Sun, 28 Sep 2003, 02:33 PM Top Fuel Round 2 Eliminations

By Bob Orme

JOLIET, Ill. - Results of round 2 eliminations in Top Fuel at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, Third annual CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    5 Cory McClenathan                      390 Shirley Muldowney
E2                   0.116  6.444 164.95     ****WINNER****  0.080  5.066 296.24
 Prior rounds:
E1    (L Novelli   ) 0.110  4.541 323.74      (J Smith     ) 0.085  4.578 325.77
 Qualified:             #2  4.463 332.10                       #10  4.579 327.66

1:15 PM Current weather conditions: 54 degrees, 62 percent relative humidity, the barometer 29.96 inches. This is the first time these two drivers have met in eliminations this season. McClenathan smoked the tires at about 300 feet and try as he might, he couldn't get the car hooked back up. Muldowney dropped a cylinder at about 500 feet and finished the race running on 7 cylinders.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    2 Kenny Bernstein                       337 Paul Romine
E2   ****WINNER****  0.097  4.494 328.38                    -0.034 11.285  79.20
 Prior rounds:
E1    (D Grubnic   ) 0.074  4.539 329.10      (J Head      ) 0.051  4.606 295.14
 Qualified:             #3  4.498 323.50                       #11  4.588 313.66

This is the first time these two drivers have met in eliminations this season. This is Romine's 17th start of this year with a total of three round wins. Romine turned on the red light and he was off the throttle at around 200 feet. Bernstein will have lane choice over Muldowney in the semi's.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    1 Larry Dixon                             9 Rhonda Hartman-Smith
E2   ****WINNER****  0.100  5.699 193.07                     0.044  9.237 101.16
 Prior rounds:
E1    (D Russell   ) 0.052  4.959 309.13      (D Baca      ) 0.101  4.523 319.75
 Qualified:             #4  4.507 332.10                       #12  4.614 308.21

These two drivers have met twice in eliminations this season, Dixon winning both times. Hartman-Smith smoked the tires on the hit. Dixon followed suit at about 200 feet. Seeing Dixon falter, Hartman-Smith tried to get back in this race. She smoked the tires again, and the result of a pedaling contest was Dixon crossing the finish line first.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    4 Doug Kalitta                            3 Tony Schumacher
E2                   0.052  7.769 134.95     ****WINNER****  0.066  4.464 330.96
 Prior rounds:
E1    (M Strasburg ) 0.061  4.516 331.53      (S Kalitta   ) 0.069  6.037 320.97
 Qualified:             #1  4.428 333.00                        #8  4.555 320.97

These two drivers have met three times in eliminations this season, Schumacher winning twice. Kalitta smoked the tires almost immediately. Schumacher tosses his hat into the "potential record" ring with this flawless pass

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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