{"id":314,"date":"2016-02-27T23:17:03","date_gmt":"2016-02-28T05:17:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=314"},"modified":"2016-02-27T23:18:07","modified_gmt":"2016-02-28T05:18:07","slug":"capps-kalitta-and-butner-earn-no-1-qualifying-positions-at-carquest-auto-parts-nhra-nationals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2016\/02\/27\/capps-kalitta-and-butner-earn-no-1-qualifying-positions-at-carquest-auto-parts-nhra-nationals\/","title":{"rendered":"Capps, Kalitta and Butner earn No. 1 qualifying positions at CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Courtesy of the NHRA<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

CHANDLER, Ariz. \u2014 Series points leader Ron Capps took the No. 1 qualifying position in Funny Car on Saturday at the CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals.<\/p>\n

\"026-RonCapps-Saturday-Phoenix\"<\/p>\n

Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel) and Bo Butner (Pro Stock) also will lead their categories into Sunday\u2019s 11 a.m. eliminations as the No. 1 qualifiers at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event at Wild Horse Pass Motor Sports Park.<\/p>\n

Still riding the momentum from a victory at the NHRA Winternationals two weeks ago in Pomona, Calif., Capps set a track record with a 3.925 second pass at 320.50 mph in his NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger, just .005 of a second better than Courtney Force\u2019s 3.930 run on Friday. It is the 18th No. 1 of his career and third at this event.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m having more fun than I think I have, if not ever, than in a long time,\u201d Capps said. \u201cI\u2019m in better shape. I feel like I\u2019m more enthused about showing up to the race track everyday than I think I ever have been. I\u2019m just enjoying this. This is a lot of fun right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Capps will try to continue his early season success when he faces No. 16 qualifier Jeff Diehl in the opening elimination round on Sunday. Capps is a three-time Phoenix winner, his last victory here coming in 2013.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not so na\u00efve to think this can keep up,\u201d said Capps, who will race Jeff Diehl in round one. \u201dThere\u2019s too good of competition out here. We\u2019ll just take it, we\u2019ll take the wins and this is a great No. 1 qualifier and this sets us up great for Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Defending world champ Del Worsham qualified fifth and will meet Jim Campbell in the opener, while No. 2 qualifier Force will race Terry Haddock. Two other intriguing first round pairings feature past world champions Robert Hight and Cruz Pedregon meeting in a heated duel while Don Schumacher Racing teammates Tommy Johnson Jr. and Matt Hagan will face off in their quick Dodge Chargers.<\/p>\n

\"027-DougKalitta-Saturday-Phoenix\"<\/p>\n

In Top Fuel, Kalitta powered his Mac Tools dragster to a 3.741 at 320.74 in the final round of qualifying to earn his 44th No. 1 and his fourth at the Phoenix track, holding off rival Antron Brown, whose improved time of 3.760 at 322.65 in his Matco Tools dragster wasn\u2019t enough as he sits in the second spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re pretty excited to be here,\u201d Kalitta said, \u201cIt\u2019s always great running out in the desert and it seems to take to [crew chief] Jim [Oberhofer]\u2019s tune up here. He\u2019s doing a heck of a job, he and Troy [Fasching, assistant crew chief] and all the guys on the Mac Tools Redline Toyota car.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all excited and just happy things are going down the track and it\u2019s driving good. So far so good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Series points leader Brown will open eliminations against Steve Chrisman and five-time Phoenix winner Tony Schumacher qualified third and will face Scott Palmer in round one.<\/p>\n

\"028-BoButner-Saturday-Phoenix\"<\/p>\n

Butner claimed his first career No. 1 qualifying position in Pro Stock with his pass of 6.618 at 208.88 in his Jim Butner Auto Sales Chevy Camaro from Friday. Butner teammates Jason Line and Greg Anderson qualified second and third in their Summit Racing Camaros with a 6.622 at 208.17 and a 6.623 at 207.40, respectively.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest I\u2019m kind of surprised I\u2019m sitting in this seat because our boss Greg [Anderson] really threw it at us and made a good run,\u201d Butner said. \u201cIt\u2019s an honor and it\u2019s cool; it\u2019s cool to have a green hat [for qualifying No. 1].\u201d<\/p>\n

