Elyria’s Dave Connolly has gone from not even being in the picture, to possibly getting a closeup.
Connolly defended his MAC Tools U.S. Nationals Pro Stock championship in Indianapolis on Monday and secured sixth place in the NHRA’s
10-person field for the playoffs, which get under way with the Carolina Nationals on Sept. 11-14.
Connolly, who only raced in 13 of 18 Countdown to 10 regular-season races, picked up his third win of the year and 20th of his career.
“Today was really our day,” said Connolly, who beat Larry Morgan in the finals after getting past Warren Johnson, Allen Johnson and Kurt Johnson earlier in the day. “We blew the tires off them in the last two rounds. They weren’t the best runs, but the win light kept coming on. It was just meant to be. I came out and drove the best I could.“Winning back-to-back U.S. Nationals is incredible.”Sort of like his comeback to make the playoffs.
Connolly didn’t begin the season until the sixth race due to sponsorship problems, but made a strong late push for the postseason by qualifying for his sixth final round in the last 12 races.
Connolly ran a 6.743 at 206.04 in Monday’s final to speed past Morgan’s 6.797 at 204.70.
In other action Monday, five-time champion Tony Schumacher capped off a historic performance with his decisive final-round win over longtime foe Doug Kalitta.
Schumacher set NHRA Top Fuel records for wins in a row (six) and wins in a season (11) and he tied Joe Amato for most wins all-time in Top Fuel (52).

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