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Antron Brown wins Top Fuel, Del Worsham, Funny Car,
Jeg Coughlin Pro Stock, and Eddie Krawiec Pro Stock

Worsham, Krawiec, Coughlin and Brown

05.03.09, Madison, IL -- Del Worsham raced to his first win of the season and first win with Alan Johnson Al-Anabi Racing at the 13th annual O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway International Raceway.

Antron Brown, Jeg Coughlin and Eddie Krawiec also won in their respective categories.

Worsham drove his Alan Johnson Al-Anabi Racing Toyota Solara to a 4.135-second run at 302.48 mph to defeat No. 1 qualifier and current points leader Ron Capps on a holeshot. For Worsham, it's his first win in over a year; his last coming at Houston Raceway Park in 2007.

Eddie Krawiec

"We got here and went down the track all six runs without any problem," said Worsham. "This team was assembled to do well, win races and win a championship, and I just want to be able to do my part. It was just a huge sense of excitement!"

"Looking back on my career, I've made some great passes and great runs, but Ron (Capps) and Tony (Pedregon) always seem to kick my butt, so it's just a great feeling to be able to win against him."

Antron Brown

In Top Fuel, Antron Brown defeated St. Louis favorite, Budweiser-sponsored Brandon Bernstein, when he drove his DirectTV/Matco Tools dragster to 3.850 at 318.02 mph. It is Brown's second win in three final round appearances for the season and 20th win of his career.

"That was a just a phenomenal race," said Brown. "You line up against that Budweiser car with Brandon Bernstein and Rob Flynn. I know what Rob is capable of. Rob won this race last year with "Hot Rod" (Fuller), so he knows about this track and what it can take and hold."

Coughlin drove past runner-up Jason Line after Line posted a red light in the final round of competition. Coughlin drove his JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt to a 6.588 at 208.39 mph for his third win in five final round appearances for the season.

Jeg Coughlin

"There's no question that our team has really jelled together over the past two seasons," said Coughlin. "We've been racing hard, we've been racing smart and we're on the good end of it now with three wins in five final rounds."

Krawiec rode his Screamin' Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson past runner-up Craig Treble to pick up his second win in as many races for the season. Krawiec's run of 6.947 at 189.39 mph was strong enough for the defending world champions second career win.

Eddie Krawiec

"To come out here and get my second win, it's just a cool opportunity," said Krawiec "It's tough going out there and getting your first win and everyone told me that once you get your first win, it'll get easy, but I never thought it would get this easy."

O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals Full Throttle Series Final Results:
Top Fuel: Antron Brown, 3.850 seconds @ 318.02 mph defeats Brandon Bernstein, 3.888 @ 310.27
Funny Car: Del Worsham, 4.135 @ 302.48 defeats Ron Capps, 4.121 @ 301.33
Pro Stock: Jeg Coughlin, 6.588 @ 208.39 defeats Jason Line, foul - Red Light
Pro Stock Motorcycle: Eddie Krawiec, 6.947 @ 189.39 defeats Craig Treble, 6.953 @ 194.21
-- Credits: DRO, Summit FastNews Network, edits/adds FlA & Co.

NHRA Full Throttle Point Standings - Top 15
after conclusion of O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals

TOP FUEL
  1.  Antron Brown              561
  2.  Tony Schumacher           543
  3.  Brandon Bernstein         517
  4.  Cory McClenathan          453
  5.  Morgan Lucas              437
  6.  Larry Dixon               402
  7.  Shawn Langdon             375
  8.  Spencer Massey            363
  9.  Doug Kalitta              320
 10.  Joe Hartley               302
 11.  Clay Millican             194
 12.  Terry Haddock             135
 13.  David Baca                127
 14.  Troy Buff                 125
 15.  Del Cox Jr                124
      Urs Erbacher              124

FUNNY CAR
  1.  Ron Capps                 562
  2.  Del Worsham               443
  3.  Tony Pedregon             437
  4.  Jack Beckman              427
      Ashley Force Hood         427
  6.  Matt Hagan                413
  7.  Bob Tasca III             375
  8.  John Force                363
  9.  Tim Wilkerson             349
 10.  Robert Hight              337
      Mike Neff                 337
 12.  Cruz Pedregon             332
 13.  Jeff Arend                218
      Jim Head                  218
      Jerry Toliver             218

PRO STOCK
  1.  Jeg Coughlin              637
  2.  Jason Line                588
  3.  Mike Edwards              498
  4.  Greg Anderson             478
  5.  Greg Stanfield            394
  6.  Allen Johnson             381
  7.  Ron Krisher               345
  8.  Kurt Johnson              338
  9.  Rickie Jones              304
 10.  Larry Morgan              263
 11.  Warren Johnson            246
 12.  Johnny Gray               244
 13.  Steve Spiess              216
 14.  Tom Hammonds              200
 15.  Jim Yates                 189

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE
  1.  Eddie Krawiec             341
  2.  Matt Smith                325
  3.  Andrew Hines              308
  4.  Douglas Horne             291
  5.  Hector Arana              282
  6.  Craig Treble              278
  7.  Shawn Gann                209
  8.  Karen Stoffer             175
  9.  Matt Guidera              168
 10.  Steve Johnson             167
 11.  Angie McBride             160
 12.  Michael Phillips          129
 13.  Junior Pippin             127
 14.  Wesley Wells              107
 15.  Mike Berry                 82

FR 2009 O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals homepage

TAB

FR Al-Anabi Racing

FlA Says: Huge weekend and Funny Car win for Del Worsham. It always tough when my two favorite FC drivers are in the Finals. However, Del really needed a win to make his Qatar sponsor happy. His teammate Top Fuel Larry Dixon won at the Gatornationals so team co-owner/manager Alan Johnson wanted to get Del in the winner's circle. When Larry won, Alan flew all the way to Qatar to give Sheik Khalid Bin Hamad Al-Thani the "Wally" trophy. The Prince is only 22 years old and he cares about one thing - winning. There has been some fear that if Alan Johnson could not produce both Top Fuel and Funny Car wins Sheik Khalid might quickly lose interest in NHRA drag racing and his $10 million sponsorship. Maybe that's a good thing. It will definitely keep the two teams focused *lol*.

The other individual I was hoping would have a huge Sunday was John Force. Ashley, Robert, and Mike all lost in the first round of eliminations with all three having bad passes:
Team Force - Round 1 of Eliminations
(L) Robert Hight gets to about 400 feet, losses traction, and has the car side ways before he lifts.
(L) Mike Neff with a great light and then around half track has a huge engine explosion.
(L) Ashley Force Hood starts to lose traction early and pedals it, but it doesn't hook back up. She does a great job driving it as the car gets out of the groove and real close to the wall.

John won against Don Schumacher Racing's Jack Beckman. With John not having to race any teammates I was hoping he would step it up and make a big charge for the Wally win. In Round 2, John had a great pass and reaction time, but Ron Capps had the better Funny Car and sent John packing. All weekend Ron, and crew chief Ed "The Ace" McCulloch, ran much better than all four Team Force cars.

TAB