The Capital Sports Report

Protect the Harvest Racing Press Release

CHARLOTTE – Rodger Brogdon and the ProtectTheHarvest.com/MAVTV Chevy Camaro drew from the luck bank throughout the Dollar General NHRA Four-Wide Nationals before running out of good fortune in Pro Stock’s semifinal round on Sunday.

“We just didn’t do as bad in (the first round) as the two cars we beat,” Brogdon said. “I had to shut it off early but we still won by five-thousandths of a second, so we’ll take that.”

After qualifying, Brogdon was dissatisfied with the way the car was launching off the line, so some changes and positive steps were made.

In his first-round grouping, Brogdon was second off the starting line and second across the finish line, which was good enough to advance on a holeshot. Jason Line was first in the group with a 6.499 at 213.50 mph, followed by Brogdon’s 6.612 at 196.82 mph. The two drivers who didn’t advance from that foursome were Jeg Coughlin Jr. (6.722 at 211.66 mph) and Larry Worden (6.587 at 209.01 mph).

In the semifinal round, Brogdon pressed his luck too far and left the starting line too early and fouled out.

“It was a last-minute decision that didn’t get communicated to everybody,” Brogdon said. “To try and get an edge, I decided to stage the car really deep. At the same time the crew gave my engine 200 more rpm, which makes the car want to leave quicker.”

The combination led to Brogdon taking off .028-second before the light turned green, giving him a red-light and ending his day.

“Had I known we were going to crank up the rpm like that, I wouldn’t have gone in so deep,” he said. “It really didn’t matter because we shook really bad off the line. We knew had to try to make up some time there.”

Brogdon pushed in the clutch off the line and coasted to a final time of 17.686 at 46.43 mph. Erica Enders-Stevens (6.505 at 212.16 mph) and Shane Gray (6.518 at 213.16 mph) moved on while Line (7.411 at 166.91 mph) was eliminated along with Brogdon.

“This is always a tough race to get through and now it’s under our belt,” Brogdon said. “We’ve got our hometown race and some fresh engine parts we’re going to bring out next week. I’m looking forward to what’s ahead.”

Up next for Brogdon is the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA SpringNationals on April 26-28 in Houston.

MavTV Racing Press Release

CHARLOTTE – MAVTV Pro Stock racer Greg Stanfield would just as soon forget about the Dollar General NHRA Four-Wide Nationals over the last two seasons.

“This Four-Wide has been good to me in the past but not lately,” Stanfield said.

Last year, Stanfield was timed out on the Christmas tree before he ever had a chance to let the clutch out in a first-round defeat. This year, he at least got to make a pass down the track but his Chevrolet couldn’t advance out of the first round.

“The track just couldn’t handle the power of the MAVTV Camaro,” Stanfield said with a smile.

Stanfield, the No. 11 qualifier, ran a 6.752 at a slowing 174.87 mph to fall to No. 3 qualifier Shane Gray and No. 6 qualifier Erica Enders-Stevens.

Stanfield was using a new engine combination in his Camaro and there appears to be plenty of horsepower, but now he and his team need to adapt the added power to the track surface. That’s an elusive combination for the five-time NHRA Pro Stock national event winner.

“It’s disappointing, for sure, but that’s just part of it,” Stanfield said. “It’s a learning curve. We’ve struggled some the past few races but we’ve got to figure it out.”

Stanfield’s three-man crew made it to the semifinals of the season-opening event in Pomona, Calif., but the rest of the season has been difficult.

“We struggle when the air gets good,” Stanfield said. “We don’t have enough test laps when the air is good. When the air isn’t as good at certain tracks, the setup comes to us. We just haven’t gotten the setup right.”

Up next for Stanfield and the MAVTV team is the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA SpringNationals on April 26-28 in Houston.

Steve Torrence Racing Press Release

Steve Torrence’s chance of winning Sunday’s opening round of the Dollar General Four-Wide Nationals went away when the tires on the Torrence Racing/Capco Contractors Inc. Top Fuel dragster lost traction.

