NHRA Unleashed heads to National Trail Raceway this weekend
This week, NHRA Unleashed presented by Lucas Oil, a newly created series of events, will make its inaugural visit to National Trail Raceway in Hebron, Ohio, Sept. 10-11 for a celebration of pure American horespower. This event will be two days of nirvana for lovers of cars and the car culture.
Spectator tickets are only $15 for adults Friday and $20 for Saturday; a two-day pass is only $30; children 12 and younger will be admitted free with a paying adult. Both spectator tickets and racer registration are on sale now. Gates will open at noon Friday and 9 a.m. Saturday.
The NHRA Unleashed presented by Lucas Oil events are wide-ranging car shows that highlight all makes and models of automobiles. This is a place where automobile enthusiasts can take Fords, Dodges, Chevrolets, Pontiacs, and more for one low admission cost. This multifaceted event features racing, car shows, manufacturers midway, children’s play area, and much more.
If you have a passion for heads-up doorslammer racing, then NHRA Unleashed presented by Lucas Oil is the place for you. If you are a racer or racer at heart, you'll love the on-track action that will be as hot as the summer weather at National Trail Raceway. Aerospace Components 13.0 Heads-Up, Aerospace Components 12.0 Heads-Up, Aerospace Components 11.0 Heads-Up, Aerospace Components 10.0 Heads-Up, Aerospace Components 9.5, Aerospace Components 9.0, Aerospace Components 8.5 Heads-Up, Aerospace Components Modified Street, Aerospace Components EZ Street, Aerospace Components Limited Street, Aerospace Components Outlaw 10.5, and Pro Mod competitors will all take to the track. The winners of each class will earn one of the most coveted trophies in all of motorsports, an NHRA Wally.
All the on- and off-track action will be televised by Disrupt/ive Studios, which will produce two half-hour shows from the National Trail Raceway NHRA Unleashed presented by Lucas Oil event. Disrupt/ive Studios was founded by Jack Shaffer and Stephen Pullin, who are the producers of the wildly popular Pinks, Pinks All Out ,and Pinks All Outtakes. Disrupt/ive Studios knows the passion and dedication of the grassroots racer and will convey that to the viewers of Fox Sports Net beginning Nov. 7.
During the NHRA Unleashed presented by Lucas Oil event, the Disrupt/ive Studio team will interview potential candidates for Who Wants to Be a Race Car Driver? The final candidates selected for the show will go through a grueling test designed to showcase their ability on the track as well as all of the other key attributes needed off the track to be a successful race car driver. Contenders will be selected from the thousands of anticipated auditions at NHRA Unleashed presented by Lucas Oil events for the potential opportunity to compete for a life-changing prize: a one-year completely funded ride in an NHRA series.
NHRA Unleashed presented by Lucas Oil admission prices
Adult Spectators
Friday: $15
Saturday: $20
Two-day pass: $30
Children 12 and younger: admitted free with paying adult
Racer Entry (car and driver)
Aerospace Components Outlaw 10.5: $200
Aerospace Components Limited Street: $150
Aerospace Components EZ Street: $125
Aerospace Components Modified Street: $125
Aerospace Components 8.5 Index: $75 entry fee
Aerospace Components 9.0 Index: $75 entry fee
Aerospace Components 9.5 Index: $75 entry fee
Aerospace Components 10.0 Index: $50 entry fee
Aerospace Components 11.0 Index: $50 entry fee
Aerospace Components 12.0 Index: $50 entry fee
Aerospace Components 13.0 Index: $50 entry fee
Friday test 'n' tune: $25 with event entry
Crew pass (two-day pass): $30
Car Show/Cruise-In Entry (car and driver)
Saturday judging: $30
Automotive swap meet
10x20 feet space in swap meet: $45
(includes one weekend admission ticket)
THURSDAY
Vendor, Sponsor Entry & Midway Setup: Noon
Racer Staging in Parking Lots: Noon
FRIDAY
7 a.m. Racer Entry, Pit Parking
8 a.m. Tech Opens, Swap Meet, Car Show Entry
Noon Spectator Gates Open
10 a.m.-3 p.m. Open Test 'n' Tune and License Passes
5 p.m. 1st Round Qualifying Begins
9 p.m. Secure Track
SATURDAY
7 a.m. Participant Gate Opens
8 a.m. Tech Opens
9 a.m. Spectator Gate Opens
10 -11: 30 a.m. 2nd Round Qualifying Index Classes
11: 30 a.m.-Noon Lunch
Noon-1 p.m. 2nd Round Qualifying EZ Street & Limited Street
1-2 p.m. 2nd Round Qualifying Outlaw 10.5 & Pro Mods
2-3 p.m. 3rd Round Qualifying EZ Street & Limited Street
3-4 p.m. 3rd Round Qualifying Outlaw 10.5 & Pro Mods
4-7 p.m. 1st Round Eliminations All Classes
6-6:30 p.m. Opening Ceremonies
6:30 p.m. Eliminations Continue and TV Production Begins
11 p.m. Secure Track
*Schedule subject to change
Dixon, Force Hood, Stanfield, Tonglet grab Indy gold
Larry Dixon and Ashley Force Hood returned to the winner's circle and were joined by first-time vcitors Greg Stanfield and LE Tonglet as the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil roared to its traditional Labor Day conclusion at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.
