Brown, Pedregon, Skillman, Ellis Fastest at Route 66

Antron Brown

Saturday’s qualifying sessions were all but a washout with afternoon showers pushing the third round qualifying into the late evening. Only one round of qualifying was completed before the more rain moved in and officials pulled the plug.

Hardly anyone was able to improve on their position on Saturday, with the top qualifiers from the top four divisions standing pat on their qualifying times from Friday’s sessions.

Defending Top Fuel winner Antron Brown collected his fourth pole of the season with a record-breaking run from Friday’s second session that re-set the track ET record, covering the 1000-foot distance in 3.729 seconds at 323.58 mph, beating the old mark of 3.737 set by Morgan Lucas in June of 2013.

Brown’s top qualifying effort was the 41st of his career and his second ever at Chicago, where he is a four-time winner – winning twice in both Top Fuel and Pro Stock Motorcycle.

“Our focus is to go out there and do a nice, good lap," said Brown, who will face Luigi Novelli in the opening round of eliminations on Sunday. “We have to do our job going down the race track. These competitors and these teams are doing their homework and that’s what makes you wake up in the morning and want to go out there and compete because you know how tough it is. We wouldn’t have it any other way."

Tony Schumacher came closest to catching Brown in Saturday’s only session, running a 3.732 at 326.48 mph to jump from seventh to second on the grid. Brittany Force, who came into Saturday as the second qualifier, got bumped down to fifth but rallied in the fairing pairing to take the third position with a run of 3.734, 324.51. Steve Torrence was fourth with a 3.734, 322.42 followed by Larry Dixon with a 3.737, 327.66.

Dixon’s teammate Dave Connolly qualified sixth, pulling a 3.750 at 328.78 mph to break the track speed record.

Cruz Pedregon

Cruz Pedregon cruised to his 61st career no. 1 qualifier in Funny Car as no one was able to top his time of 3.966 seconds at 315.64 from Friday, although Tim Wilkerson gave it his best shot.

Pedregon sat sixth after the opening round of qualifying before knocking Courtney Force from the top spot but wasn’t able to get much on the ball on Saturday, smoking the tires on his only attempt.

Although Pedregon has two prior no. 1 qualifiers at this track he has never made it to the final round in any of his 15 appearances at Chicago.

“We were looking to run quicker to try to get that national record and we were on pace but we smoked the tires," Pedregon said. “We’ll pull it back tomorrow. It’s going to be warmer – different conditions. One of these days we’ll get that national record. It’s eluded us I can’t remember how many times now, but for now we’re just looking to make a move."

Tim Wilkerson was the only driver in the top five to improve on his time and he did it in a big way, moving from 12th to second with a blistering run of 3.982 seconds at 314.75 mph to push Chad Head down to third. Head, who clocked in at 3.991 seconds at 318.17 mph, was the only other driver under the four-second mark. Tommy Johnson, Jr. took fourth at 4.003, 316.15 while Courtney Force, who had led the opening round of qualifying, fell to fifth at 4.012, 318.32.

John Hale was the final qualifier and will draw a first-round matchup against Pedregon on Sunday.

Drew Skillman

In Pro Stock, rookie Drew Skillman won his first-career No. 1 qualifier in record-breaking fashion, running a 6.528 at 211.13 mph to set a new track ET record in his first ever appearance at Route 66.

Skillman, running for his own family-owned team, has qualified in second place once this season and has made it to two final rounds, including last weekend at Norwalk where he lost out to Greg Anderson.

“(In the second session) we turned the earth there," Skillman said. “The car has a lot of potential so we are very happy. It’s just another round of eliminations. We’ll be fine. We’ll go up there, do our thing and go round by round."

Chris McGaha qualified second with a time of 6.533 at 211.59 mph, while points leader Greg Anderson was third, running 6.533 at 211.83 mph to set a new track speed record. Second-place points driver Erica Enders-Stevens (6.536, 211.36) was fourth followed by Jason Line (6.546, 210.57).

Mark Hogan took the bump spot to face Skillman in the first round.

Chip Ellis won his second pole of the season in the Pro Stock Motorcycle division with a time of 6.856 seconds at 195.68 mph during Friday’s session that went untouched through Saturday, earning his third-career top qualifier and his first since 2008.

Ellis, the 2005 winner of this event, hasn’t been to the Winner’s Circle since 2008, but made his last final round appearance at this track back in 2011.

“To be as good as we are right now is pretty awesome," said Ellis, who will take on Angie Smith in the first round. “As a team, we’re gaining on it. Now we’re just trying to get consistent with the bike and improve on each run and get better each run. As a driver, I’m doing the same thing."

Andrew Hines was second with a 6.882, 193.99, followed by Jerry Savoie (6.883, 195.11), Eddie Krawiec (6.891, 193.85) and Matt Smith (6.893, 192.71)