John Force, Doug Kalitta, and Jason Line lead the pack at the O’Reily Auto Parts NHRA Northwest Nationals

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John Force earned his third win of the season by racing to the Funny Car victory Sunday at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways. Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel) and Jason Line (Pro Stock) also were winners in their respective categories at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event near Seattle.

 Force defeated former teammate Gary Densham in the final round for his 141st career win. Force registered a run of 4.173 seconds at 302.48 mph in his Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang to defeat Densham’s trailing Chevy Impala, which lost traction early in the run and finished in 5.808 at 120.44. Force has raced to four consecutive finals and has won twice in that stretch.

 “I want to win, that is what it is all about,” Force said. “But we were having so much down there in the staging lanes. I know you are supposed to be serious because it is race day but you are racing a friend. He comes up here on a budget. Look how good he does. Steps up and races with these guys after only being out a few times all year and gets in the finals. I always say ‘If I lose to my teammates I didn’t lose’ and if I had lost to Gary Densham I would not have lost.” 

 With Sunday’s win, John Force Racing swept the daunting Western Swing with its Funny Car teams winning all three events. Robert Hight took home the title in Denver while Courtney Force won in Sonoma.

 Kalitta recorded his second win of the season in Top Fuel, defeating Antron Brown when he powered his Mac Tools dragster to a winning pass of 3.844 at 318.84 to the 3.887 at 311.70 for Brown’s . This is the 35th career win for Kalitta, which ties him with Don Garlits for fifth on the all-time Top Fuel wins list.  

 “I’m real proud of [crew chief] Jim [Oberhofer] and my crew; they’ve given me a consistent car and I just try to do the best I can do,” said Kalitta who also has six runner-up finishes this season.  “The competition out here is tough; it’s really something to even make it to a final. We’ve been banging on the door trying to get another win. Beating Antron for this one was big for us. We’ve just been trying to win rounds but Antron’s been winning a lot, too. He’s got five wins this year, so I’m glad we were able to get another one here today. We’ve got some momentum going into the next few races.”

 Tony Schumacher, who qualified No. 1 was defeated in the semifinals by teammate Brown, but was able to secure his berth in the Countdown to the Championship. He was the only Top Fuel driver to clinch a position in the playoffs at the event.

 In Pro Stock, Line ousted teammate Greg Anderson in the finals to claim his third career win at Seattle. Line, in his Summit Racing Equipment Chevy Camaro, defeated Anderson on a holeshot with a run of 6.611 at 210.67 to Anderson’s losing effort of 6.608 at 210.54. Anderson, on the strength of his runner-up finish moved into the Top 10 in the Countdown to the Championship point standings for the first time this season. Anderson missed the first five events of 2014 recuperating from open heart surgery.

 “It was a very good day for KB Racing,” Line said. “We got both cars to the final and Greg got in the top 10. He’s not going to look back from there. He’s got a great car. I was good when I needed to be today. The car wasn’t great, but it was good enough. I guess the racing gods owed me one today. It feels good to get another win. I’ve never won three races in a row though, so we’ll see what happens at Brainerd.”

 Pro Stock drivers Shane Gray and Vincent Nobile also secured positions in the Countdown during the event.

Below is the final finish order (1-16) at the 27th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Northwest Nationals presented by Super Start Batteries at Pacific Raceways.  The race is the 16th of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.

 

TOP FUEL:

1.  Doug Kalitta; 2.  Antron Brown; 3.  Tony Schumacher; 4.  Shawn Langdon; 5.  Steve Torrence; 6.  Troy Buff; 7.  Khalid alBalooshi; 8.  Richie Crampton; 9.  Brittany Force; 10.  Clay Millican; 11.  Spencer Massey; 12.  Terry McMillen; 13.  Mike Salinas; 14.  J.R. Todd; 15.  Bob Vandergriff; 16.  Jenna Haddock.

 

FUNNY CAR:

1.  John Force; 2.  Gary Densham; 3.  Alexis DeJoria; 4.  Matt Hagan; 5.  Cruz Pedregon; 6.  Tim Wilkerson; 7.  Robert Hight; 8.  Jack Beckman; 9.  Tommy Johnson Jr.; 10.  Ron Capps; 11.  Jeff Diehl; 12.  Del Worsham; 13.  Terry Haddock; 14.  Tony Pedregon; 15.  Bob Tasca III; 16.  Courtney Force.