Tonglet joined a short list of rookies to win the U.S. Nationals -- a Hall of Fame group that includes Dixon, Gary Beck, and Bob Glidden. The win for Top Fuel superstar Dixon was his fourth at the event and first there since 2005, and Force Hood scored a repeat victory in Funny Car. For Dixon, the win meant an increase in the points lead in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs that began at this event and will continue for the next five events, culminating with the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals. The other winners used the event to gain ground on the incoming leaders and stake their claims for a title.
Larry Dixon
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Dixon, who has had to accede the Indy spotlight to rival Tony Schumacher the last half of the last decade, jumped back into the solo spotlight with a dazzling run that included the No. 1 qualifying spot – the 46th of his career – and his 58th win, capped with a 3.83, 319.60 to 3.87, 319.82 victory over Cory McClenathan. Dixon has won all six of the races at which he was the No. 1 qualifier, making him a perfect 24-0 in eliminations when the Al-Anabi dragster sits on the pole.
"I was able to appreciate what Tony has been able to do and the teams he was able to do it with," said Dixon. "There's no jealousy or anything like that. It's more like, 'I had to race him for the Indy trophy, and I couldn't get it done.' There's no hating on him or his team; we just weren't good enough to beat him. It just makes you try that much harder when you get another shot at it.
"This means so much for me personally, from my dad racing here and all of the years with 'Snake' and how much it meant to him and now racing for Sheik Khalid and especially the Johnson family for all they sacrificed at this event. And for Jason [McCulloch] to win his first Indy as a crew chief? I'm jacked up for him."
Dixon, who has advanced to at least the semifinals at 14 of the 18 events this season, reached the final, his 10th of the season, with victories over Indianapolis neighbor Bruce Litton, former Indy Top Alcohol Dragster champ Steve Torrence, and Shawn Langdon with a trio of low-3.8-second performances, highlighted by a 3.81 in round one. By reaching the final, the 102nd of his career, Dixon broke his tie with Schumacher as the class' most prolific finalist.
McClenathan, who was the early qualifying leader but settled into the No. 2 spot behind Dixon, erased Terry McMillen, T.J. Zizzo, and Schumacher en route to the final, the 64th of his career and his fourth in Indy. His semifinal conquest of Schumacher halted the world champ's 18-round winning streak in Indy that encompassed four straight Big Go victories and denied Schumacher the chance to win his ninth Indy crown and break his class-leading tie with Top Fuel icon Don Garlits.
Ashley Force Hood
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The John Force Racing team was assured its 10th Indy triumph when the final round boiled down to patriarch John Force and daughter Force Hood. Force, a four-time winner (1993, 1996, 1998, 2002) squared off with Force Hood, who made history last year as Indy's first female Funny Car winner and had scored her first win in competition in Indy in Top Alcohol Dragster in 2004. The final was over early and decided in Force Hood's favor when her dad's Mustang faltered just off the line. Force maintained his incoming points lead, and Force Hood moved from eighth to fourth with her fourth Funny Car crown.
"This has just been an amazing day," she said. "This may mean more than last year because we struggled so much this season. Last year, we were on a roll – we had gone to some finals and won some races and were up high in the points -- but this year, it's been the other end of the spectrum, but our team has stayed positive, and we just said we'd use the start of the playoffs to turn it all around and forget the past.
"Maybe people don’t believe this, but the pressure really is off when you run a teammate when you run them later in the day, in a final round. When you start racing with multiple teams, that’s the best, ideal end of your day: Your two teams racing each other. Robert [Hight] and I were able to do it last year here, and Dad and I this year. We were going up there and having fun."
Force Hood defeated Del Worsham, Paul Lee, and Jack Beckman to reach the final round, the 16th of her Funny Car career, running a best of 4.059 in round one against Worsham.
Force, who failed to qualify at the event in 2007 and 2008, was appearing in his sixth Indy final and the 210th money round of his amazing career. The incoming points leader only built on that lead Monday after second-place Hight lost in round one and Force mowed past Brainerd champ Bob Bode – with a 4.09, his best run of the day -- Cruz Pedregon, and, in a dramatic top-end semifinal, low qualifier Matt Hagan.
