017, 288.21; Larry Dixon, 3.866, 311.63 def. Bob Vandergriff, 6.058, 112.65;

QUARTERFINALS -- Lucas, 3.964, 296.63 def. Langdon, 7.998, 88.89; Massey, 3.926, 297.81 def. Schumacher, 3.926, 295.79; Dixon, 3.891, 299.26 def. Bernstein, 3.880, 311.99; Worsham, 3.894, 294.75 def. Brown, 3.922, 296.37;

SEMIFINALS -- Worsham, 3.899, 298.34 def. Lucas, foul; Massey, 3.899, 299.33 def. Dixon, 3.929, 296.11;

FINAL -- Worsham, 3.905, 298.14 def. Massey, 3.931, 297.42.

FUNNY CAR:

ROUND ONE -- Daniel Wilkerson, Ford Mustang, 4.209, 270.27 def. Paul Lee, Chevy Impala SS, 4.345, 290.01; Mike Neff, Mustang, 4.170, 305.98 def. Tony Pedregon, Impala SS, 4.538, 242.45; Matt Hagan, Dodge Charger, 4.170, 300.66 def. Bob Bode, Toyota Solara, 8.221, 100.26; John Force, Mustang, 4.130, 298.21 def. Jim Head, Solara, 5.685, 117.93; Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.111, 303.91 def. Jeff Arend, Solara, 4.935, 160.35; Ron Capps, Charger, 4.118, 299.26 def. Melanie Troxel, Solara, 4.188, 284.99; Jack Beckman, Charger, 4.177, 287.60 def. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 7.354, 104.42; Cruz Pedregon, Solara, 4.141, 303.03 def. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.138, 303.57; QUARTERFINALS -- Force, 4.160, 287.41 def. D. Wilkerson, 4.393, 222.58; R. Capps, 4.559, 213.81 def. Beckman, 4.607, 258.47; C. Pedregon, 4.197, 276.35 def. Hight, 5.539, 138.96; Neff, 4.202, 289.57 def. Hagan, 9.557, 69.20;

SEMIFINALS -- Neff, 4.187, 287.23 def. C. Pedregon, 6.506, 106.26; R. Capps, 4.818, 228.58 def. Force, 13.283, 51.12;

FINAL -- Neff, 4.211, 289.94 def. R. Capps, 4.259, 279.09.

PRO STOCK:

ROUND ONE -- Allen Johnson, Dodge Avenger, 6.629, 208.59 def. Greg Anderson, Pontiac GXP, 6.604, 208.52; Larry Morgan, Ford Mustang, 7.507, 139.95 def. V. Gaines, Avenger, foul; Ronnie Humphrey, GXP, 6.626, 207.66 def. Richard Freeman, GXP, 6.639, 207.88; Mike Edwards, GXP, 6.620, 208.07 def. Ron Krisher, GXP, 6.583, 209.01; Jason Line, GXP, 6.599, 207.82 def. Shane Gray, GXP, 6.616, 208.46; Greg Stanfield, GXP, 6.603, 208.59 def. Erica Enders, Chevy Cobalt, 6.778, 208.33; Rodger Brogdon, GXP, 6.627, 208.01 def. Kurt Johnson, GXP, 12.064, 96.39; Vincent Nobile, Avenger, 6.600, 208.33 def. Warren Johnson, Cobalt, 11.978, 78.13;

QUARTERFINALS -- Morgan, 6.662, 208.30 def. Brogdon, 6.644, 208.52; Stanfield, 6.622, 208.42 def. A. Johnson, 6.635, 208.88; Nobile, 6.616, 208.14 def. Humphrey, 6.671, 207.94; Line, 6.609, 208.55 def. Edwards, 13.387, 53.10;

SEMIFINALS -- Nobile, 6.616, 208.26 def. Stanfield, foul; Morgan, 6.641, 207.94 def. Line, 6.644, 208.42;

FINAL -- Nobile, 6.615, 208.26 def. Morgan, 6.657, 209.30.

Eddie Krawlec, Screamin' Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson

Photo by: Michael C. Johnson

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE:

ROUND ONE -- David Hope, Buell, 7.056, 187.44 def. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 7.164, 187.00; Hector Arana, Buell, 6.952, 192.60 def. Angie Smith, Buell, 6.992, 186.61; Michael Phillips, Suzuki, 7.157, 186.54 def. Chip Ellis, Buell, 17.913, 85.98; Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.919, 193.90 def. Mike Berry, Buell, 7.055, 187.63; Jim Underdahl, Suzuki, 7.136, 175.23 def. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, broke; Matt Smith, Buell, 6.959, 189.73 def. Shawn Gann, Buell, 7.099, 186.64; Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.223, 176.81 def. Jerry Savoie, Suzuki, foul; GT Tonglet, Suzuki, 7.023, 188.02 def. Hector Arana Jr, Buell, 15.041, 49.14;

QUARTERFINALS -- Hope, 6.993, 190.30 def. G. Tonglet, 7.014, 190.30; M. Smith, 6.943, 190.89 def. Phillips, 7.144, 190.94; Arana, 6.969, 193.18 def. Johnson, 7.247, 189.36; Krawiec, 6.953, 193.74 def. Underdahl, broke;

SEMIFINALS -- Krawiec, 7.007, 192.11 def. Hope, 7.036, 187.81; M. Smith, 6.952, 190.62 def. Arana, 7.007, 190.89;

FINAL -- Krawiec, 7.077, 187.81 def. M. Smith, 11.385, 67.65.

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Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional categories following the Fifth annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park, the tenth of 22 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series -

Top Fuel

1. Del Worsham, 884; 2. Spencer Massey, 823; 3. Larry Dixon, 809; 4. Antron Brown, 731; 5. Tony Schumacher, 729; 6. Doug Kalitta, 536; 7. Brandon Bernstein, 517; 8. Morgan Lucas, 500; 9. Shawn Langdon, 451; 10. Terry McMillen, 386.

Funny Car

1. Mike Neff, 881; 2. Jack Beckman, 757; 3. Robert Hight, 755; 4. Cruz Pedregon, 708; 5. Matt Hagan, 599; 6. Ron Capps, 539; 7. John Force, 528; 8. Jeff Arend, 519; 9. Bob Tasca III, 495; 10. Johnny Gray, 441.

Pro Stock

1. Jason Line, 774; 2. Mike Edwards, 725; 3. Vincent Nobile, 713; 4. Greg Stanfield, 688; 5. Greg Anderson, 677; 6. Rodger Brogdon, 631; 7. Allen Johnson, 610; 8. Erica Enders, 563; 9. Shane Gray, 468; 10. Ron Krisher, 446.

Pro Stock Motorcycle

1. Eddie Krawiec, 425; 2. Karen Stoffer, 418; 3. Andrew Hines, 369; 4. Matt Smith, 350; 5. Hector Arana, 312; 6. LE Tonglet, 283; 7. Jerry Savoie, 277; 8. Michael Phillips, 245; 9. Jim Underdahl, 237; 10. Hector Arana Jr, 191.