INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (September 2, 2017) It was a busy day here at Lucas Oil Raceway for the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals. In addition to two qualifying sessions for the four professional cateogries, Pro Stock had their “Battle of the Burnouts” and Top Fuel ran their specialty race the Traxxas Nitro Shootout. Unlike yesterday’s cool and cloudy weather, the sun was out for the majority of the day until it went west for the end Q3.
Top Fuel
Clay Millican has the low elapsed time of the event with his Q3 pass of 3.663 seconds at 329.10 mph, taking the spot away from Leah Pritchett, who is now in second. “After Brainerd, David Grubnic (Millican’s crew chief) has been working on a new combination for this car and he’s been trying and testing…he finally kinda got it where he wanted it,” Millican explained. Millican also reset the track ET record with his Q3 pass. Pritchett didn’t improve her run of 3.667 seconds at 329.50 mph from yesterday’s first qualifying session. Provisional No. 3 qualifier, Doug Kalitta was also unable to run quicker than he did yesterday. Kalitta’s 3.682 second run at 329.42 mph still stands. Antron Brown, Steve Torrence, Bob Vandergriff, Brittany Force, and Tony Schumacher are also qualified in the top eight in the field.
Funny Car
Matt Hagan’s track ET record of 3.799 seconds that he set in Q1 could not be topped in either of today’s qualifying sessions, but Robert Hight got close. Hight, who was in the last pair down the track in Q3, made a 3.807 second run at 333.91 mph to take the provisional off-pole position. Courtney Force is still in third but made a quicker run in Q3 to hang onto her current rung on the ladder. Force powered down the racetrack in 3.837 seconds at 334.9 mph. John Force, Jack Beckman, J.R. Todd, Jonnie Lindberg, and Alexis Dejoria are the provisional quick eight qualifiers.
Pro Stock
In the third qualifying session, Greg Anderson leap-frogged Tanner Gray for the provisional pole. Anderson made a nice 6.561 second run at 210.11 mph. “I made beautiful run there in [Q3], I didn’t leave much on the table. I was great at the 60 foot, the car was perfectly straight, good attitude and everything. Really there wasn’t much left so I think I got it all. It’s gonna be tough to get around, ” Anderson told the media. Tanner Gray off-pole with his Q1 effort of 6.566 seconds at 209.88 mph. Drew Skillman knocked a thousandth of a second off of his Q1 time of 6.571 seconds to a new 6.570 second lap at 209.33 mph, but still sits in third. Bo Butner, Alex Laughlin, Chris McGaha, Johnny Gray, and Matt Hartford are currently on the top half of the qualifying ladder. Shane Gray managed to pick up 200 points towards the grand prize of the Battle of the Burnouts as well as a new set of Goodyear racing slicks. Alex Laughlin was the runner-up of the second round but still has 100 points to his name in hopes of winning the $5,000 grand prize tomorrow.
Pro Stock Motorcycle
Many riders made improvements upon their Q1 times from yesterday in both qualifying sessions today. Eddie Krawiec took the top spot away from his Vance & Hines teammate, Andrew Hines. Krawiec made a 6.822 second pass at 196.62 mph in Q3. “Our bikes are performing well and it’s been a little bit of a struggle since we debuted them. We’ve made a lot of different chassis changes as the season has gone forward. It’s been a little bit of a challenge, a little bit of a struggle but we finally felt that we’ve turned a corner with them and that’s basically a tribute to our crew. We have a great group of guys behind us and it takes a lot of effort out here. It’s not just one person, I’m just the individual on the motorcycle,” said Krawiec.
Hines is still second with his Q1 time from yesterday of 6.825 seconds. Matt Smith moved up five spots from yesterday into the third position with his 6.840 second run at 196.02 mph. Scotty Pollacheck, Hector Arana Jr., Jerry Savoie, LE Tonglet, and Chip Ellis currently help fill out the provisional top eight.