He couldn’t keep up with rivals Larry Dixon Morgan Lucas or David Grubnic.

“That was a tough first round,” said Torrence. “We overpowered the track. I tried to pedal it, but I couldn’t get to it in time.”

He was timed in 3.981 seconds at 273.27 mph. Dixon was the quickest of the foursome (3.794 seconds at 323.74 mph), followed by Lucas (3.799 at 323.27) and Grubnic (3.384 at 300.33).

“I am glad to get this race out of the way so we can get back to our normal racing,” commented Torrence.

There won’t be a long wait. The next Mello Yello Drag Racing event, the O’Reilly

Auto Parts Spring Nationals, begins Friday near Houston.

“That is one of our two home tracks,” added Torrence, who is a resident of Kilgore, Tex.

Lucas Oil Racing Press Release

CHARLOTTE – The Dollar General NHRA Four-Wide Nationals ended way too soon for Lucas Oil Buell rider Hector Arana Sr. and MAVTV rider Adam Arana.

Arana Sr.’s bike wobbled and slowed to a 6.948 at 190.11 mph in his first-round loss, and son Adam was beaten by No. 1 qualifier and older brother Hector Arana Jr. and defending Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Eddie Krawiec in the first round.

“The bike left good and I felt good,” Arana Sr. said. “When I went into second gear, suddenly I felt the bike start wobbling. The front end started shaking back and forth, and when it did that the steering wheel started flopping back and forth and I bumped the shifter twice. It went right through second, third, and fourth into fifth. It just killed the momentum of the bike and that’s all she wrote.”

Arana Sr., the No. 4 qualifier, trailed Katie Sullivan and John Hall to the finish line in their quad. Sullivan, the No. 12 qualifier, recorded a surprising 6.870 at 193.79 mph while No. 5 qualifier Hall ran a 6.904 at 190.78 mph. Arana Sr.’s pass was nearly a tenth of a second slower than his qualifying lap, an indication of problems during the run.

“That was not what we expected,” Arana Sr. said. “We had a couple of issues in qualifying but I felt good going into eliminations.”

Adam Arana, the youngest son of the 2009 Pro Stock Motorcycle champion, was making his second career pass during eliminations. He actually lowered his career-best elapsed time to 6.881 at 193.88 mph but ran against two of the best in the class.

“It was a good run,” Arana said. “It was my fastest run ever, so I’m riding the bike better. I’m hitting my shift points but I messed up on the line. My reaction time wasn’t very good, so I need to work harder on that.”

Arana’s light was a .119 but he still needed to be nearly perfect to advance. The rookie was critical of his performance.

“I went red my first time out (in qualifying in Charlotte) because I goofed up,” Arana said. “The other two were all right, and then in eliminations I was late, which stinks. I’m frustrated about it but I’ll get to work on it and get better.”

Up next for Team Arana is the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA SpringNationals on April 26-28 in Houston.

Don Schumacher Racing Press Release

CONCORD, N.C. – Don Schumacher Racing’s Matco Tools Top Fuel Dragster team really could have used the two qualifying sessions that were lost to rain Friday to start the Dollar General Four-Wide NHRA Nationals.

Antron Brown (Photo by autoimagery.com)

The team and driver Antron Brown struggled to qualify seventh Saturday, which was the first time in five Mello Yello Series event the team started lower than No. 4. Their woes continued Sunday when the reigning world champions were eliminated in the first round.

“This is one that gets you,” Brown said. “This race is on our to-do list for sure.

“We’ll get it figured out. It’s definitely a race that we’ve always wanted to win. We’ll suck it up and get our stuff together before we head for Houston.

The Four-Wide Nationals is the most unique event on the 24-race Mello Yello tour. The world’s only four-lane dragstrip at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s zMAX Dragway at Concord, N.C., enables four cars to race side by side.

In each foursome, the top two teams advance to the next round of four.

It could have been a traditional two-wide race and a nagging mechanical gremlin likely would not have let the Matco dragster take advantage of cool racing conditions.

