Top Fuel driver Spencer Massey (above, file photo) earned the qualifying lead and won the inaugural $100,000 NHRA Traxxas Nitro Shootout during Saturday action at the 58th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Auto-Plus at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.
Courtney Force (Funny Car), Erica Enders (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also were qualifying leaders at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event.
Massey set low E.T. of the weekend during the third qualifying session of the weekend, which also happened to be the second round of the NHRA Traxxas Nitro Shootout, a special $100,000 bonus race within a race.
Spencer Massey
“For Traxxas to come into our sport and put up this much money and add these two bonus races is awesome,” Massey said. “I can’t believe that we won it. We’ve wanted to win it since we qualified when we won the season opener and it’s been a lot of pressure this week but it’s been awesome to be able to say we won the first Traxxas Nitro Shootout.”
Massey’s 3.762-second pass at 324.51 mph wasn’t only good enough to advance to the final round of the Traxxas Nitro Shootout, it also gave him the provisional Top Fuel lead heading into Sunday. Massey outran fellow Texas-native Steve Torrence in the final round of the Traxxas Nitro Shootout to earn the win.
“Torrence’s car has been running on a string all year long and I know he wanted to win this thing just as much as I did,” Massey said. “When I hit the throttle the car started moving and I knew I was on a good ride. Then I crossed the finish line and saw the win light and I couldn’t believe it. I’m so proud of my Prestone guys, they deserve this win.”
The Funny Car NHRA Traxxas Nitro Shootout is scheduled for Sunday with first round set for 12:30 p.m.
If Massey holds onto the No. 1 position through Sunday’s qualifying action it will be his fourth of the season and seventh of his career.
Courtney Force
Force ran a career-best ET of 4.049-second pass at 317.27 mph to earn her first provisional qualifying lead of her career during the final qualifying session of the day.
“It was a great day for this,” Force said. “The rain delayed us, but the more it delayed us the cooler it got and the better the conditions were so it was good for us and our Traxxas Mustang. We just wanted to get it to the other end, but we had a good time before that had us in pretty good with an 4.08 ET. We knew we were in pretty good, but we thought, ‘You know, we’re going to do the best we can. You might as well just see what it can do if you feel comfortable in the spot.
“I could tell my Crew Chief Ron (Douglas), he was looking a little nervous on the starting line and I kept looking at him like, ‘What does he have cooking over there?’ but I just had a good feeling about that run.
“When it’s good conditions like that and I have a great team behind me. I thought, maybe; we’ll see what happens,” she continued. “I didn’t know if it would be a career-best, but it was pretty awesome. He kind of gave me that look like… he was telling me, “Don’t look to the other end; it could either blow up in your face, or it’s going to run awesome.’ So, I was like, ‘Okay, Ron!’ I kept it down there and I just wanted to keep it as straight as possible and I mean I have all the faith in the world in my guys.”
If Force holds onto the top spot through Sunday’s qualifying efforts, it will be the first No. 1 qualifying position of her career.
Erica Enders
Pro Stock qualifying was called early due to weather so Enders held onto the qualifying lead thanks to her 6.624-second pass at 208.84 mph from Friday evening qualifying.
“It has been a really long day,” Enders said. “We had been changing our setup back and forth. We thought we were going to run once, and then it started with the rain. And every time the weather comes in and things change, we have to re-assess our setup and go back and change everything. It’s a tough time with a day like today, but we went out and made a pretty good run early in the day and were able to keep the number one spot, and that’s exciting, so I’m proud of my guys.”
Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying was also cut short and Hines held onto the top spot with his Friday pass of 6.928 seconds at 194.21 mph.
“Given the weather, I don’t think we could have run any quicker but it would have been nice to get the data,” Hines said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow but I think we can keep the top spot. If it’s slow, we’re safe and if the conditions get better, we should be able to pick up. Our last run could have been better so we know there’s more left.”
Qualifying for the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event continues Sunday at 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Eliminations are scheduled for Monday at 11 a.m.
(Photos courtesy NHRA/National Dragster and JFR/Ron Lewis; Click to enlarge)
BROWNSBURG, Ind. — Saturday’s results after the first three of five rounds of qualifying for the 58th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Auto-Plus at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis, 17th of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Qualifying will continue Sunday for Monday’s final eliminations.
