Texas Speedzone - Foley, Densham, Patrick, Commisso and Munroe take top spots in Amalie Oil Tx. Na

Knoll Gas Nitro Jam, Amalie Oil, Texas Nationals, presented by NAPA Auto Parts @ San Antonio Raceway, 3/23-25/07
By J M Hallas

Track surface troubles cause change in format.
San Antonio, Tx.(March 24, 2007) After a major oil down in the right lane by Bobby Lagana on Friday night it was discovered the track surface in the right lane was beginning to break up, from the 1/8 mile beams on. Gravel pulling out of the track forced IHRA and SAR officials to make repairs and decisions. Crews worked all night to re-lay and eight foot wide section track from the 1/8 mile timers to the normal finish line.

Even after track repairs were made, there was no time for the surface to cure and it was determined the remainder of the event would be run on the 1/8 mile format. All times from Friday night would have to be adjusted to the new format changing results in the Pro and Sportsman classes. The last official IHRA 1/8 mile event was 33 years ago Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Drivers were given the option to continue on under the new format or receive a full refund on entry fees, pit passes, etc.(only one bracket racer withdrew from the event) Most of the drivers took things in stride and understood that IHRA/SAR was doing everything possible to continue with the show without cancellation or rescheduling.

"The safety of our racers, fans and officials always comes first." said IHRA V.P. of Race Operations Skooter Peaco. "We have consistently proven that we don not take unnecessary risks, period. Therefore, the decision to run an 1/8 mile race was made out of our concern for the racers. We fixed the 1/4 mile and know we could contest the race that way, but we are erring on the side of caution and safety. It was difficult decision, but considering the risk factors, it was a simple call."

"At the end of the race, we'll actually be looking back at this event as a historic moment for Nitro Jam drag racing. We've never contested a national event on the 1/8 mile. We're anxious to see how the fans and racers react to this format."

San Antonio Speedway track co-owner, Judy Zampese said, "This is a bad day. We don't know for sure what happened. IHRA asked us to grind the surface which we completed about 3-4 weeks ago. When things get this bad it can only get better from here."
On the bright side, weather conditions improved on Saturday with the sun peeking occasionally through the cloud and winds not nearly as gusty as they had been Friday night.

Pro class adjustments from Friday to 1/8 mile

Pro Stock
1 Robert Patrick 4.129, 172.89
2 Rob Mansfield 4.151 172,72
3 Steve Spiess 4.154, 173.054 Brian Gahm 4.168, 172,87
5. John Nobile 4.169, 171.18
6 Rickie Smith 4.171, 171.90
7 Mike Corvo 4.177, 171.64
8 Elijah Morton 4.185, 170.30
9 Jeff Dobbins 4.191, 170.41
10 Frank Gugliotta 4.192, 170.39
11 Cary Goforth 4.203, 171.99
12 Larry O'Brien 4.207, 170.17
13 Michael Bruno 4.214, 171.34
14 John Montecalvo 4.124 171.12
15 Dean Goforth 4.237, 172.10
16 Dan Sweeney 4.247, 169.32
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17 Pete Berner 4.251, 169.47
18 Bob Bertswch 4.460, 154.49
19 Ed Machacek 5.292, 94.94
20 Chuck Demory 5.483, 90.76

Alcohol Funny Car
1 Terry Munroe 3.878, 188.25
2 Mark Thomas 3.884, 193.57
3 Tim Stevens 3.893, 184.55
4 Larry Dobbs 3.906, 189.18
5 Terry McMillen 3.960, 187.07
6 Laurie Cannister 3.973, 188.67
7 Rob Atchison 4.028, 181.86
8 Tony Bogolo 6.272, 76.24

Pro Modified
1 Raymond Commiso 4.003, 183.24
2 Ed Hoover 4.028, 183.39
3 vBurton Auxier 4.055, 179.52
4 Danny Rowe 4.062, 182.72
5 Scott Cannon 4.072 184.27
6 Jim Halsey 4.077, 182.30
7 John Russo 4.078, 180.48
8 Pat Stoken 4.086, 180.38
9 Eddie Ware 4.092, 182.13
10 Kenny Lang 4.099, 183.59
11 Quain Stott 4.109, 182.38
12 Shannon Jenkins 4.117, 176.86
13 Harold Martin 4.117, 176.28
14 Kirk Kuhns 4.155, 171.49
15 Mike Janis 4.166, 183.9716 Chip King 4.850, 107.81
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17 Mike Castellana 5.416, 98.56
18 Matt Hagan 6.215, 9121

