{"id":7721,"date":"2017-03-18T21:02:25","date_gmt":"2017-03-19T02:02:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=7721"},"modified":"2017-03-18T21:02:25","modified_gmt":"2017-03-19T02:02:25","slug":"schumacher-j-force-line-and-savoie-earn-no-1-qualifying-positions-saturday-at-amalie-motor-oil-nhra-gatornationals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2017\/03\/18\/schumacher-j-force-line-and-savoie-earn-no-1-qualifying-positions-saturday-at-amalie-motor-oil-nhra-gatornationals\/","title":{"rendered":"Schumacher, J. Force, Line and Savoie earn No. 1 qualifying positions Saturday at Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals"},"content":{"rendered":"

GAINESVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Tony Schumacher<\/strong> secured the Top Fuel No. 1 qualifier Saturday at the 48th annual Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals<\/a> at Gainesville Raceway.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Schumacher piloted his U.S. Army Top Fuel dragster to a track elapsed time record pass of 3.682 seconds at 328.22 mph in the second qualifying session to earn his 81st career No. 1 qualifier, first of the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Gatornationals to me, even as a kid, was always one of the greatest moments for my father,\u201d Schumacher said. \u201cIt\u2019s a great chance, great opportunity. When you\u2019re given a great opportunity, you surround yourself with people capable of that moment, which we have done. You hope for great weather and the perfect situation tomorrow; great storm, great race. What you want is for the fans to walk away going, \u2018We paid good money for this race and we feel like we owe more.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

In the first round of eliminations Schumacher, who will be in pursuit of becoming the first five-time Top Fuel winner at the Gatornationals, will face Smax Smith. Doug Kalitta is qualified second with a 3.698 at 328.78 in his Mac Tools dragster and will race Ike Maier and defending world champion Antron Brown and his Matco Tools dragster are in third and will line up against Chris Karamesines.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

John Force (Funny Car), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Jerry Savoie (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were also No. 1 qualifiers in their respective categories at the third event of 24 on the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.<\/p>\n

Force raced his PEAK Chevy Camaro to the 155th No. 1 qualifier of his career with a track elapsed time record of 3.832 at 333.25. He will face Bob Tasca in the first round.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s exciting to come here to Gainesville,\u201d Force said. \u201cI haven\u2019t run this good in years.  We kept low ET, that\u2019s an honor, I love it. It\u2019s a good weekend of us. The team gelled. We\u2019ll just go from there. I want to come out here tomorrow and I want to try to win. Don\u2019t know who I race, don\u2019t matter, I race my lane. I go A to B. But I\u2019m really excited just to be in the hunt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Force\u2019s teammate, Robert Hight, is qualified second with a 3.844 pass at 331.61 in the Auto Club Chevy Camaro and will race Del Worsham and Matt Hagan is third.<\/p>\n

Line\u2019s 6.476 pass at 213.87 in his Summit Racing Equipment Chevy Camaro from Friday held up to secure his third consecutive Pro Stock No. 1 qualifier of the season, 52nd of his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just try to go as fast as we can,\u201d Line said. \u201cThe strategy is the same, early season, late season, mid-season, it doesn\u2019t matter, it\u2019s to put the Summit cars in the Winner\u2019s Circle. Qualifying No. 1, obviously to me, is the best way to start. Our Summit Camaro is running really, really well so I\u2019m super excited about tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Teammate Bo Butner is second with a 6.477 at 213.60 in his Jim Buner\u2019s Auto Chevy Camaro and will line up against John Gaydosh in the first round of eliminations. Two-time world champion Erica Enders and her Elite Motorsports Chevy Camaro are qualified third and race Alan Prusiensky in round one.<\/p>\n

Defending Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion Savoie earned the ninth No. 1 qualifier of his career with a 6.753 pass at 198.99 on his White Alligator Racing Suzuki in the third qualifying session. He will race Shawn Gann in the first round of eliminations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been coming to the Gators six years now,\u201d Savoie said. \u201cMy first year out we qualified No. 6. I had really thought, when I bought all of Mr. (Don) Schumacher\u2019s stuff and everything, that it was going to be easy, I thought we were going to qualify No. 1 and win the race. Six years later finally, finally we get to qualify No.1 in Gainesville. For me it\u2019s a special privilege.\u201d<\/p>\n

Savoie bumped Screamin\u2019 Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson rider Eddie Krawiec who is second with his 6.791 pass at 198.17 from Friday. Joey Gladstone, in his second season, qualified third with a pass of 6.810 at 197.51 on his San Marino Excavation Suzuki.<\/p>\n

Eliminations for the 48th annual Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday. Catch all the action on FOX Sports 1 beginning at 1 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Sunday’s first-round pairings for eliminations for the 48th annual Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway, the third of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.  Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs listed below pairings.<\/p>\n

