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Tasca, Bernstein, Johnson No. 1 at Thunder Valley
Brandon Bernstein topped the field in the Top Fuel ladder while Allen Johnson led the Pro Stock class. After rain soaked the track between the third and fourth qualifying sessions, the track temperatures dropped and records began to fall, with new records being set in Top Fuel and Funny Car. Tasca backed up his earlier run from Friday with 4.056 at 314.31 mph in the final qualifying session to break both the track ET and speed records and nail his second career no. 1 qualifier spot.
Matt Hagan hung on for the second position with a 4.082 at 308.07 mph, followed my Mike Neff (4.085/311.99), Jack Beckman (4.087/311.70) and Tim Wilkerson (4.087/306.53), all of whom bested the track speed record of 304.94 mph set by Ashley Force Hood in May, 2009. Wilkerson’s son Daniel qualified in the bump spot and will face Tasca in the opening round. Brian Thiel was the only driver to miss the field.
“This felt really great,” Bernstein said. “We knew that (Dixon’s crew chief) Alan Johnson was going to throw everything after it, and I figured that my Friday night time wasn’t going to stand up under the cooler conditions after the rain delay. But my guys, (crew chiefs) Todd Smith and Donnie Bender, told me that we were going to go for it, and my dad (team owner Kenny Bernstein) just told me to make sure and keep it in the groove. We really feel that we have a real race car right now. There’s a lot of satisfaction knowing that we can go fast when we really have to. It’s a good feeling to have someone take the No. 1 spot away from you and then get it back.” Dixon took the second position with a 3.831 at 319.37 mph. Spencer Massey (3.852/321.73), Doug Kalitta (3.856/320.66) and Antron Brown (3.864/317.12) rounded out the top five. Austin Lambright claimed the 16th qualifying spot while Troy Buff missed the show. Allen Johnson jumped up from the third qualifying spot to nab the top spot in the final Pro Stock qualifying session, pairing with Mike Edwards in the final run of the day and beating out the defending event winner with a 6.668 at 206.89 mph to win his first no.1 qualifier of the season and 16th of his career. Edwards still held second with a 6.678/206.42, ahead of Rodger Brogdon (6.696/206.45), Erica Enders (6.700/206.04) and Ron Krisher (6.705/205.91). Feedback can be sent to feedback@autoracing1.com Go to our forums to discuss this article |
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