Pro Stock veteran nabs first career Top Fuel pole at Texas Motorplex
Dave Connolly returned to Texas Motorplex for this weekend’s 30th annual AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals as defending Pro Stock champion. Late Sunday afternoon, Connolly could exit The Plex as a first-time Top Fuel national event winner.
Connolly claimed his first career Top Fuel pole Saturday afternoon based upon Friday night’s 1,000-foot qualifying pass of 3.744 seconds at 329.18 mph — the latest return on car owner Bob Vandergriff Jr.’s investment in the former Pro Stock prodigy.
Connolly’s victory in last year’s FallNats was among three he bagged during 2014, raising his total in the Factory Hot Rod class to 23 dating to his pro debut in 2003.
Despite having to learn the nuances of manhandling a 10,000-horsepower, nitromethane-burning Top Fueler, Connolly qualified for the six-race Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship.
It’s been a learning curve the whole year. These things are definitely a different animal to drive. I was racing Pro Stock for 12 years and learned every day, so I’m sure it’s going to be the same course in Top Fuel.
Top qualifier Dave Connolly
on his first year in Top FuelConnolly began the weekend 10th and last in a points race paced by Antron Brown —whose move from Pro Stock Motorcycle to Top Fuel was validated by his 2012 world championship.
For the moment, Connolly would like to emulate his car owner’s career moment.
“Bob Vandergriff got his first Top Fuel win here [in 2011],” said Connolly, a 32-year-old native of Elyria, Ohio. “It’s been a learning curve the whole year. These things are definitely a different animal to drive. I was racing Pro Stock for 12 years and learned every day, so I’m sure it’s going to be the same course in Top Fuel.
“Picking up a win would definitely show that we’re moving in the right direction. And it just says that I’ve been very blessed throughout my career.”
Also emerging as No. 1 qualifiers for Round 4 of the Countdown were Del Worsham (Funny Car), Drew Skillman (Pro Stock) and Jerry Savoie (Pro Stock Motorcycle).
Points leader Worsham retained the top spot in Funny Car via his Friday night 1,000-foot pass of 3.917 seconds at 323.58 mph to earn his first pole of the season. Points runner-up Jack Beckman, the 2012 world champion, sits second after a weekend of side-by-side qualifying runs.
Skillman, a third-generation racer competing in his first Pro Stock season, displaced Jonathan Gray atop the ladder in Saturday’s opening session with a quarter-mile pass of 6.471 seconds at 213.47 mph. That ET was matched by two-time world champion Jason Line. But Skillman earned his third career pole via his faster speed — 213.47 to Line’s 213.40 mph.
Savoie jumped from fifth to first in the final Pro Stock Bike session to earn his second pole of the season, and first at The Plex, aboard what now is the quickest Suzuki in NHRA history. Savoie covered the quarter-mile in a track-record 6.765 seconds at 197.74 mph to drop three-time world champ Eddie Krawiec into the No. 2 spot.
John Sturbin is a Senior Writer at RacinToday.com. He can be contacted at jsturbin@racintoday.com.
This story was originally published October 17, 2015 at 8:38 PM with the headline "Pro Stock veteran nabs first career Top Fuel pole at Texas Motorplex."