The latest update as of September 2, 2024
70th annual Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals - Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park - Clermont, IN
TOP FUEL - Qualifying Session #4
At the start of this penultimate qualifying session the density altitude was under 2700', the track temp was a manageable 119 (F) and the air temp was 81 (F). All of that was good enough for the fuel cars to run well and most likely the conditions they would be facing in eliminations tomorrow.
(LEFT) Down to her second to last chance to gain a berth in eliminations, Krista Baldwin needed to pick up at least half a tenth on her previous best of 3.863. She was looking good early in her run, but dropped cylinders past the 660' mark and slowed to a 3.875 - 269.46 to remain in the #18 position. Up to the point where the pipes went wet, she was almost certainly on her way into the qualified field.
(RIGHT) Already well qualified in the #8 spot with a 3.739, the Leatherwood Distilleries entry of Tony Schumacher slowed down substantially to a 3.947 - 314.31 to stay in #8. It certainly wasn't what they expected to run, but at least one cylinder dropped before the 660' mark.
(LEFT) Despite holding down the #5 rung on the ladder, Tripp Tatum III had only made one really good run in the first three sessions, which gave him a 3.729 e.t. He failed to come close to that number again, smoking the tires early and shutting down to a 5-second timeslip.
(RIGHT) Another failed attempt to improve, as Shawn Reed in the new look "Star Racer" wrap, smoked the tires - a recurring theme so far - and coasted to a 4.475 - 179.66 pass.
(LEFT) Stop me if you've read this before: more tire smoke, this time courtesy of Ida Zetterstrom as she broke traction and posted a 4.548 - 171.90. That left her safely qualified, but near the bottom of the field in the #14 spot going into the final qualifying session later in the day.
(RIGHT) In the near lane we have Clay Millican wearing his new Arby's wrap, while Jasmine Salinas (far lane) is sporting her usual Scrappers Racing look. On the launch, Millican's exhaust flames could be seen clearly in the afternoon light. He made it to the 660' mark before he lost traction and slowed to a 4.015 -236.38, while Salinas started smouldering the hides a few hundred feet earlier before stopping the clocks with a 4.787 - 153.20, leaving her in the precarious bump spot position with just one more chance to get solidly into the show on Monday.
(LEFT) Already solidly qualified in the #7 spot, Justin Ashley bucked the tire smoking trend and laid down the quickest pass of the session with a strong 3.778 - 327.52 that nearly matched his earlier best of 3.738. He was scheduled to face Lex Joon but the Nev'R Quit team decided to sit out the session and get ready for the final round of qualifying.
(RIGHT) Things got back to "normal" in the next pair, as Doug Kalitta (barely visible in the far lane) and Brittany Force both failed to get very far past the 330' mark before the tires lost their grip. Kalitta's performance left him in the #18 position and outside the field, while Force was on top of the heap with her earlier 3.693 best.
(LEFT) Two more swings... and two more misses, as both Dan Mercier (near lane) and Tony Stewart (far lane - barely visible), were... wait for it.... up in smoke well before the 330' timing blocks. Both were in good positions on the ladder, with Stewart #2 and Mercier in at #10.
(RIGHT) The last pair of the session rolled to the line and got a little further down track before losing traction, leaving T.J. Zizzo (near lane) and Josh Hart (far lane) wondering how so many cars could fail to navigate what was appearing to be a very tricky track surface.
With just one qualifying session left, the bump spot was held down by Jasmine Salinas at 3.814, closely followed by the Team Kalitta cars at 3.821 and 3.823. Not much further back were the third and fourth alternates, Krista Baldwin at 3.863 and Lex Joon at 3.927. All the racers were hoping for a lower track temp and better air density readings.
FUNNY CAR - Qualifying Session #5
Down to their last shots to improve their qualifying session or simply get into the field, all but two of the Funny Cars in the pits made their way into the staging lanes. One of them was the man on the bubble Chris King, a low budget racer from Chicago who elected to save on parts and fuel by sitting out, and the other was fellow Illini resident, Bobby Bode Jr. who was solidly qualified in the #12 spot but was in a similar situation to King, budget-wise. The track temp was still high but the sun was lower in the sky and everyone was hoping for better performances than in the previous session.
(LEFT) Sitting at the very bottom of the list and needing a HUGE jump in performance, Justin Schriefer was in trouble before he got to the 60' clocks. He didn't smoke the tires but simply went silent just off the starting line, ending his weekend.
