Topeka Saturday Recap

Eaton Takes Truck Crown; Scelzi, Pedregon, and Osborne Lead Qualifying

at NHRA Parts America Nationals by Ed Dykes TOPEKA, Kan. - SUMMIT FastNews - The weather gods smiled on Heartland Park Topeka, and the final rounds of qualifying at the NHRA Parts America Nationals were completed Saturday without further delay. After three rounds, Gary Scelzi, Cruz Pedregon, and Mark Osborne hold down the top spots in their respective professional categories. In Top Fuel, Scelzi equaled Doug Kalitta's 4.561 second elapsed time, but claimed the top spot on the basis of his faster top speed, a career-best 312.77 miles per hour. Kalitta's 315.78 mph run was the day's best on Friday. Eddie Hill managed to claim the sixteenth and final qualifying slot with his 5.013 second pass. Kalitta's teammate and car owner Connie Kalitta barely missed colliding with Scelzi's Team Winston dragster when he got his dragster up on two wheels in the shutdown area. The elder Kalitta snagged Scelzi's parachute with his front wing and scraped the wall, but was uninjured in the incident. Pedregon's 4.941 second elapsed time from Friday held up through the final two qualifying rounds, leaving him with the top spot in his Interstate Batteries / Hot Rod Magazine Funny Car. That's the good news -- the bad news is that he'll have to face off against his older brother Frank in the first round of eliminations. Chuck Etchells improved to a 4.951 second elapsed time to move into the number-two slot. Mark Osborne took the top spot in Pro Stock in the day's final qualifying session, covering the quarter-mile in a track record 6.924 seconds at 197.71 miles per hour. The top eleven cars all recorded qualifying times under seven seconds; Larry Morgan's 7.004 second run was good enough for the final qualified slot. Perennial top-runner Warren Johnson could do no better than eighth place with his 6.965 second pass. Craig Eaton posted his second Pro Stock Truck win today when he defeated John Lingenfelter in the final round, 7.747 to 7.808. "This could be contagious," said the champion. "The key to this win was consistency. We were quick all day with our Patterson Power, and I was very confident going into the final." Lingenfelter pulled to within 47 points of series leader Larry Kopp, who failed to qualify for this event. Final eliminations in the professional categories will begin Sunday at 11:00 am. Results provided by the FastNews Network, courtesy of Summit Racing Equipment ** http://www.summitracing.com/ **