DALLAS, Tex. (October 14, 2017) The AAA Fall Nationals were certainly action-packed to say the least. Fans at Texas Motorplex got more than they bargained for during final eliminations on Sunday.
Top Fuel
It’s rare that a story other than a win would be at the top of a viewer’s mind. Today was one of those days for this exception. Steve Torrence suffered a major crash in the second round that destroyed his chassis entirely. The left tire gave out right after Torrence’s win light came on and the car took a left turn into the wall. Torrence got out of the car immediately under his own power and amazingly, his crew was able to get their backup car ready for the semis. Despite not winning the race, hats off to Steve Torrence and the whole CAPCO Contractors crew for the display of hard work and determination they put on today.
It was a John Force Racing vs. Kalitta Motorsports matchup in the final. Kalitta’s Shawn Langdon bested Clay Millican, had a bye-run in the second run, and got by Antron Brown on his way to the final. John Force Racing’s Brittany Force beat Terry McMillen, Doug Kalitta, and Steve Torrence before racing Langdon for the Wally. Both drivers made their quickest pass of the day but Force’s was the fastest of the two, 3.681 seconds at 326.87 mph. Langdon gave it his best, 3.693 seconds at 326.56 mph but still came up short. “A lot needed to happen and it seemed to work in our favor; it was about us going rounds. We had [Doug] Kalitta and we had [Steve] Torrence, the two people in front of us and everyone’s been struggling, trying to take them down and they’ve been killing it. When we pulled up there I felt confident that we were gonna turn those win lights on and that’s what we needed to do and we were able to do it and took out [Shawn] Langdon and won the thing,” Force explained. “It’s a huge win, it’s a countdown race and we’re still climbing that ladder.” This is Force’s fourth win of the season and the sixth of her career.
Funny Car
The two most dominant teams in nitro came together for the Funny Car final. Robert Hight represented the JFR corner while defending world champion, Ron Capps held down the DSR corner. Hight defeated Jim Campbell, Alexis Dejoria, and Tim Wilkerson in the earlier rounds of competition. Capps had to take down Del Worsham, John Force, and his teammate, Jack Beckman. Last night, Hight took the No. 1 spot away from Capps during the final qualifying session. He decided to keep that streak going and beat Capps for the race win as well. It was a close race but Hight’s 3.877 second lap at 332.34 mph was too much for Capps’ 3.927 second run at 329.18 mph. “This was huge. Getting that number one spot last night was big so that we had lance choice today, even though I think you coulda won from either lane just about every round. NHRA did a great job [prepping the track,]” said Hight. This is Hight’s fourth win of the season and the 41st of his career.
Pro Stock
The final of Pro Stock came down to a KB Racing vs. Gray Motorsports final. Both teams are juggernauts in the category with a huge shot at winning the title with at least two or more of their drivers who’s in contention for it. KB Racing’s Jason Line drove past Alan Prusiensky, Alex Laughlin, and Brian Self before taking on Drew Skillman of Gray Motorsports. Line was handed the win when Skillman left the starting line .001 seconds before the light turned green. Skillman coasted to the line with a 8.237 second elapsed time at 117.86 mph. Line made his quickest pass of the day with a 6.548 second effort at 211.20 mph. This is KB Racing’s third win in a row. “We are peaking at the right time and hopefully can give Greg [Anderson] and Bo [Butner] and everyone else something to think about for the next couple of weeks,” Line told the media. This is Line’s second win of the season and the forty-seventh of his career.
Pro Stock Motorcycle
The defending world champion, Jerry Savoie, and the current points leader of the class, Eddie Krawiec, went head to head in the final. Savoie got by Gunner Courtney, Joey Gladstone, and Matt Smith before advancing to the final round. Krawiec, who was the pole sitter of this event, faced David Hope, Karen Stoffer, and Scotty Pollacheck before facing Savoie. One could say that Eddie got away with one this time. Krawiec made his slowest pass of the weekend, 9.336 seconds at 92.62 mph, but managed to get the win. Savoie was .018 seconds too quick on the tree and disqualified himself. Savoie didn’t have a great run either, 7.872 seconds at 118.44 mph, but had he been on the positive side of the tree he would’ve rode away with the win. “It’s the drive to get the cowboy hat, that’s basically what it’s all about,” Krawiec grinned. “You know when you get here you need to do well because leaving here kinda sets the tone for how that championship’s gonna shake up and for me I probably put more pressure on myself to do good here and you need to capitalize on it, ” he continued. This is Krawiec’s sixth win of the season and the forty-second of his career.
