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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Sitting 12th in Top Fuel points at the start of the weekend is uncharted territory for three-time world champion and 68-time NHRA race winner Antron Brown.
But Brown, who launched AB Motorsports this season, said he's confident that it won't be long until the Matco Tools Top Fuel team returns to its accustomed place as a perennial title contender.
Three-time Top Fuel world champ Antron Brown has struggled this season, but sees much better days ahead for the Matco Tools team. {Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN
"The hardest part is I'm a very competitive person and not just me, but everybody that's on our team,'' Brown said Friday at Heartland Motorsports Park, where he is competing in the Menards NHRA Nationals. "Everybody on this Matco team, we show up to win all the time.
"The last year and a half we've been beat down, but we have never given up and the cool part is to see our hard work and our determination to get back to where we need to be.''
Brown, the 2017 race-winner and a four-time No. 1 qualifier in Topeka, said the biggest challenge this season has been on the performance side of things, but he is confident that that the team has made big strides in that department.
"On the performance side we took some bumps and bruises, but we started off with so much new stuff,'' Brown said. "We could have come out and purchased exactly what we ran in years prior, the tried and true, but it was time for us to elevate and go with all the new latest, greatest widgets and gadgets. It's been taking us awhile to figure it all out but now after the Western Swing we finally figured some things out and now we're not coming to a race trying to figure something out, we're working on a program to make it better.
"Last race we did good. We qualified in the top five, right where we wanted to, and we just didn't run quick enough first round. That was our fault, but our car was performing well enough where we actually ran second and third low of the round on Saturday, so we're getting right back to the realm that we used to do years ago. The thing about it is we learned a lot through all those struggles and now it feels good to see it come to fruition, all the hard work that we put in.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
In a career that's included 59 race wins and three NHRA Funny Car world championships, Robert Hight has never had a year quite like 2022.
"Without a doubt, it's not even close,'' Hight said Friday at Heartland Motorsports Park, where he is competing in the Menards NHRA Nationals. "I've already tied my career-high in wins, I've got a big ol' points lead and everywhere we go we're running good in lots of different conditions. It's been really good.''
NHRA Funny Car star Robert Hight, making a qualifying pass Friday night at Heartland Motorsports Park, will be looking for his seventh win of the year in this weekend's Menards NHRA Nationals. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Hight, driver of the Automobile Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS, has already posted six victories on the year and is in position to become just the sixth Funny Car driver in NHRA history to win as many as seven races in a single season, joining John Force Racing boss John Force (who has done so seven times), Don Prudhomme, Kenny Bernstein, Ron Capps and Jack Beckman.
Hight, who has picked up four wins in five final-round appearances over the last seven races, could get that seventh win as soon as Sunday at a Heartland Motorsports Park dragstrip where he has won three times, most recently in 2019. Hight has been the No. 1 qualifier at HMP four times.
Now the goal for Hight is to finish what he's started this season.
"What counts is what you do at the end and we're not taking any of this for granted,'' he said. "We're working hard, we're not getting complacent and we want to be there in the end.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Four-time defending NHRA Top Fuel champ Steve Torrence hasn't always been a fan of the Countdown to the Championship format that adjusts the points at the start of the playoffs, placing an enormous importance on the final six races of the year.
Four-time defending Top Fuel world champ Steve Torrence will chasing a fifth straight title in the upcoming NHRA Countdown to the Championship. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But this is one season that the Countdown format could pay dividends for the 39-year-old Texan, who is trying to become just the fourth driver in NHRA pro drag racing history to win as many as five straight series championships.
Torrence, who is competing in this weekend's NHRA Menard’s Nationals at Heartland Motorsports Park, saw a huge points lead erased by the Countdown format in 2017, with Brittany Force going on to win the Camping World Drag Racing Series championship.
But Torrence is one of the drivers in chase mode this season and having the points re-set in three races could be a benefit.
“We’re just trying to use the Countdown to our advantage, like Brittany did,” Torrence said in a team release. “Whether you like the rules or not, if you’re gonna play the game, you have to play by whatever’s there. That’s the lesson we learned.”
