Rookie of the Year Pro Stock driver Jason Line and reigning Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Andrew Hines were the biggest movers of the second day of professional qualifying at the 21st annual Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals as each man managed to jump to the front of their respective categories. Line (pictured) edged his boss Greg Anderson by .001-second to steal away the top slot, while Hines knocked rival Chip Ellis from the No. 1 position with a final-round 7.09-second blast.

Saturday's humidity kept Friday's nitro leaders intact. Top Fuel lead dog Tony Schumacher looked sharp on a hot racetrack but just couldn't match the 4.47 he posted under the lights Friday evening. Gary Scelzi came within three-thousandths of a second of his best run, which was also posted Friday night, and easily remained in front of Funny Car despite a late run from Eric Medlen.

 Top Fuel's big guns couldn't find a quicker way down Maple Grove Raceway in Saturday's heat as the four quickest drivers from Friday all held onto their respective positions. Low qualifier Schumacher ran a 4.58 and a 4.52 Saturday, which seemed quite a bit slower than the 4.477 at 323.35 mph he posted in Round 2.

Tony Schumacher

This is Schumacher's fifth low qualifying effort in a row, his ninth of the year, and the 20th of his career. As the top qualifier he'll get a check from Budweiser in the amount of $4,000, which he'll promptly hand over to his father Don, who owns the U.S. Army dragster.

"Last night the conditions were cooler and better and we all ran big numbers, which is great for the team and fun for the fans," said Schumacher, who has won the last two events here, "but the reality is we don't run at night. We run during the day. That's why I'm probably more excited about today's two runs. The 4.58 would have been better but we dropped a [cylinder] at the hit. I know this; if we run 4.52s tomorrow it won't matter who is in the other lane.”

Miller Lite pro Larry Dixon remains the closest to Schumacher on the qualifying sheet with a second-best 4.538 at 323.43 mph. Dixon is 80 points back of Schumacher in the POWERade rankings. Doug Kalitta, who is second in the points, 45 markers back, qualified seventh here with a 4.554.

Snap-on Tools racer Doug Herbert, who rose to "DougZilla" fame here in 2002 after a starting-line scuffle with Clay Millican, continues to impress with new crew chief Wayne Dupuy calling the shots. He'll start race day in third place with a best E.T. of 4.541. Morgan Lucas stayed fourth overall with a 4.542 in his Lucas Oil/Keystone rail.

Scott Weis needed some final-round heroics to make the cut but his Barrett Enterprises crew helped him to a 4.838 at 275.90 mph, which placed him 16th. He'll start against Schumacher Sunday morning.

Gary Scelzi

Scelzi's 4.769 at 323 mph that closed out professional qualifying was impressive. It just wasn't enough to improve on the 4.766 at 322.11 mph he was credited with in Friday's second session. When combined with the 4.81 and 4.86 he ran in the other two qualifying rounds, he certainly proved that his Oakley/Mopar Dodge Stratus R/T is the car to beat at this event.

By qualifying No. 1 for the fourth time this year and the 40th time in his career, Scelzi not only pockets $4,000 from Skoal but he also gained a tiny bit of breathing room in the standings. Entering the race one point ahead of Robert Hight, Scelzi now enjoys a six-point edge over the rookie driver, a 42-point advantage over Ron Capps, a 51-point cushion over John Force, and a 56-point spacing from Eric Medlen.

"We're all right there," Scelzi said. "If you think too much about it you get to a point where you can't function. I'll just go up there tomorrow morning like I normally do with a giant bat flying around in my gut and wonder why the hell I do this to myself, just like I always do. I've been watching the points since Pomona. Nothing's changed. It beats the alternative, which is not performing and losing your ride.

"We'll see what tomorrow brings. It'll be brutal right from the start. Robert and Ron are gonna race in Round 1. Then if I get past Round 1 I'll race the winner of that race. Medlen and [Whit] Bazemore could meet early. Force has [Tony] Bartone. Who knows how it will all turn out. I just hope I'm back up here [in the pressroom] tomorrow night."

Medlen finished second overall with a 4.787 at 317.12 mph in his Castrol Syntec Ford Mustang. Tommy Johnson Jr. is third with a 4.794 in his Skoal Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Toyo Tires racer Frank Pedregon is fourth with a 4.800. Force ended up sixth with a 4.804. Hight is eighth with a 4.822, and Capps in ninth with a 4.824.

Gary Densham parked his Racebricks Chevrolet Monte Carlo in the 16th position with a final-round 4.887. Cruz Pedregon failed to qualify for the second event in a row.

Jason Line

Defending Toyo Tires Nationals champion Line stole the thunder from his boss in the final session of Pro Stock qualifying when he drove his Summit GTO to the No. 1 position by one-thousandth of a second. Line's 6.735 at 204.79 mph kept the $3,000 bonus from King Demon in the KB Racing camp and earned him his first low qualifier plaque of the year.

"If both Greg and I are running the way we are here, then it's fun to get after each other and try to see who can get the better of the other guy," Line said. "That's not the case when one guy is struggling. I don't know about Greg but I like it when we're one-two on the ladder because I know we can't face each other until the final. It just gives me one less thing to worry about.

"After the way we ran in Indy I was expecting us to be quick right from the start here. It took a little longer to get up to speed, I guess because the conditions never have gotten to what we normally see here. It took a few laps to figure it all out."

Points leader Anderson will have to start race day in the No. 2 position. His best time in his identically-prepared Summit GTO was 6.736 seconds. Friday's top dog Kurt Johnson fell to third with his quickest pass showing a 6.739 at 204.54 mph on the scoreboard. Kurt's father Warren, the only other driver besides Anderson and K.J. with a realistic chance at winning the POWERade championship this year, ended up sixth with a 6.748.

Phoenix winner Allen Johnson held on to the final position in the field with a 6.777 at 202.33 mph in his J&J Racing/Mopar Stratus. He'll draw Line in Round 1.

Andrew Hines

Hines' bid to equal his brother's record total of 11 low qualifying efforts in a single season is still alive as the reigning Pro Stock Motorcycle champion racked up his ninth of the year Saturday afternoon. Hines waited until the final qualifying session to ride around Friday leader Chip Ellis with a 7.098 at 189.10 mph on his Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson V-Rod. The extra effort is worth $1,000 from Ringers Gloves.

"Believe me, [staying on course for tying the record] was going through my head when I was sitting down there in the staging lanes," Hines said. "To get around Chip by just a few thousandths in the last round of qualifying puts me on top of the world. That's a lot of hard work from the guys here at the track and back at the shop. I think the biggest thing is I've finally figured out how to tell my dad and brother what I think the bike is doing during the run.

"We don't have any data we can really use because every time I've been here, especially with a Harley, it's either rained or been cold or both. We just couldn't get our 60-foot times down. We can make up a lot on the top end with our horsepower but it helps a lot when you get up and going down low."

Ellis slipped to second on the G-Squared S&S Buell V-Twin after failing to join Hines in the 7.0-second range. His best run was the 7.101 he posted in Round 1 Friday. Ellis' new stablemate, Matt Smith, who was runner-up in Indy, ended up third here with a 7.121 at 186.54 mph on his Red Line Oil/Torco Buell.

Defending event champion Angelle Sampey moved up to fourth overall, the best ranking for a Suzuki rider, with her 7.128 on the U.S. Army GSX-R.

Former series champion Geno Scali parked the Trim-Tex Suzuki on the 16th perch after a 7.234 at 184.17 mph. He'll have to beat Hines in Round 1 if he hopes to advance.

Shawn Gann failed to qualify for the first time in his 82-race career.

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