Greg Stanfield
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The wild, upset-filled nature of this year's U.S. Nationals definitely spilled over to Pro Stock, where Stanfield upset low qualifier Mike Edwards in the final, 6.665 to 6.627, thanks to a .020 to .084 holeshot. The victory is Stanfield's fourth in the class and moved him to third place in points, 82 behind Edwards.
"This is just a huge win for me, especially after coming so close here last year [in a.001-second loss to Jeg Coughlin Jr. in the final]," said Stanfield. "And it was really exciting for our Nitro Fish Gear team owner, Kenny Koretsky, who was the Pro Stock runner-up at the 2004 Indy [the 50th anniversary of the event].
"We came here with our first complete DRCE-3 engine, which makes more power than our old combination, and we also got the suspension straightened out to make good use of that extra power. We were struggling a lot earlier in the year, and I was beginning to doubt if I could get the job done. But I had promised Kenny that I’d get him at least one Wally this season, and I’m going to give him the trophy right after this race. I hope that we can win a few more."
Stanfield, a four-time Super Stock national champion, drove the Nitro Fish Pontiac past an out-of-shape Allen Johnson in the semifinals with a 6.64 that earned him final-round lane choice. Prior to that, Stanfield had trailered Warren Johnson and Jason Line with a pair of 6.62s.
Edwards, the Indy winner in 1998, hadn’t been back to the final round since until he drove his Penhall/Interstate/K&N Pontiac from the No. 1 spot past Justin Humphreys, Greg Anderson, and V. Gaines to reach his 49th Pro Stock final. Edwards had to cede lane choice to Gaines in the semifinals but advanced with a subpar 6.65 after Gaines fouled.
LE Tonglet
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A first-time Indy winner was assured in Pro Stock Motorcycle as Andrew Hines, who was runner-up here in 2008 in his only Indy final, took on rookie Tonglet. Tonglet, who's in the thick of the battle for the Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award as the year's top first-year Full Throttle racer, didn't even know a week ago if he'd be competing at the event after wounding the team's only engine, but thanks to help from his engine builders – ironically, the Vance & Hines team – he made it and made the most of it. He scored his second win and first in Indy with a 6.86, 195.22 decision over Hines' 6.96, 194.13.
"In Brainerd, when we broke that engine, our season was over," he admitted. "We weren't coming here, but Vance & Hines and Fuel Pak stepped up and helped us out. Even so, I never expected to be sitting here telling you all how good I feel right now.
"We knew the Harley-Davidson would put down a big number, and we knew we needed to step up. We have been taking it easy on this engine all weekend, but we finally got my dad [Gary] to lean on it, and we outran Eddie [Krawiec] in the semi's. Dad said, 'We've come this far. We're in it to win it.' We're still taking it race by race, but after this, I think it's safe to say we'll be in Charlotte."
Tonglet, who is tuned by his older brother, GT -- who used to ride a Vance & Hines Harley – qualified his Suzuki No. 2 behind Hines and raced his way past Joe DeSantis, Chip Ellis, and Hines' teammate, Krawiec, to reach the final, his third of the season. Tonglet had a best run of 6.87 in round two, and his semifinal 6.90 just missed lane choice against Hines,
Hines, who has been on a hot streak all summer with the Vance & Hines Screamin' Eagle Harley, carried the momentum of his win in Brainerd three weeks ago into Indy, dominating all five qualifying sessions and resetting the national record at 6.815 en route to his 37th final. On Monday, the second-generation rider powered past Wesley Wells, Steve Johnson, and, in a rematch of their Brainerd final, a broken Jim Underdahl with a pair of 6.92s and a 6.89. Despite the final-round loss, Hines has an 88-point lead thanks to his qualifying heroics.
The Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series winners were Marty Thacker (Top Alcohol Dragster), Jay Payne (Top Alcohol Funny Car), Al Ackerman (Comp), Jimmy DeFrank (Super Stock), Tim Bishop (Stock), Troy Coughlin Jr. (Super Comp), and Shawn Langdon (Super Gas).
Brad Personett raced to his first victory in the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series.
Personett cruised to the win in the final when Joe Baker couldn’t make the call. In earlier rounds, Personett defeated Rick Stivers, Kenny Lang, and Ed Hoover. Personett reset the national speed record in the series to 255.39 mph in his Personett Performance ’68 Camaro.
Von Smith maintained his series points lead despite being upset in the first round by Hoover. With the win, Personett moved to fifth.
Related stories:
Friday: Opening-day Indy leads go to McClenathan, Hight, Edwards, Hines
Saturday: Dixon, Hagan, Coughlin, Hines lead Saturday Indy fields
Sunday: Dixon, Hagan, Edwards, Hines finish as top qualifiers in Indy
Shirley Muldowney-4/27
