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LAS VEGAS --
Tommy Johnson Jr. (Funny Car) and Jerry Savoie (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also will lead their categories into tomorrow's 11 a.m. eliminations as No. 1 qualifiers at the penultimate race in the NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship playoffs. Brown scored his sixth No. 1 qualifying position of the season and the 43rd of his career with a track record time of 3.722 seconds at 326.95 mph at the controls of his 10,000-horsepower Matco Tools dragster. He holds a 142 point lead over second place Tony Schumacher and needs to advance one round farther than Schumacher to finish the event tomorrow with a lead of 151 points or more to secure his second title. He will meet rookie contender Jenna Haddock in round one. "We did what we needed to do in qualifying and now we're just focused on winning that first round," Brown said. "We have to be flawless tomorrow. We know we're in a good spot for the championship, but we're not going to worry about that and just keep racing hard until we see that big trophy come our way."
"We made two really good passes so we were just trying to get ready for tomorrow," said Enders, who will race Deric Kramer in the opening round. "It was good to make more consistent passes. I am pumped going into tomorrow and we'll see what happens. Tomorrow is going to take consistency. Every round is tough and there are no gimmies in Pro Stock. Las Vegas has been really good to me in the past and I want to continue that trend tomorrow. I want to win the race and that's my first goal tomorrow." Johnson continued to keep his championship hopes alive in Funny Car by taking the No. 1 qualifying position with a track record time of 3.931 at 320.43 in his Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T. He will meet Bob Bode in the opener.
Johnson says he thought one of the two leaders in front of him would take advantage of cooling conditions as the session moved into the darkness Saturday and run quicker than his track record time. He knows that he needs to be ready to take advantage of any opportunity that presents itself tomorrow. Johnson trimmed his deficit to Worsham to 137 with his qualifying performance this weekend. "I think first round will be a lot of focus on what everybody else is doing," Johnson said. "You know, go out and do your job and try to win your round but really pay attention to what is happening to the other cars. The have-fun attitude might go out the window if they both lost first round. It would be very serious. You know, 'Go get it. We've got to win this race,' because that's our chance, the door's open. If they go a couple rounds, let's go win a race. That's about all that's left. It will be interesting to see. Their outcome will probably have more to do with how I'm looking at things and what we're doing."
"Tim [Kulungian, crew chief] is smart," said Savoie, who is now only 26 points back of Hines. "He's a numbers guy. He has a way of getting the bike in that window. We were trying to go a [6.84]. I am proud to be here and if you go about second guessing yourself you will drive yourself crazy. If I get the number one (world championship) spot it will be good. If I don't get it then it's been a great season. I won't beat myself up over it."
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