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Race report

Capps, Torrence, Skillman and Tonglet take NHRA honors in Joliet

Ron Capps took his sixth Funny Car win of the season, Steve Torrence scores his fifth Top Fuel win, as Drew Skillman (Pro Stock) and LE Tonglet (Pro Stock Motorcycle) completed the victory roster.

Ron Capps

Ron Capps

NHRA

Top Fuel winner Steve Torrence
Steve Torrence
Funny Car winner Ron Capps
Ron Capps
Drew Skillman
LE Tonglet
Bike Pro Stock winner LE Tonglet
Pro Stock winner Drew Skillman
Steve Torrence
Robert Hight
Brittany Force

FUNNY CAR

Capps moved into a 200-point championship lead with his sixth win, after running a 4.026sec victory at 319.67mph in his NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger R/T to defeat teammate Tommy Johnson Jr. in the final round.

“This has been a season that I could not even dream about, coming off a championship and having that four-win winning streak over in the season, it’s been incredible,” Capps said. “This is not an easy place to drive since it demands a lot out of you, but my team did a great job of making adjustments.”

Capps qualified ninth and defeated Jonnie Lindberg, Jim Campbell and Matt Hagan before reaching his eighth final round of the season. Johnson Jr. qualified sixth and took down John Force, J.R. Todd and Tim Wilkerson before appearing in his second final round of 2017.

TOP FUEL

Top Fuel points leader Torrence secured the win with a run of 3.779-seconds at 326.08 mph in his Capco Contractors dragster to take down Antron Brown’s Matco Tools dragster in the final round. Torrence notched his 13th career victory and his third in the past four events.

“I knew Antron [Brown] was going to bring his best, because when we race each other we are both at our best,” said Torrence. “When I go up to the line I only think about racing my car and trying to beat everybody, and with the car that I have right now I feel like we can beat anybody at any time.”

Torrence qualified fourth and defeated Scott Palmer, Blake Alexander and T.J. Zizzo on the way to victory. Brown qualified seventh and defeated Doug Kalitta, Leah Pritchett and Clay Millican before reaching his sixth final round of the season.

Pritchett narrowly remains in second after a quarterfinal appearance and teammate Brown trails by just two points for the second spot in the standings.

PRO STOCK

Drew Skillman notched his first victory of the season after driving to a 6.627 at 209.23 in his Ray Skillman Chevy Camaro to defeat Erica Enders who ran a 6.655 at 207.37 in her Elite Motorsports Chevy Camaro in the final. Skillman became the ninth different winner in Pro Stock in 13 events, earning his fourth career victory.

 “We’ve struggled all year, but we finally put everything together and took things round-by-round,” Skillman said. “The Pro Stock division is so close now, but I definitely feel like we have finally gotten where we deserve to be with this win.”

Skillman qualified third and defeated Shane Tucker, Tanner Gray and points leader Bo Butner en route to his second final round appearance of 2017. Enders reached her third final round of the season after qualifying ninth and defeating Chris McGaha, Greg Anderson and Jason Line.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE

Points leader Tonglet secured his fourth Pro Stock Motorcycle victory in six events with a 6.835 at 195.99 on his Nitro Fish Racing Suzuki to defeat Hector Arana Jr. who ran a 6.878 at 193.29 on his Lucas Oil Buell in the finals. This is Tonglet’s first victory at Route 66 Raceway since he went back-to-back in 2010-’11. He has now earned victories in all four of his final round appearances this season.

 “We knew we had a good bike at the start of the season, but it was just a matter of getting tuned up as we learn more about the bike each week,” Tonglet said. “On Sunday our goal is to get win lights, so I’ve improved on being calm and staying focused to try and get the job done.”

Tonglet earned the No. 1 qualifier and defeated Cory Reed, Scotty Pollacheck and Karen Stoffer on his way to victory. Arana Jr. notched the second spot in qualifying, defeating Angelle Sampey, Angie Smith and Eddie Krawiec before earning his second runner-up finish of the season.

