Sun, 16 Mar 2003, 03:41 PM Top Fuel Round 3 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Results of round 3 eliminations in Top Fuel at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 34th annual MAC Tools NHRA Gatornationals:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   10 John Smith                            797 David Baca
E3   ****WINNER****  0.066  5.121 270.27                     0.108  5.373 216.39
 Prior rounds:
E2    (D Kalitta   ) 0.074  5.016 279.67      (D Herbert   ) 0.080  4.627 317.12
E1    (R Hartman-Sm) 0.083  4.613 296.34      (C Millican  ) 0.089  4.591 304.77
 Qualified:             #9  4.648 312.71                       #12  4.673 303.43

3:25 PM Current weather conditions: 75 degrees, 69 percent relative humidity, the barometer 29.86 inches, under sunny skies, with a track temperature of 106 degrees.

One of these two will be a first-time finalist, neither having gone past the semifinals in their NHRA career. In fact, Baca had never gotten out of the first round in Top Fuel before today. Both cars lost traction about 300 feet out, but Smith, with more seat time to fall back on, recovered more quickly and drove out of it for the win.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    1 Larry Dixon                             2 Brandon Bernstein
E3                   0.058  4.577 322.00     ****WINNER****  0.066  4.537 323.04
 Prior rounds:
E2    (J Head      ) 0.080  4.545 321.54      (C Mc Clenath) 0.058  4.594 324.55
E1    (B Litton    ) 0.066  4.552 326.56      (A Cowin     ) 0.088  4.578 321.08
 Qualified:             #3  4.541 321.31                        #2  4.537 327.27

Beer war, chapter 51 or so. Dixon was away first this time around, but he was unable to pay Bernstein back for his holeshot win at Phoenix because the red car was quick enough to make up the difference before the 60-foot timer - and then hold the blue car off. Good drag race, close all the way, but this time it's "This Bud's For You." Brandon Bernstein's incremental margins: 60ft(0.009), 330 ft(0.012), 660ft(0.021), 1,000ft(0.029). MOV: 0.0323 seconds (approximately 15 feet).

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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