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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
In nearly 50 years of NHRA drag racing, John Force has seen multiple tracks come and go ... but this one will really hurt.
A 10-time Topeka winner, NHRA legend John Force watches the qualifying action Friday night during the Menards NHRA Nationals at Heartland Motorsports Park. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Sixteen-time Funny Car world champ John Force takes part in Friday night qualifying during the Menards NHRA Nationals at Heartland Motorsports Park. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The 74-year-old Funny Car legend, who has a track-record 10 national-event wins at Heartland Motorsports Park (formerly Heartland Park Topeka) among his national-record 155 career victories, isn't quite ready to say he'll never race in Topeka again.
"Who knows what's going to happen? When they start tearing it down, that's when we'll know,'' Force said.
But in the wake of the NHRA's recent announcement that the HMP race, a staple on the national schedule since the Topeka track opened in 1989, will move to Odessa, Mo. in 2024, the drag racing GOAT is having trouble dealing with the news.
"It makes me sick, this is my life,'' Force said. "When you look at the big picture, I came (to this area) before Topeka was here. I raced at Kansas City. I stayed in Independence (Mo.) at the Ramada Inn. Then the AHRA went away and they built this track and I've been coming here every since.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Four-time Top Fuel world champion Steve Torrence made the only run in the 3.70s on Friday night at Heartland Motorsports Park, earning the provisional No. 1 spot at the Menards NHRA Nationals presented by PetArmor.
Four-time Top Fuel champ Steve Torrence talks to the media Friday night at Heartland Motorsports Park. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Torrence recorded a run of 3.764 seconds at 326.24 miles per hour in his 11,000-horsepower Capco Contractors/Toyota dragster to close out Friday's lone round of qualifying in a side-by-side clash with points leader Justin Ashley.
If it holds through Saturday's final two qualifying rounds, Torrence, who is currently second in points behind Ashley, would notch his first No. 1 qualifier this season and No. 35 of his career.
“This is a huge confidence-booster, just for getting the momentum going early in the weekend and getting us set up to go into (Saturday) for the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge,” Torrence said. “We needed to have a good qualifying run tonight to set us up to go into that race tomorrow with a competitive car and try to compete for those three points.
“That's going to be huge going into the Countdown, where we're able to kind of cut that lead down or see if we can cut it to nothing between now and then with Justin Ashley being so far ahead of us.
"These guys, we've been working hard. Everybody is putting in a whole lot of blood, sweat and tears in this thing.”
Clay Millican, who has a pair of wins this season, is currently second with his 3.813 at 316.15 and Ashley’s run of 3.818 at 322.88 puts him third. Ashley currently has five victories this season.
Top Fuel qualifying continues at 3 p.m. Saturday, with eliminations getting under way at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
MENARDS NHRA NATIONALS
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The 2023 NHRA season hasn't been up to the success that Robert Hight and John Force Racing have grown accustomed to over the years.
But Hight gave himself and JFR a boost on Friday night, earning Funny Car's provisional No. 1 qualifying spot with a run of 3.948 seconds at 321.19 miles per hour in his Cornwell Tools/AAA Chevrolet Camaro SS.
NHRA Funny Car star Robert Hight earned the provisional No. 1 spot Friday night in the first round of qualifying for the Menards NHRA Nationals at Heartland Motorsports Park. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
If that holds up through Saturday's final two qualifying runs, the three-time world champ would earn his third No. 1 qualifier this season and the 80th of his career.
Hight, currently fourth in points, enjoyed a strong start to the 2023 season, winning in both Phoenix and Charlotte, but hasn’t been past the semifinals since.
“This was definitely much-needed,” Hight said. “We kind of went off of last year when we ran 3.93 here in similar conditions. We've been struggling, and the car hasn't been cooperating with every adjustment Jimmy (Prock, crew chief) makes.
"He's really set on this new clutch combination, but he believes that he's the one that's been making the mistakes. He beats himself up pretty bad and it was just awesome to hear the excitement in his voice when he told me what it ran. We needed that run big time.''
With hot conditions expeccted again on Saturday, Hight would appear to be in an excellent position to nail down the No. 1 qualifier, but he said the goal it to put together a pair of solid runs.
“It's going to be pretty hot out there, and it's really setting yourself up for race day,'' Hight said. "It's not going to do us any good to make a good run here tonight and go out there tomorrow and smoke the tires or drop cylinders.
"We really need to make good, quality runs so we're set up for Sunday and get to where we can race this thing a little better.”
Defending and back-to-back world champ Ron Capps was No. 2 in qualifying following his run of 3.950 at 314.17 m.p.h. and defending event winner Bob Tasca III is third with a pass of 3.967 at 316.60.
Funny Car qualifying continues at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, with eliminations getting under way at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
MENARDS NHRA NATIONALS
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
By Greg Anderson's extremely high standards, the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season has been a bit of a disappointment.
But the five-time Pro Stock world champion got a boost in Friday night's opening qualifying session for the Menards NHRA Nationals at Heartland Motorsports Park..
Five-time world Pro Stock champ Greg Anderson earned the provisional No. 1 qualifier in the Menards NHRA Nationals Friday night. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Anderson, the winningest driver in pro stock history, earned the top spot in the first of three qualifying runs with a pass of 6.677 seconds at 205.38 miles per hour in his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro.
Currently seventh in points, the season hasn’t gone as planned for Anderson, who is still seeking his first appearance in the final round.
But he took a big step with his run on Friday, also putting him on track for his 122nd career No. 1 qualifier.
“We made a lot of changes,'' Anderson said. “We had three weeks at home and did a lot of work, but you just never know what you have until you get to the race track.
“This year I've been kind of let down when I get to the race track, but this was a good night. It's a great feeling I haven't had for a while, and I think we can even do better. It was good to see that when we pull the run up on the computer, it's got a little bit of room. Hopefully we can improve.''
“(It was) completely different conditions than we've seen all year, but maybe that's what my race car needed. It went right up to the top, and I'm not going to complain one little bit. It's still going to be hot tomorrow but slightly cooler conditions to see if we can improve on that.”
Reigning world champ Erica Enders is in the second spot after her run of 6.686 at 204.63, as Anderson and Enders were the only two drivers in the 6.60s.
Troy Coughlin Jr., the defending event winner in Topeka, is third with a 6.704 at 205.16. Coughlin is also the most recent winner in the category, winning in Denver.
Pro Stock qualifying continues at 2:15 p.m. Saturday, with eliminations getting under way at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
MENARDS NHRA NATIONALS
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
In a field loaded with many of Shawnee County's all-time great athletes and great teams, the Lori Green-led 1976 Topeka West team got the nod for the No. 1 spot on the TopSports.news Best of the Best list for girls track and field.
Legendary Topeka West sprinter Lori Green earned four gold medals in 1976 as the Chargers captured the Class 4A state team title. [Submitted photo to KSHSAA.org]
Still regarded as one of the best-ever sprinters in Kansas, Green took home four gold medals in '76 as Peg Marmet's Chargers won six of 14 events on the way to the Class 4A team crown.
Claudia Welch's 1985 Seaman Class 6A state championship team is ranked No. 2 on TSN's Best of the Best for girls track and field. [Submitted photo to KSHSAA.org]
Claudia Welch's 1985 Seaman team garnered the No. 2 spot on the Best of the Best Top 10, with the Vikings rolling to the 6A team title by a 79-57 margin over Junction City while picking up four event wins.