Final finish order at the 20th annual Children of Fallen Patriots NHRA Route 66 Nationals presented by K&N

FUNNY CAR: 1.  Ron Capps; 2.  Tommy Johnson Jr.; 3.  Matt Hagan; 4.  Tim Wilkerson; 5.  J.R. Todd; 6.  Alexis DeJoria; 7.  Jim Campbell; 8.  Jack Beckman; 9.  Cruz Pedregon; 10.  Jonnie Lindberg; 11.  Brian Stewart; 12.  John Force; 13.  Courtney Force; 14.  Del Worsham; 15.  Robert Hight; 16.  Bob Bode.
Final: Ron Capps, Dodge Charger, 4.026, 319.67  def. Tommy Johnson Jr., Charger, 4.047, 319.90mph

TOP FUEL: 1.  Steve Torrence; 2.  Antron Brown; 3.  T.J. Zizzo; 4.  Clay Millican; 5.  Brittany Force; 6.  Shawn Langdon; 7.  Blake Alexander; 8.  Leah Pritchett; 9.  Tony Schumacher; 10.  Scott Palmer; 11.  Kyle Wurtzel; 12.  Troy Coughlin Jr.; 13.  Pat Dakin; 14.  Luigi Novelli; 15.  Terry McMillen; 16.  Doug Kalitta.
Final: Steve Torrence, 3.779 seconds, 326.08 mph  def. Antron Brown, 3.786 seconds, 326.71mph.

PRO STOCK: 1.  Drew Skillman; 2.  Erica Enders; 3.  Bo Butner; 4.  Jason Line; 5.  Greg Anderson; 6.  Tanner Gray; 7.  Vincent Nobile; 8.  Kenny Delco; 9.  Allen Johnson; 10.  Chris McGaha; 11.  Alex Laughlin; 12.  Mark Hogan; 13.  Shane Tucker; 14.  Jeg Coughlin; 15.  Alan Prusiensky; 16.  Val Smeland.
Final: Drew Skillman, Chevy Camaro, 6.627, 209.23  def. Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.655, 207.37.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE: 1.  LE Tonglet; 2.  Hector Arana Jr; 3.  Karen Stoffer; 4.  Eddie Krawiec; 5.  Scotty Pollacheck; 6.  Angie Smith; 7.  Mike Berry; 8.  Jerry Savoie; 9.  Matt Smith; 10.  Melissa Surber; 11.  Joey Gladstone; 12.  Andrew Hines; 13.  Steve Johnson; 14.  Chip Ellis; 15.  Angelle Sampey; 16.  Cory Reed.
Final: LE Tonglet, Suzuki, 6.835, 195.99  def. Hector Arana Jr, Buell, 6.878, 193.29.

Point standings following 13 of 24 events in the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series

TOP FUEL: 1.  Steve Torrence, 1,188; 2.  Leah Pritchett, 1,087; 3.  Antron Brown, 1,085; 4.  Tony Schumacher, 894; 5.  Doug Kalitta, 813; 6.  Brittany Force, 795; 7.  Clay Millican, 773; 8.  Terry McMillen, 509; 9.  Scott Palmer, 496; 10.  Troy Coughlin Jr., 480.

FUNNY CAR: 1.  Ron Capps, 1,208; 2.  Matt Hagan, 1,022; 3.  Jack Beckman, 914; 4.  Robert Hight, 853; 5.  Tommy Johnson Jr., 833; 6.  Courtney Force, 749; 7.  John Force, 718; 8.  Tim Wilkerson, 599; 9.  J.R. Todd, 559; 10.  Cruz Pedregon, 463.

PRO STOCK: 1.  Bo Butner, 1,148; 2.  Greg Anderson, 1,009; 3.  Tanner Gray, 944; 4.  (tie) Jeg Coughlin, 856; Jason Line, 856; 6.  Erica Enders, 782; 7.  Vincent Nobile, 723; 8.  Drew Skillman, 696; 9.  Chris McGaha, 487; 10.  Allen Johnson, 480.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE: 1.  LE Tonglet, 601; 2.  Eddie Krawiec, 460; 3.  Hector Arana Jr, 419; 4.  Scotty Pollacheck, 381; 5.  Jerry Savoie, 379; 6.  Andrew Hines, 349; 7.  Joey Gladstone, 310; 8.  Matt Smith, 300; 9.  Karen Stoffer, 291; 10.  Steve Johnson, 253.

 

 

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