Cory Mac & Gary Scelzi lead fields in
final day of testing
Story & Photos by Jim Kelso
Sunday
was the final day of scheduled testing for the National Time Trails at
Firebird International Raceway, and it was hot! Under sunny skies and
temperatures near 70-degrees, the track held some pretty impressive
runs. In the Top Fuel category, Cory McClenathan driving his FRAM
sponsored rail, pounded out a 4.473 elapsed time at 331.45 mph. Three
other drivers put up times in the 4.4’s, including Doug Kalitta
(4.485/329.99 mph), Tony Schumacher (4.494/329.75 mph), and Brandon
Bernstein (4.495/330.96 mph). “Hot Rod” Fuller tested with his new
monstrut wing, with a solid 4.530/326.40 run while teammate Whit
Bazemore laid down a license earning 4.542/329.18 pass in his MATCO
TOOLS sponsored dragster.
The 2005 Funny Car champion Gary Scelzi, was the leader in Funny Car in
his Mike Neff tuned MOPAR, with a 4.735/330.80 mph. Tommy Johnson Jr.
was close behind in the Skoal/Don Prudhomme Chevy at 4.779/ 290.38,
followed by Team Kalitta’s Toyota bodied flopper at 4.798/ 319.45. Dean
Skuza, who’s hoping to make a return to NHRA Championship racing, did
some testing in Mike Ashley’s Torco machine with a 5.794 elapsed time.
Kenny Bernstein struggled and will continue to try and earn his Funny
Car license. Several teams will stay at Firebird and test Monday &
Tuesday.
Sunday's best elapsed times are listed below:
TOP FUEL
Cory McClenathan: 4.473 at 331.45 mph
Doug Kalitta: 4.485 at 329.99 mph
Tony Schumacher: 4.494 at 329.75 mph
Brandon Bernstein: 4.495 at 330.96 mph
David Grubnic: 4.514 at 326.32 mph
Clay Millican: 4.520 at 323.27 mph
Rod Fuller: 4.530 at 326.40 mph
Whit Bazemore: 4.542 at 329.18 mph
Larry Dixon: 4.581 at 312.93 mph
Joe Hartley: 4.604 at 320.28 mph
Doug Foley: 4.750 at 302.62 mph
Alan Bradshaw: 4.830 at 224.58 mph
Doug Herbert: 5.139 at 185.69 mph
Melanie Troxel: 5.977 at 146.16 mph
Morgan Lucas: 6.335 at 134.59 mph
Bob Vandergriff: 5.634 at 160.92 mph
Melanie Troxel: 5.777 at 153.75 mph
Hillary Will: 11.325 at 80.91 mph
FUNNY CAR
Gary Scelzi: 4.735 at 330.80 mph
Tommy Johnson Jr.: 4.779 at 290.38 mph
Scott Kalitta: 4.798 at 319.45 mph
Tony Pedregon: 4.827 at 301.00 mph
John Force: 4.843 at 320.89 mph
Gary Densham: 4.925 at 266.53 mph
Jeff Arend: 4.955 at 270.10 mph
Del Worsham: 5.066 at 222.51 mph
Jack Beckman: 5.175 at 189.90 mph
Cruz Pedregon: 5.287 at 210.87 mph
Bob Bode: 5.339 at 207.11 mph
Ron Capps: 5.649 at 166.21 mph
Dean Skuza: 5.794 at 166.93 mph
Robert Hight: 6.149 at 139.26 mph
Jim Head: 6.417 at 138.30 mph
Ashley Force: 6.535 at 129.14 mph
Kenny Bernstein: 10.166 at 75.85 mph
Eric Medlen: 10.597 at 81.40 mph