After the disappointing end to 2017, Torrence made history when he in '18 when he swept the Countdown races to win the first of his four straight titles.
Now, Torrence and his Capco Contractors crew chiefs, Richard Hogan and Bobby Lagana Jr., are trying to make sure the car is at his best when the playoffs start on Sept. 15 at Maple Grove Raceway.
“We’re just using the races before the Countdown to work through some issues,” Torrence said. “We haven’t been the dominant car all season but we’re trying to see if we can be the dominant car the last six races I feel confident (in the changes we’ve made) even though it hasn’t paid off in wins. I think that you just have to stay the course. You don’t get to be on top of the mountain by not having to overcome obstacles.
"I think we're getting there. I'm starting to see some consistency, which has been the hardest thing to get back to. I know what these Capco boys are trying to do and I know what the car is doing and it’s aligning itself very closely. We’re just picking away at it a little bit at a time. It’s a mental game. We had a plan and to be successful, we know we have to execute that plan to the end.
“We’ve got three more races to fine tune everything before we really have to kick it in gear for the Countdown. We’re a solid fourth in points and could gain a spot or two. When Brittany won, she started sixth.”
Torrence has gone to the semifinals or beyond in his last five appearances in the Menards Nationals, winning a family feud with dad Billy to reach the winners’ circle in 2019, the only time he has started the race No. 1.
The first round of Top Fuel qualifying is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday, followed by a pair of qualifying sessions at 3 and 6 o'clock on Saturday.
Eliminations will begin at 10:30 a.m. Sunday.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
By Greg Anderson's extremely lofty standards, the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season has been a bit of a disappointment.
But the five-time Pro Stock world champion appears to be rounding into form just in time to be a factor in the upcoming Chase for the Championship playoffs.
Five-time world Pro Stock champ Greg Anderson continued his recent surge Friday night after a slow start to the 2022 season, earning the provisional No. 1 qualifier. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Anderson put himself in position to earn a second straight No. 1 qualifier Friday night in the Menards NHRA Nationals at Heartland Motorsports Park, earning the top spot in the first of three qualifying runs with a pass of 6.623 seconds at 205.44 miles per hour in his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro.
If Anderson's run holds up through Saturday's final two qualifying rounds it would be the defending world champ’s 120th career No. 1 qualifier.
Already the winningest driver in Pro Stock history, Anderson, who is still looking for his first win of 2022, is just one win away from his 100th career victory.
“I need (a win) bad,'' Anderson said. "It’s been a long year so far and we’ve not performed like we’ve needed to. But these last three races, we’ve gained each race and we’re coming along just in time for the playoffs.
"We’re coming and we’re definitely a threat to win again. That 100th win is still around the corner and I’m confident we’re going to get it. We’re just going to keep doing what we’ve been doing and we’re knocking on the door.”
Troy Coughlin Jr., who picked up his first career Pro Stock win at the most recent race in Seattle, sits second behind Anderson with his 6.632 run at 208.04, while teammate and points leader Erica Enders is third with an identical 6.632 at a slightly slower 207.62 m.p.h.
Mike Salinas earned the No. 1 spot in Top Fuel qualifying Friday night, while Bob Tasca III set the pace in Funny Car and Joey Gladstone earned the provisional No. 1 qualifier in Pro Stock Motorcycle.
Racing alongside Top Fuel points leader Brittany Force on the final run of the evening, Salinas recorded a pass of 3.754 seconds at 323.19 mph in his Pep Boys dragster.
If that runs holds up through Saturday, it would give Salinas, who has four wins this season, his third No. 1 qualifier in 2022 and the 11th of his career.
“The way we’re doing this, we’re taking it one round at a time and not getting too far ahead of ourselves,” Salinas said. “There’s a lot of racing ahead of us and a lot of great teams. You can just see the cars getting closer and closer.
"Tomorrow is going to be awesome. Our cars love the heat and we’re getting ready for Sunday. It’s going to be a dogfight and it's anybody’s race out there. All the Top Fuel cars are so close here.”
Justin Ashley, who has a pair of wins this season, sits No. 2 behind Salinas after a 3.765 run at 320.43 m.p.h. and Josh Hart is No. 3 after going 3.766 at 310.41. Force is currently in the No. 6 spot.
