Bob Tasca raced to the Funny Car qualifying lead Friday at the Ford NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals presented by Tri-Cities Area Ford Dealers at Bristol Dragway. Antron Brown (Top Fuel) and Tennessee native Allen Johnson (Pro Stock) also were qualifying leaders at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event.
Tasca powered his Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Ford Mustang to the qualifying lead with his 4.063 second pass at 310.48 mph during Friday’s second qualifying session at Bristol Dragway. If Tasca holds onto the No. 1 qualifying position through Saturday it will be his first No. 1 of the season, second consecutive at Bristol and third of his career.
“I don’t know what it is with Bristol, but I love racing here at Thunder Valley,” Tasca said. “We’ve been looking for that run for the pole here for the last couple of races. Dickie [Venables], Chris [Cunningham], and Marc [Denner] are really working together, getting this car smooth.
“This thing’s been shaking for the last four or five races, and I couldn’t even see for about 200 feet. When I got back, I said, ‘Fellas, you finally gave me a race car that I can see now, see the groove and keep the car dead in the center.’ I think it will hold. With the sun out the way it’s going to be, I think that .06 is going to be safe for the pole.”
Tasca’s Ford Racing teammate Mike Neff raced his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang to the second qualifying position Friday evening with his 4.072 second pass at 310.70 mph and Jack Beckman race his Valvoline NextGen Dodge Charger to the No. 3 position with his 4.077 second pass at 310.12 mph.
Antron Brown
Brown set both ends of the Top Fuel track record in his Aaron’s dragster during his second qualifying attempt Friday night under the lights at Bristol Dragway with his 3.814 second pass at 323.12 mph. If Brown remains the qualifying leader through Saturday’s qualifying sessions it will be his second of the season and 31st of his career.
“It was definitely a great way to get the weekend started,” Brown said. “When we came in here, we saw everybody in front of us starting to throw down. Terry McMillen threw that run out there. Man, he really opened some people’s eyes up, and then we saw some big hitters not make it down, so I saw Mark [Oswald] and Brian [Corradi, crew chiefs] get a little tentative like, ‘You know what, we want to at least go down because we want to try and be in the top half of the field.’
“Tony [Schumacher] and the U.S. Army team, they did the same thing. We both just went down there and made some solid runs and we snuck up there into those Nos. 1 and 2 spots. It feels really good. That was a real good pass for us, and hopefully that will bring us some luck going into Sunday because Lord knows it’s been rough on us the last three races. This would be a great race to break back out again, and it feels good to get that run down. It’s definitely an ego booster, a mind booster, and a team booster.”
Brown’s DSR teammate Tony Schumacher raced his U.S. Army dragster to the No. 2 qualifying spot with his 3.822 second pass at 320.66 mph Friday night. Terry McMillen powered his Amalie Oil/Wolverine Dragster to the third qualifying position with the quickest pass of his career, 3.823 seconds at 315.27 mph.
Allen Johnson
Local favorite Allen Johnson set a track record in the factory hot rod class when he powered his Mopar Dodge Avenger to the qualifying lead with his 6.623 second pass at 207.75 mph Friday night under the lights at Bristol Dragway. If Johnson holds onto the No. 1 position it will be his third consecutive at the event.
“It’s just such a blessing to be back here in Bristol with the fans and our employees who support us and get to see what we enjoy all year,” Johnson said. “The Mopar Dodge Avenger is absolutely hitting on all eight cylinders right now. I didn’t even know that this could be our third time qualifying No. 1 at Bristol or that we set a new track record either. Everything we do here at home is just an awesome experience.”
Johnson’s Dodge teammate Vincent Nobile sits third heading into Saturday’s qualifying with his 6.667 second pass at 207.02 mph while Mike Edwards is second thanks to his 6.641 second pass at 207.27 mph.
Qualifying continues Saturday with sessions at noon and 2:30 p.m. Sunday’s eliminations start at 11 a.m.
(Photos courtesy NHRA/National Dragster; Click to enlarge)
BRISTOL, Tenn. — Friday’s results (June 15) after the first two of four rounds of qualifying for the 12th annual Ford NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals presented by Tri-Cities Area Ford Dealers at Bristol Dragway, the 10th of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Qualifying will continue Saturday for Sunday’s final eliminations.
Top Fuel
1. Antron Brown, 3.814 seconds, 323.12 mph; 2. Tony Schumacher, 3.822, 320.66; 3. Terry McMillen, 3.823, 315.27; 4. Doug Kalitta, 3.835, 321.81; 5. Hillary Will, 3.837, 308.35; 6. Steve Torrence, 3.840, 318.02; 7. Spencer Massey, 3.844, 321.58; 8. Bob Vandergriff, 3.855, 315.78; 9. Shawn Langdon, 3.855, 315.12; 10. Clay Millican, 3.870, 314.61; 11. David Grubnic, 3.870, 312.42; 12. Bruce Litton, 3.881, 309.34. Not Qualified: 13. Cory McClenathan, 3.893, 303.64; 14. Morgan Lucas, 3.900, 303.78; 15. Khalid alBalooshi, 3.907, 313.44; 16. Brandon Bernstein, 3.913, 298.93; 17. Scott Palmer, 3.954, 299.33; 18. Dom Lagana, 3.958, 302.28; 19. Pat Dakin, 4.013, 291.19; 20. Chris Karamesines, 4.173, 245.27; 21. Ike Maier, 4.612, 173.25.
Funny Car
1. Bob Tasca III, Ford Mustang, 4.063, 310.48; 2. Mike Neff, Mustang, 4.072, 310.70; 3. Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger, 4.077, 310.13; 4. Ron Capps, Charger, 4.091, 303.43; 5. John Force, Mustang, 4.094, 312.71; 6. Matt Hagan, Charger, 4.096, 307.79; 7. Jeff Arend, Toyota Camry, 4.110, 309.63; 8. Johnny Gray, Charger, 4.120, 309.56; 9. Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.124, 304.12; 10. Jim Head, Toyota Solara, 4.128, 305.49; 11. Tony Pedregon, Camry, 4.130, 306.26; 12. Courtney Force, Mustang, 4.162, 302.08. Not Qualified: 13. Bob Bode, 4.185, 290.76; 14. Alexis DeJoria, 4.193, 270.48; 15. Blake Alexander, 4.215, 257.92; 16. Tim Wilkerson, 4.257, 293.73; 17. Cruz Pedregon, 4.296, 223.69; 18. Todd Lesenko, 4.299, 282.78.
Pro Stock
1. Allen Johnson, Dodge Avenger, 6.623, 207.75; 2. Mike Edwards, Pontiac GXP, 6.641, 207.27; 3. Vincent Nobile, Avenger, 6.667, 207.02; 4. V. Gaines, Avenger, 6.673, 206.01; 5. Jason Line, GXP, 6.678, 206.04; 6. Rodger Brogdon, GXP, 6.678, 204.60; 7. Greg Anderson, Chevy Camaro, 6.680, 206.04; 8. Ronnie Humphrey, GXP, 6.680, 205.88; 9. Jeg Coughlin, Avenger, 6.693, 206.16; 10. Warren Johnson, GXP, 6.700, 204.85; 11. Ron Krisher, GXP, 6.703, 204.98; 12. Kurt Johnson, GXP, 6.708, 205.16. Not Qualified: 13. Erica Enders, 6.720, 203.58; 14. JR Carr, 6.722, 204.08; 15. Shane Gray, 6.725, 203.49; 16. Larry Morgan, 6.726, 204.82; 17. Grace Howell, 6.767, 203.31.
This story was originally published on June 16, 2012. 