In the 14-car ladder, Butner will face V. Gaines, who qualified 14th with a 6.778 at 207.27 in his Kendall Oil Dodge Dart.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to get past V. and I\u2019d like to get to the final and win,\u201d Butner said. \u201cThat\u2019s our goal and that\u2019s why we leave the house.\u201d<\/p>\n

Points leader Anderson moved to third in the qualifying order with Saturday\u2019s quickest run, the 6.623-second effort in the heat of the day. He will meet Vincent Nobile in the first round. Meanwhile, Line will race Phoenix-based driver Matt Hartford in the opener.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

CHANDLER, Ariz. — Sunday’s first-round pairings for eliminations for the 32nd annual CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, the second of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.\u00a0 Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs listed below pairings.<\/p>\n

Top Fuel — 1. Doug Kalitta, 3.741 seconds, 326.00 mph\u00a0 vs. Bye; 2. Antron Brown, 3.760, 322.65 vs. 15. Steven Chrisman, 5.156, 144.35; 3. Tony Schumacher, 3.764, 322.19\u00a0 vs. 14. Scott Palmer, 3.990, 276.07; 4. Steve Torrence, 3.766, 322.96\u00a0 vs. 13. Terry McMillen, 3.935, 286.07; 5. Brittany Force, 3.769, 321.04\u00a0 vs. 12. Shawn Langdon, 3.922, 317.12; 6. Clay Millican, 3.773, 322.96\u00a0 vs. 11. Troy Buff, 3.869, 306.19; 7. J.R. Todd, 3.787, 323.12\u00a0 vs. 10. Leah Pritchett, 3.859, 314.31; 8. Dave Connolly, 3.794, 317.64\u00a0 vs. 9. Richie Crampton, 3.812, 309.98.<\/p>\n

Funny Car — 1. Ron Capps, Dodge Charger, 3.925, 320.89\u00a0 vs. 16. Jeff Diehl, Toyota Solara, 9.905, 41.37; 2. Courtney Force, Chevy Camaro, 3.930, 323.97\u00a0 vs. 15. Terry Haddock, Solara, 4.191, 297.42; 3. John Force, Camaro, 3.938, 323.81\u00a0 vs. 14. John Hale, Charger, 4.105, 313.22; 4. Robert Hight, Camaro, 3.945, 319.14\u00a0 vs. 13. Cruz Pedregon, Toyota Camry, 4.086, 302.08; 5. Del Worsham, Camry, 3.959, 319.60\u00a0 vs. 12. Jim Campbell, Charger, 4.067, 305.56; 6. Jack Beckman, Charger, 3.959, 319.22\u00a0 vs. 11. Alexis DeJoria, Camry, 4.026, 310.27; 7. Tommy Johnson Jr., Charger, 3.965, 318.77\u00a0 vs. 10. Matt Hagan, Charger, 3.990, 321.58; 8. Tim Wilkerson, Ford Mustang, 3.966, 317.19 vs. 9. Chad Head, Camry, 3.976, 317.64.<\/p>\n

Pro Stock — 1. Bo Butner, Chevy Camaro, 6.618, 208.88\u00a0 vs. 14. V. Gaines, Dodge Dart, 6.778, 207.27; 2. Jason Line, Camaro, 6.622, 208.17\u00a0 vs. 13. Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.732, 206.48; 3. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.623, 207.72\u00a0 vs. 12. Vincent Nobile, Camaro, 6.715, 207.59; 4. Allen Johnson, Dart, 6.649, 207.11\u00a0 vs. 11. Deric Kramer, Dart, 6.713, 206.95; 5. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.650, 208.62\u00a0 vs. 10. Joey Grose, Camaro, 6.699, 207.02; 6. Drew Skillman, Camaro, 6.650, 207.94\u00a0 vs. 9. Erica Enders, Dart, 6.689, 208.26; 7. Alex Laughlin, Camaro, 6.656, 208.46\u00a0 vs. 8. Jeg Coughlin, Dart, 6.664, 207.53.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Courtesy of the NHRA CHANDLER, Ariz. \u2014 Series points leader Ron Capps took the No. 1 qualifying position in Funny Car on Saturday at the CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals. Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel) and Bo Butner (Pro Stock) also will lead their categories into Sunday\u2019s 11 a.m. eliminations as the No. 1 qualifiers at<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":316,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhra","tag-nhra"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-54","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/026-RonCapps-Saturday-Phoenix.jpg?fit=2200%2C1464","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=314"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":320,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314\/revisions\/320"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}