Nitro Funny Car
1 Gary Densham 3.322, 253.56
2 Del Worsham 3.327, 256.50
3 Terry Haddox 3.358, 254.28
4 Bob Gilbertson 3.372, 257.68
5 Jon Capps 3.416, 247.34
6 Andy Kelley 3.428, 245.40
7 Jack Wyatt 3.477, 246.89
8 Todd Simpson 3.580, 228.81
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9 Dale Creasy jr 5.163, 91.30
10 Paul Lee 5.892, 71.07
11 Mitch King 8.502, 56.82
12 Cruz Pedregon NT/NS broke on line

Top Fuel Dragster
1 Bruce Litton 3.228, 242.89
2 Scotty Cannon 3.289, 257.04
3 Bobby Lagana 3.341, 249.16
4 Scott Weis 3.474, 245.76
5 Mitch King 3.607, 169.91
6 Chris Karamesines 4.545, 113.14
7 T J Zizzo 4.724, 92.63
8 Terry McMillen 6.312, 63.33
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9 Scott Palmer 6.446, 88.40
10 Jim Cavalieri 8.257, 61.75
11 Doug Foley NT/NS broke/stopped before 1/2 track

Pro qualifying round 3

Pro Stock
After round three of Pro Stock qualifying, Robert Patrick still holds the top spot with his adjusted time of 4.129 @ 172.89mph from Friday night's run.

Ed Machacek 4.332, 167.97Chuck Demory broke on burn out

Pete Berner 4.195, 177.79
Bob Bertsch 4.328, 165.80

Dan Sweeney 4.658, 132.19
Dean Goforth 4.189, 173.XX

Larry O'Brien 4.415, 163.26
Elijah Morton 4.244, 166.83

John Nobile 5.039, 102.15
John Montecalvo 4.186, 172.54

Rickie Smith 5.597, 87.48
Jeff Dobbins 4.216, 170.79

Mike Corvo 4.170, 172.28
Frank Gugliotta 4.223, 170.82

Mike Bruno 4.204, 172.23

Steve Spiess 5.212, 97.16
Cary Goforth 6.707, 84.74

Robert Patrick 5.155, 98.08
Rob Mansfield 4.837, 111.23

Alcohol Funny Car
Terry Munroe moved to the top of the Alcohol Funny Car after the times were adjusted from Friday night and continued to head the list after round three of qualifying.

Terry McMillen 5.031, 96.60
Rob Atchison 3.904, 192.55

Laurie Cannister 4.031, 164.21

Terry Munroe 3.968, 185.43
Tim Stevens 4.317, 133.98

Mark Thomas 3.930, 184.38
Larry Dobbs 3.940, 188.84

Pro Modified
In Pro Modifieds Raymond Commisso moved from 18th in round one to first in round two, and held the spot with the adjusted times. Commisso was still number one after round three, while Tony Pontieri making his first trip down the track and grabbing second away from Ed Hoover.

Mike Castellana 4.136, 177.65
Tony Pontieri 4.012, 187.86

Chip King 8.136, 83.38
Matt Hagan 4.291, 180.45

Shannon Jenkins 4.119, 180.50

Kirk Kuhn 4.043, 179.95
Kenny Lang 6.036, 81.80

Mike Janis 4.690, 119.81
Pat Stoken 4.569, 127.75

Eddie Ware 4.172, 171.23
Scott Cannon 4.078, 183.84

Burton Auxier 4.113, 174.33
John Russo 4.084, 182.58

Quain Stott 9.346, 52.40
Danny Rowe 8.578, 50.79

Jim Halsey 5.189, 96.55

Raymond Commiso 4.075, 184.98
Ed Hoover 4.040, 183.20

Nitro Funny Car
The top seven in Nitro Funny Car remained the same, with Cruz Pedregon able to make a pass and bump his way to eighth spot, on the bubble.

Cruz Pedregon 3.499, 207.52
Mitch King 3.589, 157.72

Paul Lee 3.554, 220.84

Jack Wyatt 3.471, 244.47
Dale Creasy jr. 3.927, 157.04

Jon Capps 4.757, 95.76
Andy Kelley 4.721, 99.66
Bob Gilbertson 3.404, 237.96

Gary Densham 3.330, 253.09
Del Worsham 5.256, 82.99

Top Fuel Dragster
Scotty Cannon lost the number one spot even before a caqr hit the track. With adjustments made to times, Cannon went second behind Bruce Litton. In round two, Doug Foley took over the top spot with a 3.129 @ 273.05mph in the 2007 TORCO Race Fuels, Mach Series Accelerator, J G Parks & Sons, Valvoline, Attac Chassis powered by a TFX race engine.

