Fri, 27 Oct 2000, 09:30 PM HOUSTON-2 - Top Fuel Qualifying Notes, Session #2

By Larry Sullivan

BAYTOWN, Texas - Notes from round 2 qualifying in Top Fuel at the 4th annual Matco Tools SuperNationals presented by Racing Champions 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: Mark Kinsella Runs 9.925/93.01, Now #15; No Prior Run

7:47 PM Tony Schumacher withdrew from the event, finding his physical condition not up to the task of driving a Top Fuel dragster quite yet, so he's serving as a color commentator on the PA system for this session.*

Kinsella gets a new-driver single to open the second session. The car was sluggish off the line, a 1.10 60-foot time way off the mark, labored to about 300 feet, then the engine went silent.

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Right Lane: Bill Walsh Runs 4.791/307.79, Now #6; No Prior Run

Walsh, a former Top Alcohol Dragster champion and long-time test driver for Joe Amato, took over the controls of the U.S. Army dragster after Schumacher withdrew. The car left softly, a 0.896 60-foot time, but ran hard through the rest of the run, no problems we could see except for a few "sparklers" and a lazy engine shutdown

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Left Lane: Doug Kalitta Runs 8.722/94.12, Now #14; Best prior run: 11.097/87.55, Was #17

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Left Lane: Larry Dixon Runs 10.863/82.76, Now #15; Best prior run: 9.066/89.68, Was #15
Right Lane: Andrew Cowin Runs 9.903/82.21, Now #16; Best prior run: 9.435/84.53, Was #16

Dixon's first-session pass was his first since the accident - he described it as "a lot smoother" than his previous run (the accident). Both cars here lost traction, Dixon first and Cowin not much afterward.

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Left Lane: Bobby Baldwin Runs 4.769/304.53, Now #6; Best prior run: 8.673/96.74, Was #13
Right Lane: Rhonda Hartman-Smith Runs 5.105/219.19, Now #11; Best prior run: 5.542/169.70, Was #10

Hartman-Smith lost traction on the top end of her run, the header flames out by 1,000 feet. Good, clean pass for Baldwin as shown by the speed, both ends of that run career-bests for the Upland, California resident.

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Left Lane: Doug Herbert Runs 4.764/312.78, Now #6; Best prior run: 7.669/98.93, Was #13
Right Lane: Kenny Bernstein Runs 9.839/91.19, Now #11; Best prior run: 5.045/224.40, Was #10

Herbert left softly and then came on strong, a nice, clean pass to give him something to tune from. Bernstein lost traction after 100 feet or so.

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Left Lane: Melanie Troxel Runs 4.684/318.32, Now #5; Best prior run: 5.747/180.00, Was #13
Right Lane: Bob Vandergriff Runs 4.696/305.36, Now #6; Best prior run: 4.962/278.92, Was #10

Side-by-side 4.60s, a nice show for the crowd, the header flames tall and steady on both cars and no trace of tire smoke anywhere in either run. On the TV replay we could see that Troxel actually "puffed" the tires a bit early in the run, but she drove through it (probably using the brake) to save the run.

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Left Lane: Don Lampus Runs 4.580/320.63, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.674/317.87, Was #4
Right Lane: Mike Dunn Runs 4.530/322.34, Now #1; Best prior run: 4.894/229.70, Was #11

Mikey's baaack!! The Darrell Gwynn Yankees dragster hits a home run in just its second time at bat (okay, enough for the baseball terminology), the only problem a pushed-out head gasket in the lights. That's the quickest run since the new 90-percent nitro rules went into effect. Lost in the shuffle was a career-best run for Lampus, a not-so-shabby 4.58, worthy of its own glowing adjectives.

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Left Lane: Cory McClenathan Runs 4.540/321.35, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.656/316.08, Was #5
Right Lane: Joe Amato Runs 9.687/87.81, Now #8; Best prior run: 4.702/303.30, Was #8

One good run deserves another - Cory Mac's an almost perfect run, with no signs of engine damage whatsoever, a season-best for Cory Mac and the third-quickest under the new rules. Amato lost traction after 300 feet or so.

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Left Lane: Gary Scelzi Runs 4.589/311.85, Now #4; Best prior run: 4.599/311.34, Was #4
Right Lane: David Grubnic Runs 8.414/81.03, Now #5; Best prior run: 4.641/317.12, Was #5

"Big Red" is dialed-in! Another picture-perfect run, but only fourth-best of the session. Grubnic lost traction about 300 feet out.

That's it, an amazing debut for the Yankees dragster, a safe return to action for Larry Dixon, and a setback for Tony Schumacher after a game but premature return to the cockpit. We'll be back tomorrow to see if the Yankees car can duplicate its success tonight.




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