Top Fuel — 1. Tony Schumacher, 3.682 seconds, 328.22 mph  vs. 16. Smax Smith, 15.934, 23.58; 2. Doug Kalitta, 3.698, 328.78  vs. 15. Ike Maier, 4.084, 273.11; 3. Antron Brown, 3.716, 326.24  vs. 14. Chris Karamesines, 4.043, 290.26; 4. Brittany Force, 3.719, 326.79  vs. 13. Larry Dixon, 3.988, 239.31; 5. Steve Torrence, 3.726, 327.51  vs. 12. Shawn Reed, 3.879, 315.49; 6. Troy Coughlin Jr., 3.738, 328.86  vs. 11. Pat Dakin, 3.862, 289.63; 7. Leah Pritchett, 3.750, 327.66  vs. 10. Scott Palmer, 3.826, 321.73; 8. Clay Millican, 3.762, 327.11  vs. 9. Terry McMillen, 3.780, 324.51.<\/p>\n

Funny Car — 1. John Force, Chevy Camaro, 3.832, 333.25  vs. 16. Del Worsham, Toyota Camry, 4.544, 191.57; 2. Robert Hight, Camaro, 3.844, 331.77  vs. 15. Bob Tasca III, Ford Mustang, 4.215, 235.80; 3. Matt Hagan, Dodge Charger, 3.854, 328.70  vs. 14. Dave Richards, Mustang, 4.152, 255.10; 4. Courtney Force, Camaro, 3.860, 333.49  vs. 13. Jim Campbell, Charger, 4.152, 295.72; 5. Tommy Johnson Jr., Charger, 3.865, 329.83  vs. 12. Cruz Pedregon, Camry, 3.947, 323.12; 6. Ron Capps, Charger, 3.865, 329.58  vs. 11. Alexis DeJoria, Camry, 3.928, 327.98; 7. J.R. Todd, Camry, 3.871, 332.51  vs. 10. Jonnie Lindberg, Camry, 3.927, 325.37; 8. Jack Beckman, Charger, 3.883, 330.23  vs. 9. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 3.920, 309.06.<\/p>\n

Pro Stock — 1. Jason Line, Chevy Camaro, 6.476, 213.87  vs. Bye; 2. Bo Butner, Camaro, 6.477, 214.28  vs. 15. John Gaydosh Jr, Chevrolet Camaro, 6.708, 205.94; 3. Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.490, 214.01  vs. 14. Alan Prusiensky, Dodge Dart, 6.582, 211.69; 4. Jeg Coughlin, Camaro, 6.491, 214.31  vs. 13. Kenny Delco, Camaro, 6.561, 212.33; 5. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.491, 214.59  vs. 12. Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.553, 211.83; 6. Shane Gray, Camaro, 6.493, 214.11  vs. 11. Allen Johnson, Dart, 6.549, 211.56; 7. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.517, 212.96  vs. 10. Vincent Nobile, Camaro, 6.539, 214.08; 8. Drew Skillman, Camaro, 6.526, 213.20  vs. 9. Tanner Gray, Camaro, 6.531, 213.37.<\/p>\n

Pro Stock Motorcycle — 1. Jerry Savoie, Suzuki, 6.753, 198.99  vs. 16. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 6.922, 194.07; 2. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.791, 199.88  vs. 15. Mike Berry, Buell, 6.918, 195.00; 3. Joey Gladstone, Suzuki, 6.793, 198.35  vs. 14. Melissa Surber, Buell, 6.910, 193.99; 4. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.793, 198.15  vs. 13. Angelle Sampey, Victory, 6.898, 194.02; 5. Hector Arana, Buell, 6.813, 198.26  vs. 12. Scotty Pollacheck, Suzuki, 6.890, 189.71; 6. LE Tonglet, Suzuki, 6.819, 196.79  vs. 11. Cory Reed, Victory, 6.888, 192.71; 7. Hector Arana Jr, Buell, 6.828, 198.03  vs. 10. Matt Smith, Victory, 6.857, 195.17; 8. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.831, 197.94  vs. 9. Angie Smith, Buell, 6.848, 197.77.<\/p>\n

Did Not Qualify: 17. Shawn Gann, 6.941, 191.21; 18. John Hall, 6.952, 192.22; 19. Chip Ellis, 6.955, 192.49; 20. Scott Bottorff, 6.969, 191.62; 21. David Hope, 6.970, 191.24; 22. James Surber, 7.307, 182.70; 23. Andie Rawlings, 8.273, 135.65; 24. Brian Pretzel, 10.993, 72.09.<\/p>\n

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

GAINESVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Tony Schumacher secured the Top Fuel No. 1 qualifier Saturday at the 48th annual Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway. Schumacher piloted his U.S. Army Top Fuel dragster to a track elapsed time record pass of 3.682 seconds at 328.22 mph in the second qualifying session to earn his 81st […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7724,"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":false,"_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":[93,6,217],"class_list":["post-7721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nhra","tag-amalie-oil-gatornationals","tag-nhra","tag-tony-schumacher"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/037-TonySchumacher-Saturday-Gainesville-1.jpg?fit=2200%2C1464&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-20x","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7721","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=7721"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7721\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7728,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7721\/revisions\/7728"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}