“Looking back at last weekend in Denver, we had an extreme amount of trouble getting down the track, but we were able to turn our program around and put together a pretty good race car to race with today, and we went four rounds and brought home the bacon,” Bartone said. “We were lucky enough to come up with a good race-day tune-up today [after sitting out Saturday’s qualifying sessions]; it wasn’t perfect, but it went rounds.

“This [winning as an NHRA Professional] is what you dream about; this is what you work your whole career to do. Winning was great in the alcohol ranks; we did a lot of winning, we won championships, and we won national events and divisional races. But this is a special moment. It’s a culmination of what you try to accomplish as a racer.”

Bartone advanced to his second Funny Car final round and first since the Las Vegas spring event in 2005 by besting Gary Scelzi, Mike Neff, and, in the semifinals, Tony Pedregon with a 4.25 to earn final-round lane choice. Because the five drivers in front of him in the standings all lost in round one, Bartone moved up two positions and pulled to within 129 points of a spot in the top 10 with four events remaining in the Countdown to 10.

Capps reached his first final round of the season and the 51st of his career by wheeling his Ed McCulloch-tuned NAPA Auto Parts Dodge past event-sponsored Del Worsham's perfect light in round one with a 4.17, Cruz Pedregon in round two with a 4.23, and Gary Densham in the semifinals, 4.26 to 4.27. Despite the final-round loss that denied him a 25th Funny Car crown and kept him winless since the May 2007 event in Madison, Capps moved around John Force and into sixth place following the 14-time world champ's surprising DNQ.

"It's a blast," said Schumacher. "We've been a pressure team for years. Under pressure we step up; we do good. Right now, for whatever reason, we're just having a great time, and the car is running good. When you get on a roll like this, watch out. You see those football teams, when they start smiling and start playing together really as a team, like we do, we're hard to beat. It's been outstanding.

"We're setting records that nobody thought possible. We're doing amazing things together. It's hard to believe, but it's great to be part of."

In his milestone 250th race-day start, Schumacher opened with a 3.87-second solo pass when opponent Steve Chrisman had to shut off behind the line and followed with blasts of 3.93 and 3.97 to trailer Dave Grubnic's DHL dragster and the Caterpillar car of friendly rival Rod Fuller. Schumacher's final-round win was his third straight at the event and fourth win at Pacific Raceways in the last five years.

Bernstein's Budweiser dragster ran low e.t. of the first round with a 3.85 to beat a surprisingly tough Troy Buff, whose 3.87 was the second quickest of the round and would have beaten any other opponent. Bernstein then survived a scare in a second-round battle with Cory McClenathan, who swept the Western Swing in 2007, in a battle of traction-deficient dragsters, 4.33 to 4.91. Bernstein also battled top-end traction woes in the semifinals but held off the similarly afflicted machine of Norwalk winner Doug Herbert, 4.26 to 4.38, to reach his 27th Top Fuel final. The final-round loss prevented him from winning his first Wally since last year's Brainerd event but did allow him some breathing room in his quest for a berth in the Countdown to 1.

In one of the many key Countdown matchups, 11th-ranked Morgan Lucas defeated ninth-place Doug Kalitta in round one to pull to within 10 points of a top 10 berth.

Jason Line

Line defeated Johnson's Dodge on a close 6.65 to 6.66 count for his 15th Pro Stock win. The victory also pulled him to within 10 points of second-place Kurt Johnson.

“It feels great to win, especially here in Seattle. I’ve never had any success here whatsoever, even with my Stocker,” Line said. “It feels really good to win here, but it feels even better to drive good. It was a good day for all of us.

“We didn’t have a great car, that’s for sure. We had a lot of issues. We tested some parts along the way, which was kind of cool, but you don’t really want to be testing at national events. But it all worked out, and the guys did a great job, especially getting it down the left lane, which was a little bit tricky.

“Allen has been running really well, and I was nervous for that race. But it all worked out, fortunately, and he was a little bit tardy, and when I looked over in high gear and didn’t see that Dodge over there, I was smiling."

Line, a winner earlier this year in Las Vegas with his Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac, reached his fifth final of the season and 33rd of his Pro Stock career by trailering the father-son tandem of Warren and Kurt Johnson in the first two rounds with passes of 6.65 and 6.63, then defeating Greg Stanfield in the semifinals with a 6.65.

Johnson, runner-up a week ago in Denver to Line's teammate, Greg Anderson, made it to his second straight final round and the 14th of his career by driving his Mopar Stratus past Larry Morgan, Dave Connolly, and V. Gaines with a steady string of passes -- 6.64, 6.63, and 6.64 – the latter of which earned him final-round lane choice, but he was denied his sixth win and first since the 2007 Denver event.

Low qualifier Connolly's bid to enter the top 10 was cut down by engine woes in round two, but he did gain 20 more points on 10th-place W.J. and, after missing the season's first five races, is just 26 markers out of a spot in the Countdown to 1 playoffs.

Related article(s):

• Friday: Schumacher, Hight, and Connolly lead Pro fields after opening day in Seattle (7/18/2008)
  
• Saturday: Friday low qualifiers remain on top as Seattle fields are set for eliminations (7/19/2008)
  

---

E-mail this article   Print this article

---

Return to the Home Page