“That’s what happens on these fuel cars,” said Brown, who had advanced to the last two championship rounds and won the title at Gainesville.

“There’s one way to win and a million ways to lose. The boys are working hard on it and they are going to dissect it and figure out what happened.”

Brown slowed to a time of 3.871 seconds at 313.22 mph.

“That’s the way it runs when it doesn’t have enough power. When you see that you know it hurt itself. We always have a lot of power over here. We are just going to gather it together this evening and tomorrow.

“We’ll put our best leg forward and get after it in Houston.”

Brown will join DSR teammates Ron Capps and Johnny Gray remaining at zMAX Dragway Monday to test before heading to Houston for next weekend’s Mello Yello event.

Don Schumacher Racing Press Release

CONCORD, N.C. – The frustration was obvious on the faces of Jack Beckman and his Valvoline NextGen/MTS Mail for Wounded Warriors crew.

Jack Beckman (Photo by autoimagery.com)

This isn’t how a reigning world championship team should be treated.

But Beckman and his team understand there are no guarantees in racing, it just seems that every time the team takes two steps forward it’s followed one step backward.

After qualifying third with a time of 4.071 seconds in the Dollar General Four-Wide NHRA Nationals and advancing to the second round, Beckman’s Dodge Charger R/T lost traction and did not advance to the championship round.

“Right now, I’m frustrated,” he said. “Not necessarily because we lost early but because we are chasing the tune-up on the car. We will straighten it out. What happens when you don’t know what’s causing the inconsistencies, you start doubting everything from bumper to bumper on the car.”

Added variables were thrown at all teams competing in the unique event at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s zMAX Dragway, which is the world’s only dragstrip with four lanes. Running four Funny Cars side by side is a challenge and it didn’t help that both qualifying runs on Friday were washed out by rain.

The last season ended with Beckman and Don Schumacher Racing teammate Ron Capps battling for the championship at the final race. Beckman won by a mere two points, but now both teams are battling their cars instead of each other.

Capps lost in the first round for the third consecutive event.

“The irony is these two cars probably have the most similar tune-ups of DSR’s four Funny Cars. Last year they were at the top of the heap. It’s not like we’ve made wholesale changes. We didn’t do huge moves to these cars. In fact, we even took a step backwards and went to the stuff we put on for last year.

“When you have two great minds like our crew chiefs Todd (Smith) and Terry (Snyder) here and two more with Rahn (Tobler) and John (Collins) over there, and we’re still struggling, you realize the problem is not as obvious as you’d like it to be. We will just keep talking and working until these cars do what their supposed to do.”

“It’s still a long season. It’s just frustrating to leave a couple on the table like this but I’ll tell you, until the day we get this car straightened out, I know there’s light at the end of the tunnel and I’m still optimistic.”

Don Schumacher Racing Press Release

CONCORD, N.C. – That last place Ron Capps wanted to be on Monday was at zMAX Dragway near Charlotte.

Ron Capps (Photo by autoimagery.com)

But that’s exactly where Capps and his NAPA AUTO PARTS team will be after losing in the first round for the third consecutive NHRA Mello Yello event Sunday when he was eliminated early in the Dollar General Four-Wide NHRA Nationals near Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Capps and crew chief Rahn Tobler weren’t please with their No. 11 qualifying session and Saturday after Friday’s two sessions were rained out.

After advancing to the championship round in the season-opener at Pomona then following that up with the Phoenix title at the next race, the team has not won a round of eliminations since.

“We’ll be alright. We’re going to stay and test here tomorrow,” Capps said. “It’s just part of getting better. You can’t get better without taking a step backwards sometimes. We’re still working at it. It’s something I know and our fans know that we’re going to see dividends by what we’re doing here in the next couple of races.”

The NAPA AUTO PARTS team has less than a week to get ready for the next Mello Yello Series event near Houston.

Monday will mark the second consecutive event when Tobler has tested.

