Hight passes Capps for Funny Car lead
Force gains ground on Torrence in hunt for Top Fuel crown
Cue the music from the TV commercial. Summon everybody to the office lunchroom. Dial the microwave to its highest setting.
“The Final Countdown” to the Countdown to the Championship, as the NHRA calls its six-race playoff, is on.
So are points battles between Robert Hight and Ron Capps for the Funny Car title, and between Steve Torrence and Brittany Force in Top Fuel.
Capps, the reigning champion, started the Toyota Nationals at Las Vegas Motor Speedway leading the Countdown but went out in the first round of Sunday’s final eliminations. That opened the door for Hight, whose two round wins moved him 15 points ahead Capps heading into the season finale at Pomona, California, in two weeks.
Force, who is having a breakout season and qualified for her third final round in four starts, pulled within 20 points of Torrence, who was bounced in the quarterfinals. But she red-lighted in the final, handing Terry Mcmillen his first victory in
195 career starts.
Other than that, there was little drama on another sunny and fast day of drag racing that saw Matt Hagan win in Funny Car and Greg Anderson in Pro Stock.
Wedding gift
It was a momentous week for the 63-year-old Mcmillen, who married his longtime girlfriend Cori Wickler at the Valley of Fire last Sunday.
“I’m very blessed to have a beautiful lady and a car that won today,” said the Chicagoan, who defeated Richie Crampton, Clay Millican and Shawn Langdon before Force jumped the gun, to become the 104th different winner in Top Fuel history.
It was a missed opportunity for
John Force’s oldest racing daughter, who could have tied Torrence atop the points had she defeated the upstart Mcmillen.
“I feel like I let my team down and it’s tough to end a weekend like that, but we moved closer to Torrence in points and made a final round appearance, which is huge,” she said.
Hagan will be relegated to the role of Funny Car spoiler when Hight and Capps race for the crown in Pomona,