CHANDLER, Ariz. -- A woman who
was struck by a tire earlier today at the NHRA Arizona Nationals
at Firebird International Raceway was pronounced dead at Good
Samaritan Hospital this evening. The tire became detached from
Antron Brown's dragster following an incident during the first
round of eliminations. Brown was not injured.
NHRA is investigating the incident. The entire NHRA community is
deeply saddened by today's incident and sends its thoughts and
prayers to the woman's family and friends.
From ESPN......
FORCE, KALITTA
CONTINUE EARLY-SEASON RESURGENCE IN DELAYED NHRA ARIZONA
NATIONALS
ELIMINATIONS FOR PRO STOCK CATEGORY TO BE RUN DURING QUALIFYING
AT THE TIRE KINGDOM NHRA GATORNATIONALS
CHANDLER, Ariz. –
The quarterfinal, semifinal and final rounds of Pro Stock for
the NHRA Arizona Nationals will be run during qualifying at the
41st annual Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville
Raceway, NHRA officials announced today.
Due to forecasted cold weather and persistent rain, the
unfinished rounds will be completed during the second, third and
fourth rounds of qualifying for the event in two weeks at the
historic Florida dragstrip.
The quarterfinal pairs will be matched up during the second
round of qualifying Friday, March 12, with the semifinal pairs
matched up during third round of qualifying and the final round
matched up during the final round of qualifying Saturday, March
13th. The runs will occur during the scheduled qualifying
sessions of the event and the times posted during those runs
will count toward qualifying for the event.
The completion of the NHRA Lucas Oil Series portion of this
event will be conducted during next weekend's NHRA Division 7
event here.
CHANDLER, Ariz. – NHRA icon John Force continued his
early-season resurgence by reaching his second straight final
round before racing was postponed Sunday at the 26th NHRA
Arizona Nationals.
Weather delays moved racing into the early evening and
deteriorating conditions forced the postponement. Racing will
resume Monday at 10 a.m. MT with finals in Top Fuel and Funny
Car and quarterfinals in Pro Stock.
Force, who ended a 40-race winless streak with his NHRA-record
127th career win last weekend at the season-opening Kragen
O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals, will meet Jack Beckman in the
Funny Car Final.
Force, who has won an NHRA-record 14 championships, is the first
driver to surpass 200 points and he is assured of remaining in
first place when the NHRA Full Throttle Series moves to
Gainesville March 11-14 for the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals.
Another resurgent driver, Doug Kalitta, will meet Cory
McClenathan in the Top Fuel final. Kalitta, who has five
top-three points finishes but hasn’t finished higher than eighth
in the last three seasons, is in his second straight final round
to start the 2010 season after his runner-up finish at the
Winternationals.
The Pro Stock class was only able to complete one round Sunday
and they will resume action in the quarterfinals on Monday.
Among the more intriguing matchups will be defending champion
Mike Edwards against three-time champion Greg Anderson – a
rematch of the season-opening final round won by Edwards.
Series wins at the 50th Anniversary Kragen O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals
presented by Valvoline.