 

PRO STOCK:

1.  Jason Line; 2.  Greg Anderson; 3.  Shane Gray; 4.  Allen Johnson; 5.  Dave Connolly; 6.  Jonathan Gray; 7.  V. Gaines; 8.  Jeg Coughlin; 9.  Chris McGaha; 10.  Deric Kramer; 11.  Matt Hartford; 12.  Larry Morgan; 13.  Vincent Nobile; 14.  Mark Wolfe; 15.  Travis Mazza.

 

Sunday’s final results from the 27th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Northwest Nationals presented by Super Start Batteries at Pacific Raceways. The race is the 16th of 24 in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series:

Top Fuel — Doug Kalitta, 3.844 seconds, 318.84 mph  def. Antron Brown, 3.887 seconds, 311.70 mph.

 

Funny Car — John Force, Ford Mustang, 4.173, 302.48  def. Gary Densham, Chevy Impala, 5.808, 120.44.

 

Pro Stock — Jason Line, Chevy Camaro, 6.611, 210.67  def. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.608, 210.54.

 

Top Alcohol Dragster — Joey Severance, 5.238, 273.11  def. Chris Demke, 5.251, 273.00.

 

Top Alcohol Funny Car — Doug Gordon, Ford Mustang, 5.609, 256.55  def. Sean Bellemeur, Chevy Camaro, 5.650, 254.38.

 

Competition Eliminator — Brandon Huhtala, Pontiac GXP, 7.600, 146.89  def. Ryan Warter, Chevy Camaro, foul.

 

Super Stock — Terry Anderson, Chevy Nova, 10.076, 131.28  def. Alan Falcone, Chevy Cavalier, 9.380, 134.97.

 

Stock Eliminator — Tim Fletcher, Chevy Camaro, 11.148, 110.09  def. Mick Alley, Camaro, 10.488, 126.27.

 

Super Comp — Marc Heritage, Dragster, 8.899, 174.17  def. Rodger Comstock, Dragster, 8.884, 176.51.

 

Super Gas — Mike Shannon, Chevy Corvette, 9.920, 145.66  def. Tanner Hiatt, Corvette, 9.914, 159.51.

 

Super Street — Kyle Colletti, Chevy, 10.899, 147.52  def. John Ermish, Chevelle, broke.

 

These are the final round-by-round results from the 27th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Northwest Nationals presented by Super Start Batteries at Pacific Raceways, the 16th of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series:

 

TOP FUEL:

ROUND ONE — Khalid alBalooshi, 3.809, 319.22 def. Brittany Force, 3.841, 314.31; Richie Crampton, 3.843, 317.27 def. Terry McMillen, 3.898, 316.75; Shawn Langdon, 3.787, 317.12 def. Clay Millican, 3.870, 309.77; Tony Schumacher, 3.828, 319.37 def. Jenna Haddock, 13.039, 76.94; Doug Kalitta, 3.794, 320.36 def. Mike Salinas, 4.114, 293.41; Antron Brown, 3.828, 317.79 def. Bob Vandergriff, foul; Troy Buff, 3.816, 312.78 def. Spencer Massey, 3.880, 292.39; Steve Torrence, 3.932, 310.55 def. J.R. Todd, 4.140, 211.36;

QUARTERFINALS — Brown, 3.866, 309.77 def. Crampton, 10.822, 70.61; Schumacher, 3.840, 313.88 def. Torrence, 3.909, 310.70; Kalitta, 3.864, 314.09 def. Buff, 3.996, 294.69; Langdon, 3.983, 240.89 def. alBalooshi, 3.997, 299.86;

SEMIFINALS — Kalitta, 4.032, 268.17 def. Langdon, 4.112, 262.39; Brown, 3.883, 312.13 def. Schumacher, 3.944, 295.66;

FINAL — Kalitta, 3.844, 318.84 def. Brown, 3.887, 311.70.

