Millican, Johnson Jr, Anderson and Krawiec Tops in Charlotte Qualifying

The Make-A-Wish car is sponsored by Terry Chandler to increase awareness

(CONCORD, NC – SEP 19, 2015 – RIS) Clay Millican and Tommy Johnson, Jr held onto their number one qualifying positions in Top Fuel and Funny Car after the second day of qualifying for the NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway. In Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle, Greg Anderson held onto his No. One spot from Friday and Eddie Krawiec displaced Friday's top runner Jerry Savoie.

Johnson's first day's time of 3.971/312.42 set a track Funny Car record. "In the Countdown you take every point you can," Johnson said. "We earned seven points in qualifying and at the end of the year that might be big. I believe that the 4.07 today in the third session was even more impressive than the No. 1 run last night based on where the competition was at. We have a lot of confidence going into tomorrow knowing no matter what the conditions are we can really use the data we got today and can have them covered that much tomorrow."

Second place qualifier in FC is Del Worsham, with a 3.993/318.32 pass. Johnson's first round opponent in Sunday's eliminations will be Bob Gilbertson, while Dave Richards will face off against Worsham. Crowd favorite John Force qualified sixth, at 4.004/313.80 and will face John Hale in the first round.

Millican, just out of the top ten competitors in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship, scored his career third top qualifying place with Friday's 3.758/318.77 pass. "Today was a nail-biter, I kept saying, please stay hot, please stay hot," said the driver of the Parts Plus/Great Clips rail. "All the credit goes to the team because they tuned the car and put it together. I am just proud of this group. It's a brand new race team out here and to go to number one, it's really impressive."

"We gained a few small qualifying points on Erica Enders," Pro Stock top qualifier Greg Anderson said. "We were side-by-side on each run and I hope that's a prelude to tomorrow. I'm a little surprised to get my first No. 1 here but we had a good test session here last weekend so I feel like I've got an even better set-up for this track. It's going to be hot tomorrow but I'm not one bit scared. I plan on riding this baby to the finish line and hopefully I can make four good quality runs." Anderson's time of 6.524/212.26 headed the door slammer brigade.

Second place qualifier in Pro Stock is rookie Bo Butner, at 6.533/211.66, just three thousandths of a second quicker than current Countdown top seed Erica Enders' lap of 6.536/211.83.

Pro Stock Motorcycle top qualifier Eddie Krawiec rode his Screamin' Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson to a final qualifying round 6.851/194.38 in scoring his third season top position and 26th career pole. "The key out here is to get better every run," Krawiec said. "I am definitely excited because I have a great Harley-Davidson going into tomorrow and that's all I can ask for, is to start from the No. 1 spot and keep moving forward."

Sunday's first-round pairings for eliminations for the Eighth annual NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway, the second of six playoff races in the Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship and the 19th of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs listed below pairings.

Top Fuel -- 1. Clay Millican, 3.758 seconds, 318.77 mph vs. Bye; 2. Tony Schumacher, 3.774, 319.75 vs. 15. Chris Karamesines, 4.494, 183.94; 3. Steve Torrence, 3.786, 320.36 vs. 14. Richie Crampton, 4.021, 278.92; 4. Leah Pritchett, 3.803, 319.45 vs. 13. Pat Dakin, 3.931, 277.26; 5. Larry Dixon, 3.839, 316.60 vs. 12. Brittany Force, 3.902, 308.21; 6. Antron Brown, 3.852, 311.05 vs. 11. Terry McMillen, 3.886, 314.68; 7. Dave Connolly, 3.859, 307.58 vs. 10. Doug Kalitta, 3.881, 314.17; 8. J.R. Todd, 3.860, 314.61 vs. 9. Shawn Langdon, 3.868, 315.86.

Funny Car -- 1. Tommy Johnson Jr., Dodge Charger, 3.971, 312.42 vs. 16. Bob Gilbertson, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.812, 214.42; 2. Del Worsham, Toyota Camry, 3.993, 318.32 vs. 15. Dave Richards, Toyota Solara, 4.582, 293.15; 3. Ron Capps, Charger, 3.994, 317.34 vs. 14. Tony Pedregon, Camry, 4.243, 280.72; 4. Tim Wilkerson, Ford Mustang, 4.003, 318.32 vs. 13. Alexis DeJoria, Camry, 4.208, 293.54; 5. Robert Hight, Chey Camaro, 4.004, 313.95 vs. 12. Shane Westerfield, Charger, 4.204, 291.63; 6. John Force, Chevy Camaro, 4.004, 313.80 vs. 11. John Hale, Charger, 4.198, 272.94; 7. Matt Hagan, Charger, 4.015, 314.02 vs. 10. Cruz Pedregon, Camry, 4.079, 302.28; 8. Jack Beckman, Charger, 4.022, 307.86 vs. 9. Courtney Force, Camaro, 4.062, 307.86. Did Not Qualify: 17. Chad Head, 5.623, 276.01.

Pro Stock -- 1. Greg Anderson, Chevy Camaro, 6.524, 212.26 vs. 16. Wally Stroupe, Camaro, 6.956, 200.14; 2. Bo Butner, Camaro, 6.533, 211.66 vs. 15. John Gaydosh Jr, Chevrolet Camaro, 6.671, 207.94; 3. Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.536, 211.83 vs. 14. V. Gaines, Dodge Dart, 6.670, 210.05; 4. Shane Gray, Camaro, 6.545, 211.83 vs. 13. Kenny Delco, Camaro, 6.613, 208.65; 5. Larry Morgan, Camaro, 6.548, 211.76 vs. 12. Alex Laughlin, Camaro, 6.604, 209.98; 6. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.551, 211.06 vs. 11. Jonathan Gray, Camaro, 6.581, 210.18; 7. Jason Line, Camaro, 6.556, 211.56 vs. 10. Allen Johnson, Dart, 6.564, 210.73; 8. Drew Skillman, Camaro, 6.559, 211.26 vs. 9. Vincent Nobile, Camaro, 6.563, 211.26.

Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.851, 194.38 vs. 16. Angie Smith, Victory, 6.984, 188.44; 2. Jerry Savoie, Suzuki, 6.862, 195.99 vs. 15. Shawn Gann, Buell, 6.980, 191.89; 3. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.869, 195.85 vs. 14. Chaz Kennedy, Buell, 6.963, 191.08; 4. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 6.886, 195.00 vs. 13. Redell Harris, Buell, 6.959, 191.65; 5. Matt Smith, Victory, 6.889, 192.58 vs. 12. Hector Arana Jr, Buell, 6.943, 193.35; 6. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.902, 193.63 vs. 11. Hector Arana, Buell, 6.935, 193.82; 7. Chip Ellis, Buell, 6.912, 193.57 vs. 10. Angelle Sampey, Buell, 6.928, 192.00; 8. LE Tonglet, Suzuki, 6.920, 193.57 vs. 9. Jim Underdahl, Suzuki, 6.924, 194.94. Did Not Qualify: 17. Scotty Pollacheck, 7.059, 190.92; 18. Mike Berry, 7.149, 186.15; 19. Andrew Patterson, 7.455, 165.76; 20. Lance Bonham, 7.848, 183.92.

-XXX-

John Davison

Long-time RIS staffer, beginning in the mid-80s. Charlotte, NC area local contact.

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Volume 2015, Issue 8, Posted 10:36 PM, 09.19.2015