CONCORD, N.C. – Final eliminations got crazy in a hurry Sunday at zMAX Dragway, with big names in all four of the professional classes getting knocked out in the opening round of the NGK Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals.

The chaos was no more apparent than in the Top Fuel class, where all three of the Don Schumacher Racing dragsters were eliminated in a span of five minutes.

Number one qualifier Brittany Force was also bumped from contention on her first round run after hazing the tires at half-track with her Monster Energy dragster.

Antron Brown’s first round was arguably the most spectacular of the heavy-hitters who were eliminated early, as he lost traction and then had an engine explosion before the finish line with his MATCO Tools/U.S. Army dragster.

Brown carried a smile when he returned to the paddock, but was understandably disappointed by his quick exit from competition.

“We were out there pushing the limit, because we expected the track to be really good and conducive to a fast run,” said Brown. “The track was cooler and we were going for it. We wanted to run a 3.72 or a 3.73 … we figured that would be plenty good enough to get the job done and that we could build from there. To our surprise, it just wasn’t there and we didn’t even make it to 330 (feet).

“I started smoking the tires and did a quick pedal, but the traction wasn’t what I was expecting. I let off, pedaled it, and the car was still spinning (the tires) when I let off and it backfired and blew up pretty spectacular there. It’s just puzzling and one of those deals that we have to get used to. It’s a real bummer, but we’re all in the same boat and all fighting the same battles out there on the race track.”

Brown’s DSR teammate Tony Schumacher went into tire shake at roughly the same point in lane four, only able to put together a run of 4.726 seconds at 219.72 mph in the U.S. Army dragster and coming in third in his quad, just edged out from advancing by Clay Millican.

Schumacher cited a recent change in the track preparation process by the NHRA, which was made two races prior and has reduced overall traction, as a factor in his struggles on race day in Charlotte.

“We’ve been running good, but we knew our engine was down on power (earlier in the weekend), so we made some changes today and it picked right back up. I wish we’d had one more qualifying run, but we had to deal with the cards we were dealt. That, combined with the less traction that the NHRA is using, led to a rough Sunday for us,” said Schumacher. “They’re trying to slow it all down, and we have a fast race car, so we just have to adapt and back things down some and we just missed it today a little bit.”

The MOPAR/Pennzoil dragster of Leah Pritchett, which was in the same first round quad as Schumacher, also developed a tire shake and slowed to 4.999 seconds at 174.77 mph.

Notably, the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 qualifiers – Force, Schumacher and Brown – were all out prior to the semifinals in Top Fuel, while DSR’s day righted itself somewhat in Funny Car after three of the team’s four entries in that class made it through to the second round.

In Pro Stock, both of the potent Summit Racing Equipment entries of Greg Anderson and Jason Line were shock exits in the first round. Both cars came in third on their runs and Anderson was knocked out in a photo finish with McGaha for the second and final transfer spot to the semifinals.

Eddie Krawiec was the stunner in Pro Stock Motorcycle, with the No. 2 qualifier getting beat soundly on the tree by Ryan Oehler. Krawiec was unable to make up the half a tenth he lost on the starting line down the race track, despite a pass of 6.881 seconds at 197.45 mph, and came in last in his quad.

“We were just dead late,” Krawiec said after returning to the pits. “No excuses. It’s not what we come here to do, but we’ll bounce back.”