Fri, 6 Oct 2000, 10:08 PM MEMPHIS - Top Fuel Qualifying Notes, Session #2

By Larry Sullivan

MILLINGTON, Tenn. - Notes from round 2 qualifying in Top Fuel at the 13th annual AutoZone Nationals presented by Pennzoil 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:

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Left Lane: David Grubnic Runs 4.633/311.49, Now #1; Best prior run: 12.307/59.91, Was #17
Right Lane: Bob Vandergriff Runs 17.378/37.25, Now #18; Best prior run: 17.512/62.59, Was #18

8:30 PM We're running behind schedule due to several oildowns and a timing computer failure during the Funny Car session. Those cars found traction elusive, though Scotty Cannon and Jerry Toliver managed to post impressively quick and fast runs. These cars often react differently, however, and the fact that some teams elected to skip this session because of the cool track temperatures suggests we'll see lots of tire smoke tonight. So Grubnic makes that piece of "wisdom" look foolish with a great run while Vandergriff appeared to break the rear end in a shower of sparks, usually a sign of lots of bite on the launch pad.

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Left Lane: Luigi Novelli Runs 9.739/89.65, Now #17; Best prior run: 9.733/89.89, Was #17
Right Lane: Rhonda Hartman-Smith Runs 10.863/75.08, Now #16; Best prior run: 9.629/89.82, Was #16

Two tire-smokers here, Luigi leaving "caterpillar tracks" on the launch pad from hard tire shake.

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Left Lane: Paul Romine Runs 4.747/301.67, Now #9; Best prior run: 9.609/79.43, Was #15
Right Lane: Bobby Baldwin Runs 4.796/301.67, Now #10; Best prior run: 6.266/145.58, Was #12

Two pretty good runs from a pair of challenged teams, especially with the cool track temperatures this evening, but Romine's fuse was only about 1,000 feet long, a flash of sparks from the engine at the 1,000-foot marker and then the engine erupting in flames as he crossed the finish line.

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Left Lane: Doug Herbert Runs 6.236/134.03, Now #14; Best prior run: 8.895/127.55, Was #15

Herbert's "dancing partner" decided to skip the round, so Herbert made a single run. His engine let go about 300 feet out, with a flash of flame, followed by silence. It appeared to be something on the top of the engine, possibly a head gasket.

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Left Lane: Melanie Troxel Runs 8.309/84.96, Now #15; Best prior run: 8.781/94.99, Was #15

Melanie's partner was also a no-show. Her car hiked the front wheels about two feet in the air, then lost traction and got out of the groove when they came down, the car getting very sideways and barely missing the wall before she got it shut down.

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Left Lane: Larry Dixon Runs 4.695/307.09, Now #7; Best prior run: 4.799/248.93, Was #11
Right Lane: Kenny Bernstein Runs 4.699/303.16, Now #6; Best prior run: 4.694/302.62, Was #6

Beer wars, round two, goes to Miller Lite, Bernstein's Budweiser King car losing a little ground when there was a green flash from the top of the engine - usually a sign of a pushed-out head gasket. But both cars ran the full course, a pretty sight in the darkness.

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Left Lane: Cory McClenathan Runs 5.672/152.93, Now #9; Best prior run: 4.735/296.86, Was #9
Right Lane: Tony Schumacher Runs 4.593/315.19, Now #1; Best prior run: 4.668/305.70, Was #5

Wow! Cory Mac's car started to skate toward the wall and he lifted, but "Sarge" went right down the groove with no sign of tire smoke, a pretty run, easily the best we've seen this weekend.

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Left Lane: Gary Scelzi Runs 13.115/99.95, Now #3; Best prior run: 4.641/307.79, Was #3
Right Lane: Joe Amato Runs 12.661/645.00, Now #4; Best prior run: 4.645/308.21, Was #4

A pair of golfing partners close the session with a whimper instead of a bang, losing traction in almost perfect synchronization.




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