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Fri, 15 Sep 2000, 10:22 PM

READING - Top Fuel Qualifying Notes, Session #2

By Larry Sullivan

MOHNTON, Pa. - Notes from round 2 qualifying in Top Fuel at the 16th annual Keystone Nationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time/top speed this round, position in order following run, best prior elapsed time/speed, and position in order prior to run:

Left Lane: Doug Kalitta Runs 4.641/291.38, Now #5; Best prior run: 9.839/86.75, Was #14
Right Lane: Melanie Troxel Runs 13.296/78.67, Now #16; No Prior Run

9:47 PM Troxel lost traction immediately. Kalitta was on a very good pass until his engine started eating parts on the top end of the run, with bright green flames from the headers from just past 1,000 feet on through the lights.

Left Lane: Larry Dixon Runs 4.632/316.67, Now #5; Best prior run: 4.707/307.30, Was #9
Right Lane: Don Lampus Runs 5.817/148.12, Now #15; Best prior run: 10.267/84.62, Was #15

Dixon charged away from the starting line with the wheels in the air and carried them 100 feet or so on a good-looking pass. Lampus appeared to also be on a good pass, but the header flames went out around half track, couldn't see why. Dixon's pass is just 0.006 seconds and 3 mph slower than his best of the season, a good effort.

Left Lane: Andrew Cowin Runs 4.610/317.87, Now #3; Best prior run: 4.707/314.61, Was #9

Cowin's "dancing partner" (the pairs are pre-scripted) chose to skip this session, so he ran solo. Nice run, the header flames strong and solid all the way through. That's a season-best ET and a career-best speed for the young Aussie.

Left Lane: David Grubnic Runs 9.631/78.83, Now #10; Best prior run: 4.684/311.41, Was #9
Right Lane: Kenny Bernstein Runs 4.614/317.64, Now #5; Best prior run: 4.744/298.80, Was #11

Another Aussie - this one paired with "the King of Speed." But Grubnic's run was over early, the header flames out before he reached the 330-foot marker. No problems for Bernstein, a nice, clean pass, almost a duplicate of Cowin's, but in the opposite lane.

Left Lane: Cory McClenathan Runs 13.470/76.25, Now #9; Best prior run: 4.680/312.93, Was #9
Right Lane: Bob Vandergriff Runs 10.169/82.97, Now #11; Best prior run: 4.740/298.60, Was #11

Cory Mac lost traction almost immediately, Vandergriff not long after.

Left Lane: Tony Schumacher Runs 4.535/324.67, Now #1; Best prior run: 4.619/313.07, Was #6
Right Lane: Gary Scelzi Runs 15.485/65.68, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.554/321.27, Was #1

The final pair of cars for the evening, with mixed results. Scelzi smoked the tires instantly. Schumacher made the quickest and fastest run of the year, just 0.008 seconds slower than his career-best ET. Awesome is an overused adjective, but there's no other way to describe that run. He also reset the track speed record that Scelzi set in the first qualifying session.