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JOLIET, Ill. - The first round of professional elimination racing at the Inaugural Fram Nationals saw Team Pennzoil Pro Stock drivers Bruce Allen and Mike Thomas advance superior cars past their opponents to reach the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, legendary Top Fuel driver Eddie Hill suffered a painful defeat at the hands of Bruce Sarver. The following news and notes examine each drivers experiences in Round 1. Bruce Allen, the driver of the Outlaw Fuel Additives Pro Stock Pontiac, advanced by Steve Schmidt in Sunday's opening round with better times recorded at all points on the track. Allen began the run with a 0.462-second reaction time to Schmidt's 0.479-second start. At the other end of the strip, Allen tripped the lights in 7.041-seconds at 196.02 mph with Schmidt following three-hundredths of a second later. Allen has beaten Schmidt two times in three races this season. "This was a good run even though I got out of the groove a little," Allen said. "We need to make a few minor changes to the clutch before the next session. Lane choice will be a big factor today and I'm glad we've got it in the next round." Allen will face Tom Martino for the first time this year in Round 2. Martino posted a 7.107-second run at 194.38 mph in his first race which gives the lane choice advantage to Allen. Allen has appeared in four quarterfinal races in 1998 and has a 1-3 record. Mike Thomas, the driver of the Pennzoil Pro Stock Pontiac, overcame a slow start and easily caught Greg Anderson to win his first round race. Anderson beat Thomas off the line (0.450 to 0.472 reaction times) but was caught before half-track by Thomas' quicker car. Thomas finished with a 7.037-second pass at 195.31 mph to Anderson's 7.108-second run at 194.63 mph. The race evened the two drivers head-to-head season record to 1-1. "The car was way over- clutched," Thomas said of his first round race. "I was spinning my tires all the way down the strip. I'm very fortunate to have lane choice again in the next round because it looks to be crucial." In the second round, Thomas will have lane choice over Mark Osborne, who carded a 7.053-second pass at 195.56 mph. Thomas and Osborne have faced each other two times this season with each man winning once. Thomas has one win in two quarterfinal appearances this season. "I need a decent light to get by Mark," Thomas said. "The top eight cars are still alive so there is no room for mistakes." Eddie Hill, the pilot of the Pennzoil Top Fuel Dragster, ran the third quickest elapsed time of the first round, recorded the fastest mph mark of his career and posted a better reaction time than his opponent (0.478 to 0.491) but still lost to Bruce Sarver by seven-thousandths of a second. Hill posted a 4.701-second pass at 312.78 mph to Sarver's 4.681-second run at 311.13 mph. "We had the best, worst run out there," Hill said. "This is very disappointing, especially when you consider all of the big name teams that were smoking their tires. We had three little spins at half track and I guess that was the difference. This has been a great weekend and the car continues to run superbly, we just need to find a little luck."
This season, Sarver has beaten Hill three times in four elimination races.
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