 

FUNNY CAR:

ROUND ONE — John Force, Ford Mustang, 4.102, 307.58 def. Jeff Diehl, Toyota Solara, 4.354, 282.36; Gary Densham, Chevy Impala, 4.314, 286.86 def. Courtney Force, Mustang, 6.564, 98.66; Matt Hagan, Dodge Charger, 4.109, 306.26 def. Terry Haddock, Impala, 4.583, 209.88; Alexis DeJoria, Toyota Camry, 4.140, 300.40 def. Tony Pedregon, Camry, 4.663, 171.23; Jack Beckman, Charger, 4.176, 295.59 def. Tommy Johnson Jr., Charger, 4.164, 302.75; Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.112, 305.98 def. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 4.918, 161.23; Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.134, 302.75 def. Del Worsham, Camry, 4.457, 219.44; Cruz Pedregon, Camry, 4.109, 304.05 def. Ron Capps, Charger, 4.171, 297.02;

QUARTERFINALS — DeJoria, 4.202, 293.22 def. Beckman, 4.385, 230.45; J. Force, 4.161, 302.48 def. C. Pedregon, 4.184, 296.37; Hagan, 4.241, 278.98 def. Hight, 4.287, 263.20; Densham, 4.184, 278.46 def. Wilkerson, 4.228, 294.69;

SEMIFINALS — Densham, 4.236, 288.89 def. Hagan, 4.285, 283.67; J. Force, 4.301, 258.42 def. DeJoria, 4.252, 277.72;

FINAL — J. Force, 4.173, 302.48 def. Densham, 5.808, 120.44.

 

PRO STOCK:

ROUND ONE — Dave Connolly, Chevy Camaro, 6.560, 210.73 def. Vincent Nobile, Camaro, 6.666, 209.26; Jonathan Gray, Camaro, 6.578, 210.83 def. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.605, 210.08; V. Gaines, Dodge Dart, 6.581, 210.93 def. Matt Hartford, Dodge Avenger, 6.622, 209.65; Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.556, 211.63 def. Deric Kramer, Avenger, foul; Jason Line, Camaro, 6.555, 211.16 def. Mark Wolfe, Ford Mustang, 6.810, 205.94; Allen Johnson, Dart, 6.546, 211.30 was unopposed; Shane Gray, Camaro, 6.544, 211.43 def. Travis Mazza, Mustang, 7.543, 133.88; Jeg Coughlin, Dart, 6.565, 210.67 def. Larry Morgan, Mustang, 6.646, 208.17;

QUARTERFINALS — Anderson, 6.571, 211.30 def. Coughlin, 12.185, 54.52; Line, 6.579, 210.73 def. Gaines, 6.593, 210.77; Johnson, 6.569, 210.87 def. Connolly, 6.589, 210.28; S. Gray, 6.574, 210.87 def. J. Gray, 6.591, 210.24;

SEMIFINALS — Line, 6.606, 210.24 def. S. Gray, 6.625, 210.05; Anderson, 6.586, 210.90 def. Johnson, 16.159, 51.08;

FINAL — Line, 6.611, 210.67 def. Anderson, 6.608, 210.54.

 

Here are the point standings (top 10) following the 27th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Northwest Nationals presented by Super Start Batteries at Pacific Raceways, the 16th of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series –

 

Top Fuel

1.  Doug Kalitta, 1,345*; 2.  Antron Brown, 1,269*; 3.  Shawn Langdon, 1,146*; 4.  Tony Schumacher, 999*; 5.  Steve Torrence, 920; 6.  Spencer Massey, 895; 7.  Brittany Force, 856; 8.  Khalid alBalooshi, 855; 9.  Richie Crampton, 808; 10.  J.R. Todd, 774.

 

Funny Car

1.  Robert Hight, 1,271*; 2.  John Force, 1,224*; 3.  Ron Capps, 989; 4.  Courtney Force, 980; 5.  Tommy Johnson Jr., 975; 6.  Alexis DeJoria, 961; 7.  Matt Hagan, 949; 8.  Cruz Pedregon, 894; 9.  Del Worsham, 848; 10.  Tim Wilkerson, 815.

 

Pro Stock

1.  Erica Enders-Stevens, 1,229*; 2.  Allen Johnson, 1,197*; 3.  Jason Line, 1,192*; 4.  Jeg Coughlin, 1,128*; 5.  Dave Connolly, 1,075*; 6.  Shane Gray, 1,015*; 7.  Vincent Nobile, 959*; 8.  V. Gaines, 742; 9.  Chris McGaha, 718; 10.  Greg Anderson, 647.

 

The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series has the weekend off but NHRA fans can still get their fill of their favorite sport with three programs airing on ESPN2 Aug. 9-10. Action from the recent NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event in Seattle airs Sunday, Aug. 10, at noon ET. In addition, episodes of NHRA Thrills and Spills air on Saturday, Aug. 9, at 11 a.m. and on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series continues Aug. 14-17 with the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway, Brainerd, Minn.

Adam Sinclair
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