“We stayed in Vegas and tested on Monday all in the clutch area,” Capps said. “We have the car from last year sitting upstairs in the trailer as a backup car with the same combination we used last year to win five titles.

“We just feel like we need to be a couple steps better than what we were last year, and that’s what we are working on right now in the clutch area.

“Even with the test on Monday (in Vegas), which went great, Tobler is a little beside himself because we didn’t expect it to blow the tires off or smoke the tires that far down the track. It’s a bummer.

“We kind of put ourselves in the position of racing our teammates (Jack) Beckman and (Matt) Hagan in that first quad (round of four) with the way we qualified. Just to tell you how good our team has been, that’s the first time we’ve qualified in the bottom half of the field since Chicago in last year’s 11th race.

“You want to win every time you’re at a track, but we’re taking time now to prepare for the end of the year.”

Lucas Oil Racing Press Release

CHARLOTTE – Lucas Oil Buell rider Hector Arana Jr. roared to his second consecutive victory of the season, winning the Dollar General NHRA Four-Wide Nationals on Sunday.

Hector Arana Jr

Arana Jr. became the first rider since 2006 to win the first two races of the season, when Angelle Sampey won in Gainesville and Houston. He also became the first rider to win the four-lane format since 2010, when NHRA last contested Pro Stock Motorcycle at this race.

Arana Jr. extended his points lead with his fifth career victory by beating Eddie Krawiec, Scotty Pollacheck, and Jim Underdahl in a stirring final round.

“I have a feeling it’s going to be one of those years,” Arana Jr. said. “Everything so far has fallen into place for me. The bike’s running very consistent, very well. We’ve got this thing dialed in and we don’t have to do much. We’re cooling it off and double-checking everything, but as far as the tune-up goes we’re not changing much. This Lucas Oil bike is bad to the bone.”

Arana Jr., one of the best in the class on the starting line, left behind the other three riders in the final despite a .028-second reaction time. Pollacheck had a perfect. 000 light, Underdahl was .011, and Krawiec recorded a .024. Arana Jr. nosed ahead at 660 feet and edged Krawiec and the others at the finish line.

In first taste of four-wide racing, Arana Jr. opened the day with a 6.861 at 192.38 mph that led Krawiec into the next round and eliminated younger brother Adam Arana and Andrew Hines. In the second round, Arana Jr. and Krawiec advanced again, with Arana Jr. running a 6.855 at 194.16 mph to bounce John Hall and Katie Sullivan.

“It was crazy,” Arana Jr. said. “There were a couple of guys I had to beat more than once. I had to race Eddie Krawiec all day. All three rounds I ran him and I beat him all three times.”

The start to the season was especially sweet for Arana Jr. and his team because the Harley-Davidson team of Krawiec and Hines won all but one race in 2012.

“We’re showing them that we’ve had this all along,” Arana Jr. said. “Now that the playing field is even, it’s our time to shine. It’s not just those guys, though. The whole Pro Stock Motorcycle class has stepped up. Everybody’s going fast, Suzukis, Buells. It’s going to be stiff competition.”

So far Arana Jr. has been up to the task.

Up next for Arana Jr. is the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA SpringNationals on April 26-28 in Houston.

Don Schumacher Racing Press Release

CONCORD, N.C. – There’s just something special about zMAX Dragway for Spencer Massey and the Battery Extender Powered by Schumacher Top Fuel team.

Spencer Massey

For the second year in a row, the team led by crew chiefs Phil Shuler and Todd Okuhara were celebrating an event title at the Dollar General Four-Wide NHRA Nationals at the track outside Charlotte.

“The last two years we’ve taken the Wally home,” Massey said of the NHRA trophy. “If you think about it, Todd and Phil have had an awesome car and an awesome team for a number of years, dating back to when Cory McClenathan won here for DSR.

“The first-ever Four-Wide was won by my crew with Cory. When there’s a racetrack that you do well at, you just seem to always do well at it. When you have confidence it’s a huge help and I have confidence when I pull up here. I know that we can win, I know that we’ve done it before.”

