Sat, 27 Sep 2008, 07:20 PM
Ellis Takes Top Spot on Hot Saturday
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Courtesy of NHRA Communications
Photo copyright 2008 Auto Imagery, Inc.
Bernstein, A. Force, Johnson Remain No.1 at Memphis Motorsports Park
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MILLINGTON, Tenn. --
Chip Ellis
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Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Chip Ellis rode to his
second consecutive No. 1 qualifier in Memphis on a day when it seemed
all Friday night times would rule.
Brandon Bernstein, Ashley Force and Allen Johnson kept their No. 1
qualifying positions in their categories following strong runs Friday
night at the 21st annual O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals presented by
Pennzoil, the third of six events in the NHRA Countdown to 1 playoffs.
Ellis rode his Schumacher Electric Suzuki to a blistering 6.910 seconds
at 191.10 mph during Saturday's late-morning session. It's Ellis' first
No. 1 qualifier of the season and the 13th of his career.
"I was pretty surprised, as was everyone else," Ellis said. "Usually the
smooth runs don't always feel fast. That's probably the best lap I've
made all year as far as doing everything exactly right. We didn't leave
anything on the table with that run."
Brandon Bernstein
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Bernstein's Friday night run of 3.825 at 313.88 in his Budweiser/Lucas
Oil dragster stayed the quickest run in Top Fuel. It's Bernstein's
second No. 1 qualifier of the season and 13th of his career.
"We've preformed this weekend so far and tomorrow we just need to go
some rounds," Bernstein said. "We had a great car in Dallas last weekend
and really felt like coming into this week that if we kept running in
the low 80's and 90's that we could have a really consistent race car
for the conditions they have here at Memphis."
Funny Car didn't see much change either as Force's 4.079-second pass at
298.87 mph in her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang stayed strong through
Saturday. It's Force's third No. 1 qualifier of the season and of her
career.
Ashley Force
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"In qualifying you're just trying to run as best as you can. At the end
of the day is when you finally stop and realize how the ladder pairs up
and sometimes that can be everything," Force said. "There's some big
match-ups tomorrow that may change this whole championship path. (Jack)
Beckman and Tony (Pedregon), what are the chances that the two guys who
are running for the championship that are both doing great happen to be
pared up first round? Someone's got to win. I think we're going to start
seeing that as it gets closer to the end of the season."
Allen Johnson
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Johnson's Friday night run held as the quickest time in the
Pro Stock category. His run in the Team Mopar/J&J Racing Dodge Stratus
of a 6.591 at 208.52 was a new track E.T. record. It's Johnson's third
No. 1 qualifier of the season and sixth of his career.
"Every point we can get right here is great, we just need to take it and
do something with it tomorrow," Johnson said. "You know it'd be huge (to
win a championship) for Mopar, for my family, for my dad, everybody, our
whole crew. That's what we started this thing doing 12 years ago, to get
one. We're close enough now, if we can just get a break and I can do my
job, I think we can tighten it up a little bit tomorrow."
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