Antron Brown extends points lead with win at Maple Grove

Samuel Reiman

Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Tommy Johnson Jr. (Funny Car), Vincent Nobile (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) won in their respective classes at Sunday's Dodge NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pennsylvania.

Don Schumacher Racing had another fantastic day at the drag strip, as they took seven of the eight available spots in the nitro class semifinals. The lone exception was John Force Racing's Brittany Force in Top Fuel.

Force defeated Leah Pritchett in an all-female semifinal to advance into the final against NHRA Top Fuel points leader and defending champion Antron Brown. Force had lost a motor en route to the final in Round 2, when her engine blew during a race against Doug Kalitta, but she still won as Kalitta had red-lighted.

In the final, it was Brown taking his sixth win of the season, with a holeshot win over Brittany Force as they both ran identical ETs down the drag strip.

Don Schumacher Racing had an even better day in Funny Car, with Ron Capps, Tommy Johnson, Jack Beckman and Del Worsham making it into the semifinals. Capps and Johnson - first and second in the points respectively - advanced to the final, which was Capps 100th final round appearance. Capps was unable to take home his first Wally from Maple Grove however, as Johnson beat him by half a car length, while a small fire broke out on Capps car at the top end.

No. 1 qualifier Vincent Nobile kept his championship fight alive when he made it to the final in Pro Stock, while points leader Jason Line red-lighted against his KB Racing teammate Greg Anderson in his semifinal. Anderson and Nobile met in the final, where Nobile edged out the KB Racing machine to end a 56-race winless streak. Nobile had defeated Drew Skillman, Erica Enders-Stevens (who red-lighted) and Shane Gray en route to the final.

The big story in Pro Stock Motorcycle was rookie Cory Reed, who made his first final round appearance after taking a Holeshot Win against points leader Andrew Hines in the semifinals. Reed met Eddie Krawiec in the final, in which Krawiec beat him to the line by over a tenth to take his fourth win of the season, moving him up to second in the points.

The stars of NHRA will be back in action in two weeks time in Dallas for the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals.