{"id":5504,"date":"2016-09-17T23:23:18","date_gmt":"2016-09-18T04:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=5504"},"modified":"2016-09-18T12:35:12","modified_gmt":"2016-09-18T17:35:12","slug":"kalitta-johnson-jr-anderson-and-sampey-secure-no-1-qualifiers-saturday-at-nhra-carolina-nationals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2016\/09\/17\/kalitta-johnson-jr-anderson-and-sampey-secure-no-1-qualifiers-saturday-at-nhra-carolina-nationals\/","title":{"rendered":"Kalitta, Johnson Jr., Anderson and Sampey secure No. 1 qualifiers Saturday at NHRA Carolina Nationals"},"content":{"rendered":"

CONCORD, N.C. \u2013 Doug Kalitta<\/strong> secured the Top Fuel No. 1 qualifier Saturday at the ninth annual NHRA Carolina Nationals, the first race of the NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship<\/a>, at zMAX Dragway just outside of Charlotte, N.C.<\/p>\n

\"340-dougkalitta-saturday-charlotte\"<\/p>\n

Tommy Johnson Jr. (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Angelle Sampey (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also secured No. 1 qualifiers in their respective categories at the 19th event of 24 on the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.<\/p>\n

Kalitta piloted his Mac Tools dragster to a 3.721-second pass at 325.77 mph on Friday night that held up through Saturday\u2019s two rounds for his fourth No. 1 qualifying position of the season, 47th of his career and first at zMAX Dragway. His first opponent in Sunday\u2019s eliminations will be Ike Maier.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnytime you can start from pole position is great in my book,\u201d Kalitta said. \u201cWe\u2019ve won from there before. Some people wonder if it\u2019s a jinx but my team, we\u2019re good with low qualifier. Getting the green hats are great and just build momentum and excitement for when we get here tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brittany Force raced herself into the No. 2 position and will face Chris Karamesines in round one. In third is eight time world champion Tony Schumacher, his opponent will be Cameron Ferre. Reigning champ and Countdown to the Championship No. 1 seed Antron Brown qualified seventh.<\/p>\n

\"341-tommyjohnsonjr-saturday-charlotte\"<\/p>\n

Johnson Jr.\u2019s Funny Car track elapsed time record run of 3.876 at 323.43 in his Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R\/T held up from Friday\u2019s qualifying. It is his first No. 1 qualifier of the season and 14th of his career. In the first round of eliminations Johnson Jr. will line up against Bob Gilbertson.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever you go out and run a good run on Friday night it allows you to play and kind of experiment on Saturday,\u201d Johnson Jr. said. \u201cThe conditions are usually so much different. It\u2019s kind of what we\u2019ll see on race day so you have a chance to play a little bit while some of the other guys are still trying to move up in the field or get qualified. So it\u2019s definitely an advantage to make a good run Friday night.\u201d<\/p>\n

No. 1 Countdown to the Championship seed Ron Capps qualified in second and will line up against John Hale. Sixteen-time world champion John Force found himself in the No. 3 spot and his opponent will be Dave Richards. Defending world champion Del Worsham qualified 12th.<\/p>\n

\"342-greganderson-saturday-charlotte\"<\/p>\n

Anderson secured his sixth Pro Stock No. 1 qualifier of the season, 86th of his career, with a 6.578 pass at 210.50 in his Summit Racing Equipment Chevy Camaro during the third round of qualifying. Anderson will be racing for his second Carolina Nationals win. In the first round of eliminations Anderson will face Alan Prusiensky.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a great season so far but this is a new season,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cThis is the Countdown, it\u2019s a whole new season to us and it doesn\u2019t matter what we\u2019ve done up until now. You\u2019re going to have to earn your keep or go home. We don\u2019t want to have a magical year like we\u2019ve had so far go up in smoke so we want to do the best job we can and hopefully walk away with a title at the end of the year. Tomorrow is going to be a great day of racing. You can\u2019t win the Countdown in the first race out but you can lose it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anderson\u2019s Summit Racing Equipment teammate, Jason Line, qualified second and will see Shane Tucker in round one. Qualified third is Vincent Nobile who will race Curt Steinbach in the first round of eliminations.<\/p>\n

\"343-angellesampey-saturday-charlotte\"<\/p>\n

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Sampey raced her Star Racing \/ Precision Service Equipment Buell to a 6.815 pass at 196.02 in the third round of qualifying on Saturday to secure the No. 1 qualifying position. This is Sampey\u2019s third consecutive No. 1 qualifier, fourth this season and 49th of her career. She will face off against Mark Paquette in the first round of eliminations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIts perfect timing. We definitely want to be the best we can on every run,\u201d Sampey said. \u201cI want to be the best every run. I want to be the best on Friday, the best on Saturday and the best on Sunday. That\u2019s the way to do it. I think we\u2019re in the groove now. The bike is running really well, the crew is working really well, I\u2019m driving much better, so it\u2019s all coming together. We\u2019re having a good time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eddie Krawiec qualified No. 2 and will face Karen Stoffer and Jerry Savoie, who qualified third, will match up against veteran Steve Johnson. No. 1 seed and reigning world champion Andrew Hines secured the No. 6 position.<\/p>\n

Eliminations at the NHRA Carolina Nationals will begin at noon at zMAX Dragway.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

CONCORD, N.C. — Sunday’s first-round pairings for eliminations for the ninth annual NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway, the 19th of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.<\/p>\n

Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs listed below pairings.<\/p>\n

Top Fuel — 1. Doug Kalitta, 3.721 seconds, 327.11 mph\u00a0 vs. 16. Ike Maier, 3.988, 291.63; 2. Brittany Force, 3.729, 324.67\u00a0 vs. 15. Chris Karamesines, 3.985, 297.29; 3. Tony Schumacher, 3.730, 325.14\u00a0 vs. 14. Cameron Ferre, 3.932, 313.37; 4. Steve Torrence, 3.732, 323.27\u00a0 vs. 13. Scott Palmer, 3.929, 315.78; 5. Shawn Langdon, 3.741, 328.14\u00a0 vs. 12. Wayne Newby, 3.802, 322.04; 6. J.R. Todd, 3.741, 325.37\u00a0 vs. 11. Pat Dakin, 3.791, 320.89; 7. Antron Brown, 3.742, 320.89\u00a0 vs. 10. Clay Millican, 3.767, 319.82; 8. Richie Crampton, 3.744, 320.51\u00a0 vs. 9. Leah Pritchett, 3.765, 323.74. Did Not Qualify: 17. Terry McMillen, 3.994, 267.59; 18. Paul Noakes, 4.403, 210.57.<\/p>\n

Funny Car — 1. Tommy Johnson Jr., Dodge Charger, 3.876, 323.43\u00a0 vs. 16. Bob Gilbertson, Chevy Monte Carlo, 6.592, 104.19; 2. Ron Capps, Charger, 3.878, 324.20\u00a0 vs. 15. John Hale, Charger, 6.010, 194.30; 3. John Force, Chevy Camaro, 3.881, 331.04\u00a0 vs. 14. Dave Richards, Ford Mustang, 4.115, 309.56; 4. Alexis DeJoria, Toyota Camry, 3.887, 324.67\u00a0 vs. 13. John Bojec, Toyota Solara, 4.016, 292.58; 5. Jack Beckman, Charger, 3.904, 327.82\u00a0 vs. 12. Del Worsham, Camry, 3.963, 318.99; 6. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 3.911, 323.97\u00a0 vs. 11. Chad Head, Camry, 3.956, 320.05; 7. Robert Hight, Camaro, 3.912, 323.66\u00a0 vs. 10. Cruz Pedregon, Camry, 3.940, 318.54; 8. Courtney Force, Camaro, 3.934, 322.81\u00a0 vs. 9. Matt Hagan, Charger, 3.940, 323.81.<\/p>\n

Pro Stock — 1. Greg Anderson, Chevy Camaro, 6.578, 210.50\u00a0 vs. 16. Alan Prusiensky, Dodge Dart, 6.751, 204.88; 2. Jason Line, Camaro, 6.581, 210.44\u00a0 vs. 15. Shane Tucker, Camaro, 6.732, 207.30; 3. Vincent Nobile, Camaro, 6.593, 210.28\u00a0 vs. 14. Curt Steinbach, Camaro, 6.723, 206.04; 4. Shane Gray, Camaro, 6.595, 210.37\u00a0 vs. 13. John Gaydosh Jr, Chevrolet Camaro, 6.699, 206.83; 5. Alex Laughlin, Camaro, 6.597, 210.47\u00a0 vs. 12. Kenny Delco, Camaro, 6.657, 208.42; 6. Allen Johnson, Dart, 6.603, 209.04\u00a0 vs. 11. Jeg Coughlin, Dart, 6.651, 208.17; 7. Bo Butner, Camaro, 6.606, 210.11 vs. 10. Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.641, 208.36; 8. Drew Skillman, Camaro, 6.614, 209.79\u00a0 vs. 9. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.641, 209.10.<\/p>\n

Did Not Qualify: 17. Erica Enders, 14.169, 207.56.<\/p>\n

Pro Stock Motorcycle — 1. Angelle Sampey, Buell, 6.815, 196.02\u00a0 vs. 16. Mark Paquette, Buell, 6.993, 191.13; 2. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.843, 194.60\u00a0 vs. 15. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 6.973, 193.57; 3. Jerry Savoie, Suzuki, 6.850, 195.39\u00a0 vs. 14. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.968, 192.49; 4. Chip Ellis, Buell, 6.855, 195.03\u00a0 vs. 13. Shawn Gann, Buell, 6.967, 192.08; 5. LE Tonglet, Suzuki, 6.867, 195.96\u00a0 vs. 12. Cory Reed, Buell, 6.913, 192.66; 6. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.869, 194.02\u00a0 vs. 11. Melissa Surber, Buell, 6.905, 192.58; 7. Jim Underdahl, Suzuki, 6.871, 195.65\u00a0 vs. 10. Matt Smith, Victory, 6.878, 194.21; 8. Hector Arana Jr, Buell, 6.876, 194.86\u00a0 vs. 9. Hector Arana, Buell, 6.877, 195.73.<\/p>\n

Did Not Qualify: 17. Mike Berry, 7.014, 191.10; 18. Angie Smith, 7.022, 189.07; 19. Chaz Kennedy, 7.069, 187.31; 20. David Hope, 7.170, 186.02; 21. Lance Bonham, 7.246, 182.11; 22. Brian Bognuda, 7.255, 182.26.<\/p>\n

Story and photos courtesy of the NHRA<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CONCORD, N.C. \u2013 Doug Kalitta secured the Top Fuel No. 1 qualifier Saturday at the ninth annual NHRA Carolina Nationals, the first race of the NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship, at zMAX Dragway just outside of Charlotte, N.C. Tommy Johnson Jr. (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Angelle Sampey (Pro Stock Motorcycle) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5507,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_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}},"categories":[4],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-5504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nhra","tag-nhra"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/340-DougKalitta-Saturday-Charlotte.jpg?fit=2250%2C1500&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-1qM","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5504"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5504\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5511,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5504\/revisions\/5511"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}