But it wasn’t an easy win for Massey’s 11th national event trophy. He defeated teammate and 2012 Top Fuel champion Antron Brown in the opening foursome of Sunday’s eliminations.

In the final-round quad, Massey faced Al-Anabi Racing’s Shawn Langdon, who had been the quickest dragster in each elimination round, and DSR teammate Tony Schumacher along with Brandon Bernstein. And the pressure was on once Massey saw his DSR Funny Car teammate Matt Hagan take the Funny Car title on the run right before his.

It marks the third time in five events this year that DSR has won Top Fuel and Funny Car titles at the same event, and the 35th time DSR has won two pro titles at the same event.

“With four-wide racing you don’t have to worry about one other car and one other lane, you have three other drivers next to you,” said Massey, who reached the finish line first in each of three elimination rounds.

“It was nerve-racking going into the final. Tony (Schumacher) had outrun us in the previous round and Shawn (Langdon) had stellar runs all day. We knew we had to step on it. Hats off to our guys. All I can say is it’s unbelievable to win here. I love this racetrack.”

At this point last season, Massey and the team had already secured three of his five wins of 2012, so he feels they are just getting things started in 2013.

“This is a step in the right direction,” he said. “We’re just so happy to win today. I have the best team out here with Don Schumacher Racing. This is all I’ve ever wanted to do, so this is huge.”

Don Schumacher Racing Press Release

CONCORD, N.C. – The last time Matt Hagan held an NHRA Wally trophy was toward the end of the 2011 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season.

Matt Hagan

And this Dollar General Four-Wide NHRA Nationals victory is even sweeter because it’s close to his 1,000-acre cattle farm in Christiansburg, Va.

Hagan and his Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar/Rocky Boots Funny Car team have experienced many ups and downs at zMAX Dragway.

It’s his second win at the facility outside of Charlotte and where his Dodge Charger R/T became the first sub-four-second Funny Car in 2011. But it’s also where his flopper suffered a violent explosion a year ago and the team failed to qualify.

“We finally put some gremlins to rest here at zMAX,” Hagan said. “I love this track. It’s home for me. It’s a fast facility. Our car just ran phenomenal in lane two all day long.”

And for that, Hagan credits crew chief Dickie Venables, who was added to the Don Schumacher Racing stable in January. Venables tuned him to three consecutive 4.0-second passes during Sunday’s eliminations.

“It says a lot about Dickie. Don Schumacher gave him an opportunity to come out here and do his own thing. He’s taking notes home and doing what he’s supposed to do and that drives me to do what I’m supposed to be doing.”

Hagan’s win on Sunday is the sixth of his career, it propelled him to the Funny Car points lead and secured his spot in the Traxxas Shootout that will be held this fall at the U.S. Nationals outside Indianapolis.

“It’s a big win for us, to get into the Traxxas Shootout,” he said. “It’s been more than a year since we won. It’s been too long. That feeling is great to have back. Obviously we don’t want this to go away. Our guys our great, we have a couple of them here with their first win and we’re making memories that are going to last forever.”

Hagan couldn’t help but think how far they’ve come since 2012 when they came up short in four final-round appearances and didn’t qualify for NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship six-event playoff.

“You start fresh every year with a new slate,” he said. “I’ve had so much success at Don Schumacher Racing so early in my career. We just came off a world championship in 2011 and we came out and fell right on our face (last year).

“That’s brutal. You’re expected to rise to the occasion and it just wasn’t there. The biggest thing that I learned from that was keeping my guys’ morale up. That taught me a lot last year, to go through that struggle. It was very, very humbling. When we get these wins, you really have to enjoy them because they aren’t easy to get.”

It also might not be easy to transition back into his other role as a cattle farmer on Monday after a night of celebrating with his team.

“I’ve already got a load of cattle I got to get going tomorrow. But that’s not right now. I’m good right where I need to be right now with this racecar and team, and this Wally is smelling like Mello Yello.”