Doug Foley 3.126, 273.05
Terry McMillen 3.218, 228.23

Jim Cavalieri 3.647, 152.45
Scott Palmer 6.918, 86.97

Chris Karamesines 11.175, 31.84 blew up off line

T J Zizzo 5.186, 94.72
Scott Weis 3.313, 253.23

Bruce Litton 3.205, 236.13

Scotty Cannon 3.295, 255.43
Bobby Lagana jr 4.575, 98.30

Holt Cat, Night of Fire
The customary highlight of final qualifying is the Saturday night, "Night of Fire" presented by Holt Caterpillar. This would be the last make or break runs for drivers in the Pro classes, and capped off with Bob Motz Jet Kenworth truck lighting up the night sky under a fireworks display.

Pro qualifying round four
While positions shuffled througout the Pro Stock field, Robert Patrick survived and stayed in the number one qualifying spot.

Pro Stock
Bob Bertsch 5.370, 93.09
Ed Machacek 4.211, 169.51

Dan Sweeney 4.186, 172.45

Mike Bruno 4.204, 171.58Larry O'Brien 4.188, 171.97

Cary Goforth 5.347, 92.93
Pete Berner 4.203, 170.11

Frank Gugliotta 5.099, 100.86
Rickie Smith 4.194, 171.34

Jeff Dobbins 5.199, 97.08
Mike Corvo 4.197, 171.47

Dean Goforth 4.216, 172.28
John Nobile 4.167, 173,54

John Montecalvo 4.163, 173.25
Brian Gahm 4.192, 172.45

Elijah Morton 4.242, 169.93
Steve Spiess 4.148, 173,03

Rob Mansfield 4.175, 172.94
Robert Patrick 4.179, 172.63

Final Pro Stock qualifying
1 Robert Patrick 4.129, 172.89
2 Steve Spiess 4.148, 173.05
3 Rob Mansfield 4.151 172,72
4 John Montecalvo 4.163 173.25
5. John Nobile 4.169, 171.18
6 Brian Gahm 4.168, 172,87
7 Mike Corvo 4.170, 172.28
8 Rickie Smith 4.171, 171.90
9 Elijah Morton 4.185, 170.30
10 Dan Sweeney 4.186, 172.45
11 Larry O'Brien 4.188, 171.97
12 Dean Goforth 4.189, 173.05
13 Jeff Dobbins 4.191, 170.41
14 Frank Gugliotta 4.192, 170.39
15 Pete Berner 4.195, 171.79
16 Cary Goforth 4.203, 171.99
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17 Michael Bruno 4.214, 171.34
18 Ed Machacek 4.211, 169.51
19 Bob Bertsch 4.328, 165.80
20 Chuck Demory 5.483, 90.76

Alcohol Funny Car
In Alcohol Funny Car Terry Munroe kept the number one spot in the final qualifying run. Laurie Cannister was the only driver to improve their position, moving to the fourth spot on her final run.

Laurie Cannister 3.901, 187.00
Tony Bogolo 4.048, 180.74

Larry Dobbs 3.962, 186.82
Terry McMillen 3.994, 185.41

Rob Atchison 3.973, 193.36
Mark Thomas 3.935, 190.22

Tim Stevens 3.941, 189.27
Terry Munroe 3.912, 184.90

Alcohol Funny Car Final qualifying
1 Terry Munroe 3.878, 188.25
2 Mark Thomas 3.884, 193.57
3 Tim Stevens 3.893, 184.55
4 Laurie Cannister 3.901, 187.00
5 Rob Atchison 3.904, 192.55
6 Larry Dobbs 3.906, 189.18
7 Terry McMillen 3.960, 187.07
8 Tony Bogolo 4.048, 180.74

Pro Modified
Raymond Commisso held the top qualifying position in Pro Modifieds as he, Scott Cannon and Tony Pontieri all cracked the 4.0 second range. Commisso's 3.962 @ 188.41mph was 1/100th of a second quicker than Cannon.

Harold Martin 4.216, 169.81
ChipKing 5.210, 99.97

Shannon Jenkins 5.554, 87.67

Matt Hagan 4.648, 159.78
Mike Janis 4.095, 183.49

Kenny Lang 4.058 182.58
Mike Castellano 4.401, 143,75
Pat Stoken 4.241, 172.32
Quain Stott 4.096, 187.91