Top Fuel
1. Spencer Massey, 3.762 seconds, 324.51 mph; 2. Tony Schumacher, 3.772, 326.79; 3. Shawn Langdon, 3.773, 326.48; 4. Morgan Lucas, 3.792, 311.63; 5. Antron Brown, 3.807, 322.34; 6. Khalid alBalooshi, 3.817, 320.97; 7. Doug Kalitta, 3.823, 322.58; 8. Bob Vandergriff, 3.830, 322.73; 9. Steve Torrence, 3.834, 295.34; 10. Brandon Bernstein, 3.835, 321.19; 11. J.R. Todd, 3.836, 320.05; 12. David Grubnic, 3.844, 317.79. Not Qualified: 13. Bruce Litton, 3.871, 312.57; 14. Clay Millican, 3.872, 316.30; 15. T.J. Zizzo, 3.908, 307.30; 16. Pat Dakin, 3.916, 312.35; 17. Tommy Johnson, 3.939, 302.21; 18. Cory McClenathan, 3.956, 295.08; 19. Luigi Novelli,3.959, 260.21; 20. Terry McMillen, 3.964, 311.49; 21. Troy Buff, 3.975, 301.74; 22. Chris Karamesines, 3.986, 289.32; 23. Scott Palmer, 4.050, 278.52; 24. Hillary Will, 4.052, 284.81; 25. Brady Kalivoda, 4.088, 238.68; 26. Ike Maier, 4.094, 264.75; 27. Keith Murt, 4.348, 193.43.
Funny Car
1. Courtney Force, Ford Mustang, 4.049, 317.27; 2. Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger, 4.051, 310.70; 3. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.060, 306.60; 4. Alexis DeJoria, Toyota Camry, 4.064, 314.39; 5. Ron Capps, Charger, 4.064, 312.13; 6. Tony Pedregon, Camry, 4.076, 308.78; 7. John Force, Mustang, 4.077, 314.83; 8. Johnny Gray, Charger, 4.079, 310.98; 9. Jeff Arend, Camry, 4.088, 311.20; 10. Mike Neff, Mustang, 4.089, 306.53; 11. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 4.107, 308.21; 12. Matt Hagan, Charger, 4.119, 307.65. Not Qualified: 13. Jim Head, 4.151, 292.33; 14. Jon Capps, 4.170, 290.94; 15. Todd Lesenko, 4.209, 296.05; 16. Blake Alexander, 4.224, 280.25; 17. Bob Bode, 4.232, 292.58; 18. Robert Hight, 4.325, 284.81; 19. Cruz Pedregon, 4.731, 172.23; 20. Terry Haddock, 6.510, 104.54.
Pro Stock
1. Erica Enders, Chevy Cobalt, 6.624, 208.84; 2. Vincent Nobile, Dodge Avenger, 6.631, 208.78; 3. Allen Johnson, Avenger, 6.634, 208.42; 4. Jason Line, Chevy Camaro, 6.646, 208.52; 5. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.655, 208.17; 6. Mark Martino, Pontiac GXP, 6.659, 207.69; 7. Richie Stevens, Avenger, 6.666, 207.46; 8. Mike Edwards, GXP, 6.673, 207.30; 9. Shane Gray, Camaro, 6.674, 206.70; 10. Ron Krisher, GXP, 6.677, 206.64; 11. V. Gaines, Avenger, 6.678, 207.66; 12. Jeg Coughlin, Avenger, 6.678, 207.27. Not Qualified: 13. Dave Connolly, 6.684, 206.61; 14. Warren Johnson, 6.689, 207.11; 15. Rodger Brogdon, 6.692, 206.13; 16. Ronnie Humphrey, 6.693, 206.83; 17. Larry Morgan, 6.696, 206.80; 18. Kurt Johnson, 6.703, 205.98; 19. Chris McGaha, 6.716, 206.16; 20. Jerry Eckman, 6.727, 205.29; 21. Greg Stanfield, 6.735, 205.16; 22. Richard Freeman, 6.745, 205.79; 23. Kevin Lawrence, 6.745, 204.17; 24. Steve Spiess, 6.767, 203.86; 25. Steve Schmidt, 6.769, 203.49; 26. Lewis Worden, 6.769, 203.43; 27. Dave River, 6.879, 201.13; 28. John Gaydosh Jr, 6.919, 199.82; 29. Mark Hogan, 26.083, 28.60.
Pro Stock Motorcycle
1. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.928, 194.21; 2. Hector Arana Jr, Buell, 6.932, 193.05; 3. Hector Arana, Buell, 6.950, 192.11; 4. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.953, 192.93; 5. Scotty Pollacheck, Buell, 6.978, 188.67; 6. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 6.993, 191.38; 7. Chip Ellis, Buell, 7.010, 190.43; 8. Matt Smith, Buell, 7.019, 190.22; 9. Shawn Gann, Buell, 7.023, 192.28; 10. Mike Berry, Buell, 7.024, 189.52; 11. Jim Underdahl, Suzuki, 7.042, 192.06; 12. LE Tonglet, Suzuki, 7.054, 185.31. Not Qualified: 13. Kieth Burley, 7.059, 189.73; 14. Dawn Minturn, 7.063, 187.47; 15. Michael Ray, 7.084, 189.50; 16. John Hall, 7.118, 187.63; 17. Redell Harris, 7.127, 189.87; 18. Steve Johnson, 7.135, 175.50; 19. Michael Phillips, 7.213, 186.07; 20. Katie Sullivan, 7.247, 183.00; 21. James Surber, 7.364, 185.51.
This story was originally published on September 2, 2012. 
