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Saturday, August 4 Bazemore fastest among Funny Cars By Bill Stephens ESPN.com SONOMA, Calif. -- Only four drivers have earned No. 1 qualifying positions in NHRA Top Fuel so far this season: Kenny Bernstein, Gary Scelzi, Mike Dunn and Doug Kalitta. But Bernstein now has won seven poles after qualifying concluded Saturday for the 14th Fram Autolite Nationals at Sears Point Raceway. Scelzi has five, Dunn has three, and Kalitta has one, but K.B.'s latest low-qualifier award was timed perfectly as we'll explain in this wrap-up of the qualifying results for the three professional classes in action. Top Fuel With a scant 14-point lead over Larry Dixon in the Winston points coming into this weekend, Bernstein knew that Dixon could nibble away at that lead by outqualifying the Bud King team. Add to that the knowledge that only 15 cars were on the entry list and the No. 1 qualifier would get a bye run in the first round -- an automatic 20 points -- and it was clear that there was an opportunity to wash away the disappointment of last week's final-round oildown that cost K.B. 10 points. Bernstein and ace tuner Tim Richards did themselves a big favor by taking the pole and holding onto it with their 4.56/319 pass on Friday evening. In fact, none of the top five qualifiers from Friday night improved on their elapsed times in the two Saturday sessions that left Kalitta No. 2, Dixon third, Scelzi fourth and Doug Herbert fifth. In addition, Bernstein's eight No. 1 starts this season are worth a total of 56 points -- and that's equal to almost three rounds of racing. In Sunday's opening round, along with Bernstein's single, Dunn races Robert Reehl, Scelzi meets Bobby Baldwin, Herbert matches up with John Smith, Kalitta draws Tim Gibson, Tony Schumacher faces Darrell Russell, Dixon takes on Don Sosenka, and David Grubnic will race Rhonda Hartman-Smith. Funny Car John Force may well be on his way to clinching his record 11th Winston championship but his qualifying performance in Sonoma was uncharacteristically quiet. He ended Saturday in the No. 3 slot with his 4.94/303 from Friday, but he is not the heavy favorite heading into Sunday that he frequently is. Last week's winner in Seattle, Whit Bazemore, continues to make the most of his red-hot Western Swing as he took the Sonoma pole with Friday's 4.88/301. Although he broke in his last qualifying pass Saturday afternoon, he was able to make three prior 4-second passes altogether, the only driver to do so. It was Bazemore's third low-qualifier award of 2001 and gives him some confidence going into eliminations as the points race for second place continues to be the only riveting contest in the category. In the first round, Bazemore races Al Hofmann, Scotty Cannon challenges Frank Pedregon, Bruce Sarver has Jerry Toliver, Ron Capps lines up against Del Worsham, Dean Skuza takes on Tony Pedregon, Johnny Gray draws Bob Gilbertson, Force races Jim Epler, and Tommy Johnson Jr. goes against Chuck Etchells. Pro Stock With the announcement on Friday that Richard Maskin had parted ways with Team Jeg's, it didn't take long for the defending championship team to begin the adjustment. While Troy Coughlin missed the 16-car field by 3/100ths of a second, his brother, Jeg Jr., took his second pole of the year with his 6.88/199 from Friday night. The championship points race continues to be a real dogfight as Warren Johnson leads Jim Yates by only 70 points and both drivers ran well during Sonoma qualifying, with W.J. finishing second with his 6.88/199 and Yates plugged into the six-hole with his 6.89/199. Yates also had the quickest e.t. of Saturday's final qualifying round with a 6.91 at 199 mph. Matchups for Sunday's first round will be Coughlin vs. Larry Morgan, Mike Edwards vs. V. Gaines, Allen vs. Brad Jeter, Osborne vs. Allen Johnson, W.J. vs. Darrell Alderman, Ron Krisher vs. Mark Pawuk, Kurt Johnson vs. George Marnell, and Yates vs. Tom Martino.  Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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