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NHRA: Schumacher Fast On Friday At Pomona Finale
Tony Schumacher stayed on top of the Top Fuel class at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona.
Craig Wack  | http://www.go2Geiger.com  |  Posted November 11, 2011  
Schumacher would like to end a rather quiet season on a high note. (go2Geiger.com)
Although the No. 1 qualifiers didn't change the championship races did do a little shuffling after the second round of qualifying at the Auto Club NHRA Finals on Friday.

Tony Schumacher stayed on top of the Top Fuel class at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona. It's setting up an interesting "what if?" moment in the Don Schumacher Racing pits: Tony hasn't won yet this season while Specncer Massey and Antron Brown are in the championship fight – what would happen if there was an all-DSR meeting in the second round on Sunday afternoon?

"it's not something we even talk about. We race, that's it," Schumacher said. "You look back to 2009, Cory McClenathan beat me in Vegas and Larry Dixon left that race one point behind me.

"We could have made team orders and locked it up. But that's not how we play. When the called me the champ, I was proud to know nobody gave me anything."

Other No. 1s at the halfway mark of qualifying are Robert Hight in Funny Car, Mike Anderson in Pro Stock and Andrew Hines in Pro Stock Motorcycle.

Schumacher ran a 3.827 second pass at 321.19 mph on Thursday, which held up Friday which dawned more humid and the barometer made a radical swing with a cold front pushing its way through Southern California.

"I ask my crew chief and one minute he says it's going to rain all day tomorrow and the next he said it's going to pass," Schumacher said. "We'll just get up in the morning look out the window and see if we get to play tomorrow."

A driver keeping the closest eye on the weather overnight will be Antron Brown, who is within striking distance of the championship lead but not currently in the top 16.

"We're hoping for a sunny, Southern Calfornia day," Brown said. "The car has been running pretty well. It's almost been too aggressive. The guys are addressing that right now."

Del Worsham and the Al-Anabi Racing dragster goes into Saturday as the points leader. Specner Massey is two points behind in the Fram dragster.

Hight gained a couple of more points on the lead pack in Funny Car. His Auto Club Ford Mustang is still top of the charts on the strength of his 4.084 second pass at 313.07 mph.

"Bonus points are big," Hight said. "I really pray we get two more runs to gain some more points. It's really what we need."

Matt Hagan, driver of the DieHard Dodge Charger had the quickest run on Friday and gained three points on second place Jack Beckman, who is now four points behind in the Valvoline Charger.

Edwards and the Penhall Pontiac GXP stayed on top of the Pro Stock field with his 6.520 at 210.93 mph.

"Conditions changed a lot by the time we ran," Edwards said. "The sun came out and they got considerably worse than yesterday. Tomorrow if the rains hold off, we'll have good conditions for the first session."

Hines's pass of 6.820 seconds at 197.54 from Thursday aboard his Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson stood up. He had the low round of the day and teammate Eddie Krawiec was No. 2.

"The race today between me and Eddie reminds me why this is so fun," Hines said. "Going out there to try and kill the tree. He was .014 on the tree, I was .012. We were .009 at the stripe and Nos. 1 and 2 for the session. That's a great reason to be out there."

Two more rounds of qualifying are left for Saturday with eliminations coming Sunday from Auto Club Raceway in Pomona.
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Craig Wack

Go2Geiger.com

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