NHRA’s second consecutive “weekend at Indy” was building to an outstanding finish — but then came Mother Nature…
The final rounds of the Lucas Oil NHRA Summernationals at Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Raceway have been delayed due to inclement weather.
After a lengthy rain delay before the finals in Top Fuel and Funny Car, NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series officials announced the fourth race of the 2020 season will be completed during the Denso Spark Plugs NHRA U.S. Nationals, which takes place Sept. 3-6 at Lucas Oil Raceway.
In Top Fuel, a first-time winner will be crowned as T.J. Zizzo and rookie Justin Ashley both advanced to the final round for the first time in their careers. After qualifying eighth in his 11,000-horsepower Rust-Oleum dragster, Zizzo reach the final with victories against Terry Totten, Todd Paton and Terry McMillen. Ashley continued to impress during his standout rookie season, advancing to his first final round in his Strustmasters.com/Menards dragster with victories against Shawn Langdon, points leader Doug Kalitta and Leah Pruett. Zizzo or Ashley will also become the 109th different Top Fuel winner in NHRA history.
The inaugural Lucas Oil Summernationals event will produce a first time Top Fuel winner !! – it will be either Justin Ashley or Tony Zizzo (top).
Funny Car points leader Jack Beckman will meet Don Schumacher Racing teammate Matt Hagan in the final round. Beckman, who qualified sixth in his 11,000-horsepower Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, knocked off Chad Green, Tim Wilkerson and teammate Tommy Johnson Jr. to reach his 66th career final round and third in 2020. He will be seeking his second win this year. Hagan, who won the race last weekend at Indy, advanced to his 62nd final round in his Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye thanks to victories against teammate Ron Capps, J.R. Todd and No. 1 qualifier. Hagan is after his 35th career win. The matchup also ensures a seventh straight victory in the class for DSR, dating back to last season.
The Fuel FC final will be another all DSR/Mopar affair — when Jack Beckman and Matt Hagan face off.
The final round of the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series will also be completed at the U.S. Nationals and will award a first-time winner in the class. Jason Scruggs and Chad Green both advanced to the final round of the first race of the 2020 season in the class, with Scruggs securing his first final round in NHRA Pro Mod competition. He knocked off Bo Butner, Mike Castellana and Clint Satterfield to reach the finals in his blown Scruggs Farm Camaro. Green advanced to his third final round in his nitrous-powered Bond-Coat Corvette with wins against Todd Tutterow, Brandon Snider and Kris Thorne.
Jason Scruggs (top) and Chad Green will meet for the event’s E3 Spark Plugs Pro Mod title.
The event’s Top Fuel Harley final round will feature two marquee players when Jay Turner faces off against Randall Andras.
Turner who qualified #5 — defeated Rich Vreeland and Tyler Wilson to advance while Andras (#3 qualifier) has eliminated Tii Tharpe and Ryan Peery.
The Indianapolis event also included season round #1 for the Sam-Tech School of Automotive Machinists Factory Stock Showdown (FS/XX class racers).
24 cars were entered for that eliminator and they produced a 16-car field with a bump spot of 8.146 secs after only two qualifiers. Rather appropriately, that final round, based on performance, has boiled down to the two quickest cars with #1 qualifier Chris Holbrook (7.919 secs) set to line up against #2 qualifier Bill Skillman (7.940 secs) for the title.
The rescheduled FSXX Factory Showdown final will be an all Ford Mustang affair – with Bill Skillman (top) scheduled to race Chris Holbrook.
The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series does continues Aug. 6-9 with the recently announced supplemental NHRA Indy Nationals — again to be hosted at Lucas Oil Raceway.
Posted including files by NHRA Communications and Bruce Biegler
All photos by Dave DeAngelis
Link to the LMLCMedia event photo gallery presentation from “2020 Indy V2.0” : HERE