(RIGHT) The last racer to have a chance to bump into field was Dave Richards, who was facing a bubble time of 4.079. He wasn't far off that mark with a best of 4.105 in an earlier session, but his final shot fell short with a 4.328 - 237.59 showing up on the scoreboards. The run looked strong until about 300' before it started slowing and eventually shut off well before the finish line.
(LEFT) Not satisfied to be in the #13 spot on the ladder, and disappointed at being stuck in the 4-second zone, Chad Green was looking good in his final attempt until well past the 660' mark, but slowed to a 4.124- 239.57 as he failed to improve.
(RIGHT) Qualified in the fast half of the field, Matt Hagan wanted to stay or improve from his #8 position. He did improve, by a hundredth of a second over his earlier best. The clocks stopped at 3.908 - 327.66 but he remained in the #8 spot as his opponent in this session, Dan Wilkerson, (not shown) ran just a little quicker and leapfrogged ahead of Hagan.
(LEFT) Hoping to impress his ex-boss (Don Prudhomme), Ron Capps made a full pass this time, posting his best speed of the meet (his earlier best was only 313.37), with a good 325.92 mph blast, but the e.t. was nearly a tenth slower than his previous best of 3.918. On this run he stopped the clocks with a 3.996 to remain in the #7 slot.
(RIGHT) Slowing a little from his great earlier run, Jack Beckman put down a consistent 3.933 - 322.58 that ended up fifth quickest of the session. It looked like a solid tuneup run for tomorrow's eliminations.
(LEFT) Running alongside Austin Prock in the second to last pair of the session, Blake Alexander made another very good pass at 3.921 - 320.20. It wasn't an improvement on her earlier #4 qualifying 3.890, but it showed the consistency needed to go into eliminations.
(RIGHT) Running in the last pair and hoping to make enough of an improvement to overtake Prock for the top spot on the ladder, Bob Tasca III, in his Mustang-bodied "Dark Horse" entry didn't have the horses (sorry for the very bad pun) to do it, and slowed early to a 4.255 - 222.69 that left him in the #2 position in the field.
TOP FUEL - Qualifying Session #5
The final session for the dragsters opened with the track temp at 114 (F), air density at 3100+ ft, and air temp at 82 (F). Not the greatest conditions, but far better than the first session on Friday and probably close to what tomorrow's later sessions of eliminations would be. All of the 20 cars entered were in the lanes and ready to do their best, some to simply qualify, some to solidify their qualifying positions, and some looking for a good race-day tuneup.
(LEFT) First to test the track was Krista Baldwin, who needed at least a 3.813, and realistically, something in the 3.70's to make the field. She looked good on the launch but started mixing up cylinders early and shut off to a non-qualifying 4.304 - 202.91 to end her weekend.
(RIGHT) Somewhat safely in the field in the #14 spot at 3.776, Ida Zetterstrom wanted to move up a rung or two on the ladder but couldn't quite do it as she posted a solid, but not improved, 3.790 - 324.67 clocking.
(LEFT) Another clean pass was in the cards for Clay Millican, but the scoreboard reading of 3.828 - 327.27 meant that he would start from the #13 position in the field.
(RIGHT) Quebec, Canada's Dan Mercier got a slight case of the "yips" at the starting line, double-stepping the throttle and leaving the line before the tree activated. The result was an NTR (no time recorded), as he remained in the #10 spot with his earlier 3.763 e.t.
(LEFT) Continuing the pattern of most of the racers before him in this session, Shawn Reed slowed from his earlier best of 3.755, stopping the timers with a respectable 3.837 - 322.04 as crew chief Rob Wendland worked at dialing in the car for eliminations.
(RIGHT) While he didn't run quicker than the 3.739 recorded earlier, Tony Schumacher did turn the quickest pass to this point in the session. A 3.777 - 325.06 lit up the scoreboards as he remained in the #8 qualifying position.
(LEFT) Running alongside his teammate and father (Billy Torrence - not shown), Steve Torrence nipped Schumacher's run as he set a new low e.t. and top speed of the final session with a very good 3.773 - 330.72 pass.
(RIGHT) And the hits just kept on coming, as part time runner Tripp Tatum pushed the "Capco clone" car to an even better e.t. than Torrence, with a 3.747 - 328.06 showing up on the timers. It was less than two hundredths slower than his #5 qualifying 3.729 from the 2nd qualifying session.
Closing out the session was #4 qualifier Antron Brown in the 45th anniversary Matco Tools wrapped dragster. He nipped Torrence for the second best run of the session, with a solid 3.771 - 320.66 pass.