Sun, 29 Oct 2000, 01:24 PM HOUSTON-2 - Top Fuel Round 2 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

BAYTOWN, Texas - Results of round 2 eliminations in Top Fuel at the 4th annual Matco Tools SuperNationals presented by Racing Champions:

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
  16 Bobby Baldwin       4.769 304.53  Q    9 Doug Herbert        4.663 315.86
   (M Dunn      ) 0.576  5.341 189.07  E1   (L Dixon     ) 0.482  5.643 215.89
 *****WINNER***** 0.552  4.860 264.80  E2                  0.485  5.748 185.23

1:14 PM This is the first time this year that Baldwin has advanced beyond round one - and he'll be in the semifinals. Herbert's chute stayed in the pack, but the rear tires started smoking early in the run and no amount of pedaling would get them fully hooked up again. Baldwin once again wins on a less-than-1,000-foot run, his engine giving up in a flash of flame before he reached that marker.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   6 Bob Vandergriff     4.649 314.83  Q    3 Don Lampus          4.580 320.36
   (M Troxel    ) 0.533  4.749 310.84  E1   (R Hartman-Sm) 0.497  4.890 280.84
 *****WINNER***** 0.467  4.697 313.22  E2                  0.512 11.069  81.41

Vandergriff was 2-0 against Lampus in earlier races this year and Vandergriff extends that to 3-0 when Lampus goes up in smoke almost instantly while Vandergriff goes cleanly down the groove once again..

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   2 Cory McClenathan    4.540 321.35  Q    7 Doug Kalitta        4.655 313.22
   (B Walsh     ) 0.509  4.587 319.37  E1   (A Cowin     ) 0.520  4.648 312.50
 *****WINNER***** 0.531  4.548  36.21  E2                  0.497  4.627 313.29

Cory Mac is 2-1 against Kalitta in the "big green machine" matches so far this year. This was a good race, but Cory Mac's fourth-quickest-of-the-year run beats Kalitta's better reaction time by a margin of victory = 0.045 seconds (approximately 21 feet). Cory will have lane choice against Vandergriff next round.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
  13 Joe Amato           4.702 303.30  Q    5 David Grubnic       4.641 317.12
   (G Scelzi    ) 0.482  4.614 315.34  E1   (K Bernstein ) 0.508  4.763 314.46
 *****WINNER***** 0.533  4.620 316.23  E2                  0.503  4.736 294.05

This one got scary at the finish line in a very good drag race, Grubnic leading the first half of the race and just a couple hundredths behind at 1,000 feet. But then there was a big flash of fire from the engine and the fireball burned the left rear tire, which exploded. The tire rubber took the wing off the top of the struts, but by then Grubnic had the chutes out and managed to keep the car relatively straight until it stopped. Grubnic will be penalized for the oildown, hurting his chances of getting into the top ten in points here. Amato advances, the margin of victory = 0.086 seconds (approximately 37 feet), and will have lane choice against Baldwin in the semifinals.




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