Record-Breaking Run at Maple Grove on Friday Starts Mopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals on a High Note

MOHNTON, PA – September 14, 2019 – (Motor Sports NewsWire) –  Ron Capps powered to the top of the Funny Car category on Friday when he set both ends of the Maple Grove Raceway track record during the 35th annual Mopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals presented by Pennzoil.

Capps, who is chasing his second title at Maple Grove, ran a 3.837-second lap at 339.28 mph in his NAPA Filters Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to go to the provisional No. 1 spot and set a new elapsed time and speed record at Maple Grove Raceway at the first race of the NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

If his top qualifying position holds, it will be Capps’ second No. 1 qualifier of the season and 24th of his NHRA career.

“We knew there was a lot there,” Capps said. “Then we saw an high .80 (run) by (Bob) Tasca and a couple 90s and it paid off being at the back of the pack. We have the new Hellcat body and we really trimmed it out. We really did a lot of things because we ran so good the first lap. It really gave us the chance to try to see what we could do, not just here, but at other Countdown races.”

Tasca III trails Capps in second, while Tommy Johnson Jr. rounds out the top three.

Brittany Force (Top Fuel), Erica Enders (Pro Stock) and Angelle Sampey (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also provisional No. 1 qualifiers in their respective categories at the 19th event of the 2019 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season.

Top Fuel’s Force drove her Advance Auto Parts dragster to a 3.651 at 332.92 mph to set the track elapsed time record. If it holds up on Saturday, it will be Force’s seventh No. 1 of the season.

In Pro Stock, Enders went 6.480at 211.96 to take the provisional No. 1 spot in her Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro. Enders is aiming for her first top qualifier of 2019.

Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Sampey raced to the top spot on her Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson, going 6.864 at 194.63. It would be Sampey’s second No. 1 qualifier of the season.

Qualifying continues Saturday at the Mopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals at 12:45 p.m. ET.

MOHNTON, PA — Friday’s results after the first two of four rounds of qualifying for the 35th annual Mopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals presented by Pennzoil at Maple Grove Raceway, 19th of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. Qualifying will continue Saturday for Sunday’s final eliminations.

Top Fuel — 1. Brittany Force, 3.651 seconds, 332.92 mph; 2. Leah Pritchett, 3.673, 332.92; 3. Richie Crampton, 3.689, 328.14; 4. Antron Brown, 3.689, 323.81; 5. Doug Kalitta, 3.695, 331.45; 6. Austin Prock, 3.697, 328.94; 7. Mike Salinas, 3.698, 320.36; 8. Clay Millican, 3.702, 319.14; 9. Jordan Vandergriff, 3.712, 325.77; 10. Smax Smith, 4.578, 197.68; 11. Billy Torrence, 6.901, 88.67; 12. Terry McMillen, 7.476, 89.43; 13. Dan Mercier, 8.174, 86.46; 14. Lex Joon, 8.751, 77.78; 15. Steve Torrence, 9.301, 79.74; 16. Todd Paton, 9.993, 66.59.

Funny Car — 1. Ron Capps, Dodge Charger, 3.837, 339.28; 2. Bob Tasca III, Ford Mustang, 3.898, 335.32; 3. Tommy Johnson Jr., Charger, 3.905, 326.95; 4. J.R. Todd, Toyota Camry, 3.916, 314.17; 5. Matt Hagan, Charger, 3.940, 329.75; 6. Terry Haddock, Mustang, 4.094, 303.37; 7. Jim Campbell, Charger, 4.427, 223.69; 8. Robert Hight, Chevy Camaro, 4.436, 285.65; 9. Mike McIntire, 4.708, 176.21; 10. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 5.070, 169.08; 11. Jack Beckman, Charger, 5.761, 133.10; 12. Mike Smith, Dodge Stratus, 7.192, 111.19; 13. Jonnie Lindberg, Mustang, 7.338, 89.29; 14. John Force, Camaro, 8.116, 79.95; 15. Cruz Pedregon, Charger, 8.263, 86.09; 16. John Smith, Charger, 8.690, 77.46.
Not Qualified: 17. Shawn Langdon, 12.067, 67.57.

Pro Stock — 1. Erica Enders, Chevy Camaro, 6.480, 211.96; 2. Alex Laughlin, Camaro, 6.486, 212.19; 3. Jason Line, Camaro, 6.489, 212.49; 4. Deric Kramer, Camaro, 6.491, 211.46; 5. Jeg Coughlin, Camaro, 6.499, 212.03; 6. Bo Butner, Camaro, 6.511, 212.06; 7. Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.513, 210.87; 8. Kenny Delco, Camaro, 6.525, 210.87; 9. Fernando Cuadra, Camaro, 6.528, 211.59; 10. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.535, 211.30; 11. Bob Benza, Camaro, 6.584, 200.77; 12. Wally Stroupe, Camaro, 6.598, 209.62; 13. Aaron Stanfield, Camaro, 7.365, 121.28; 14. Alan Prusiensky, Dodge Dart, 7.417, 143.26; 15. David Miller, Dart, 8.861, 108.51; 16. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 10.594, 84.97.
Not Qualified: 17. Val Smeland, 17.226, 102.84.

Pro Stock Motorcycle — 1. Angelle Sampey, Harley-Davidson, 6.761, 197.51; 2. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.774, 198.64; 3. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 6.790, 198.90; 4. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.810, 196.24; 5. Hector Arana Jr, EBR, 6.812, 197.97; 6. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.812, 197.88; 7. Jerry Savoie, Suzuki, 6.813, 196.44; 8. Matt Smith, EBR, 6.824, 199.52; 9. Scotty Pollacheck, EBR, 6.848, 196.47; 10. Hector Arana, EBR, 6.855, 197.62; 11. Angie Smith, EBR, 6.857, 197.16; 12. Ryan Oehler, EBR, 6.911, 194.38; 13. Kelly Clontz, Suzuki, 6.919, 193.65; 14. Ron Tornow, Buell, 7.041, 187.73; 15. Michael Ray, Victory, 7.215, 159.76; 16. Jianna Salinas, Suzuki, 7.438, 181.08.

About NHRA

Headquartered in Glendora, Calif., NHRA is the primary sanctioning body for the sport of drag racing in the United States. NHRA presents 24 national events featuring the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, and E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by J&A Service. NHRA provides competition opportunities for drivers of all levels in the NHRA Summit Racing Series and the NHRA Drags: Street Legal Style presented by AAA. NHRA also offers NHRA Jr. Street program for teens and the Summit Racing Jr. Drag Racing League for youth ages 5 to 17. In addition, NHRA owns and operates four racing facilities: Atlanta Dragway in Georgia; Gainesville Raceway in Florida; Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis; and Auto Club Raceway at Pomona in Southern California. For more information, log on to NHRA.com, or visit the official NHRA pages on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

Source: National Hot Rod Association

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