Tasca edged out John Force Racing teammates Robert Hight and John Force for the No. 1 spot in Funny Car with a run of 3.930 at 323.81 in his BG Products Ford Mustang.
After advancing to back-to-back final rounds on the Western Swing and winning in Sonoma, Tasca qualified No. 1 in Seattle and will now look for his second straight top spot and the ninth of his career.
“It’s nice to start off from the No. 1 position,” Tasca said. “This is big because it’s going to get hot out. Look how competitive the class is. It just shows you how tough it is out here.”
Hight, the current points leader and six-time winner in 2022, is right on Tasca’s heels with a 3.931 run at 323.81 while Force, the defending Topeka race winner, is third with his pass of 3.932 at 312.71.
A race after picking up his first career Pro Stock Motorcycle win, Gladstone is in position for the first No. 1 qualifier of his career after a run of 6.831 at 195.08 on his J&A Service Suzuki Hayabusa.
Joey Gladstone set the qualifying pace in Pro Stock Motorcycle Friday night in his first appearance at Heartland Motorsports Park. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
That run gave Gladstone a significant advantage over the rest of the field, including points leader Angelle Sampey, who went 6.882 at 195.14.
This is Gladstone's first race at Heartland Motorsports Park, with the Pro Stock Motorcycle racing in Topeka for the first time since 1997.
“The run felt really good, and this is a new track for most people in the class,” Gladstone said. “I didn’t really know what to expect, but it was good down low to put a (good) number down. We made a call as a team and it worked out, and that feels pretty good.
"(The win) proved to me that I could do it, but now it gives you some nerves being up high in the points. This whole facility is so cool and it’s awesome. It’s a unique place and I really like it so far.”
Sampey, who won the race in Topeka in 1997, currently sits in second, while her Vance & Hines teammate Eddie Krawiec is third after his run of 6.929 at 195.99.
Qualifying continues at 2 p.m. on Saturday, with eliminations getting under way at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday.
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By RICK PETERSON
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Defending NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Funny Car champ Ron Capps is already in a solid position for the upcoming Countdown to the Championship playoffs, clinching his Countdown spot in the most recent race at Seattle.
Veteran NHRA Funny Car star Ron Capps has won four times at Heartland Motorsports Park, dating back to 1998, and is making his 600th career start this weekend. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Now the veteran driver, who is competing in the 600th NHRA race of his career in this weekend's Menards NHRA Nationals, will try to continue to strengthen his points position at a Heartland Motorsports Park facility he's extremely familiar with.
Capps has posted four Topeka wins in his career, the most recent in 2017, as well as a pair of runner-up finishes.
"Heartland Motorsports Park has always been one of those tracks where you can produce record-setting runs, and it’s always been a part of NHRA history, especially in Funny Car when you look back at the first Funny Car to go 300 miles per hour (by Jim Epler),'' Capps, who has 70 career wins and 33 No. 1 qualifiers, said in a team release.
"Personally, I’ve done well there and have had some big wins there, and I always look forward to the Topeka race.''
Capps, who is in his first season as a driver/team owner, is currently third in Funny Car points in the NAPA Auto Parts Toyota GR Supra, chasing points leader Robert Hight and No. 2 Matt Hagan.
“We’ve got two more races to go before we get to the U.S. Nationals and lock in our playoff spots,'' Capps said. “You don’t want to go into the U.S. Nationals and have to worry about positioning, and that’s what is so impressive to me about racing with ‘Guido’ (Dean Antonelli) and (John) Medlen, and our NAPA AutoCare guys.
"We’ve been consistent all year, and we know we can go to Indianapolis, try and score the Call-Out money, win that race, and not have to worry about where we are in the points. Topeka is a great track that can hold fantastic runs. We were able to test some things at the Night Under Fire match race last weekend, and I think that’s going to bode well for us in Topeka and Brainerd as we gear up for Indy at the end of this month.”
The first round of Funny Car qualifying is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday, followed by a pair of qualifying sessions at 3 and 6 o'clock on Saturday.
Eliminations will begin at 10:30 a.m. Sunday.
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