John Russo 4.043, 185.36
Eddie Ware 4.133, 175.41

Scott Cannon 3.963, 184.75
Jim Halsey 4.848, 106.84

Danny Rowe 6.753, 67.33
Burton Auxier 4.188, 168.79

Ed Hoover 4.022, 189.19
Kirk Kuhns 4.041, 187.94

Tony Pontieri 3.979, 184.04
Raymond Commisso 3.962, 188.41

Pro Modified Final qualifying
1 Raymond Commiso 3.962, 188.41
2 Scott Cannon 3.963, 184.75
3 Tony Pontieri 3.979, 189.04
4 Ed Hoover 4.022, 184.14
5 Kirk Kuhns 4.041, 187.94
6 John Russo 4.043, 185.36
7 Burton Auxier 4.055, 179.52
8 Kenny Lang 4.058, 182.55
9 Danny Rowe 4.062, 182.72
10 Jim Halsey 4.077, 182.30
11 Pat Stoken 4.086, 180.38
12 Eddie Ware 4.092, 182.13
13 Mike Janis 4.095, 183.49
14 Quain Stott 4.109, 182.38
15 Shannon Jenkins 4.117, 176.86
16 Harold Martin 4.117, 176.28
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17 Mike Castellana 4.136, 177.65
18 Matt Hagan 4.291, 180.45
19 Chip King 4.850, 107.81

Nitro Funny Car
Gary Densham continued his stranglehold on Nitro Funny Car from last year as he held the top spot throughout qualification. Densham steadily increased his times ending the night with a 3.322 @ 253.56

Mike Smith 3.649, 204.10

Mitch King 3.714, 204.98
Todd Simpson 5.999, 73.30

Dale Creasy jr 3.394, 234.04
Cruz Pedregon 4.775, 96.86

Paul Lee 6.097, 67.04
Jack Wyatt 3.450, 243.19

Andy Kelley 14.663, 47.31
Jon Capps 3.362, 240.47

Bob Gilbertson 12.437, 37.17
Terry Haddox 5.499, 90.26

Del Worsham 3.331, 257.30
Gary Densham 5.300, 93.00

Nitro Funny Car Final qualifying
1 Gary Densham 3.322, 253.56
2 Del Worsham 3.327, 256.50
3 Terry Haddox 3.358, 254.28
4 Jon Capps 3.362, 240.47
5 Bob Gilbertson 3.372, 257.68
6 Dale Creasy jr. 3.394, 234.04
7 Andy Kelley 3.428, 245.40
8 Jack Wyatt 3.450, 246.89
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9 Cruz Pedregon 3.499, 201.52
10 Paul Lee 5.892, 71.07
11 Todd Simpson 3.580, 228.81
12 Mike Smith 3.649, 209.10
13 Mitch King 3.714, 204.98

Top Fuel Dragster
Defending event champion, Doug Foley waited until the final pass to show what he had as he laid down the fastest run of the weekend. Foley's 3.111 @ 268.65. T J Zizzo jumped from outside the field to the second spot in the final round.

“Well I wasn’t real happy at first,” said Foley about the 1/8 mile format. “I guess they did what they had to do. I’d like to think the 1/8 mile is easier on parts, but for some reason it’s just not showing it today. It looks like a typical run. I don’t know why that is, but overall you’d think it would be easier on parts. I’m just glad it turned out as safe as it did for everybody. The most wear comes in that first 1/8 mile, the clutch starts to comes in and that’s when it starts to pull the motor down. When you run an 1/8 mile you have to a little more aggressive. We knew some guys were going to try to run fast. It was just as much of an advantage or disadvantage to everyone.”
“Nobody ever expected that situation, if they did they would have fixed it sooner. It’s an unfortunate situation. But compared to eight hours when there were 500 racers walking around, not sure of what was happing, it couldn’t have turned out any better. I don’t think it affected the race that much. IHRA did the best they could under the circumstances.”

“We’re looking for three win lights tomorrow,” added Foley. “I don’t think we learned anything more today than we did in the past. The car’s been running pretty good, we actually slowed it down tonight. The numbers are not that impressive.”

Scott Palmer 4.550, 102.70
T J Zizzo 3.132, 262.03

Bobby Lagana jr 4.666, 94.04
Jim Cavalieri 4.425, 103.78

Scott Weis 3.296, 252.66
Mitch King 3.293, 241.28

Terry McMillen 3.218, 258.02
Scotty Cannon 3.215, 258.27

Bruce Litton 3.158, 268.44
Doug Foley 3.111, 268.65

Top Fuel Dragster Final qualifying
1 Doug Foley 3.111, 268.65
2 T J Zizzo 3.132, 262.03
3 Bruce Litton 3.158, 268.44
4 Scotty Cannon 3.215, 258.27
5 Terry McMillen 3.218, 258.02
6 Mitch King 3.293, 241. 28
7 Scott Weis 3.296, 252.66
8 Bobby Lagana jr. 3.341, 249.16
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9 Jim Cavalieri 3.647, 152.45
10 Chris Karamesines 4.545, 113.1411 Scott Palmer 4.550, 102.79

Bob Motz Jet Kenworth truck 6.944, 232.83