Fri, 18 Mar 2005, 04:21 PM Top Fuel Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Larry Sullivan

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Top Fuel at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 36th annual MAC Tools NHRA Gatornationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Right Lane: Luigi Novelli Runs 11.500/82.97, Now #1

3:47 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 58 degrees, relative humidity 50 percent, barometer 29.85 inches, adjusted altitude 143 feet, track temperature 58 degrees.

Novelli's car spun the tires and headed for the wall, sending the photographers scrambling. He lifted and the shooters tried to look casual.

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Left Lane: Rod Fuller Runs 10.773/81.06, Now #2
Right Lane: Bruce Litton Runs 10.541/76.52, Now #1

In almost perfect synchronization, they launched, shook, and lifted.

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Left Lane: Andrew Cowin Runs 12.287/68.98, Now #5
Right Lane: Clay Millican Runs 4.677/308.95, Now #1

Both these teams plan to run in both NHRA and IHRA this year, Millican committed to run all the IHRA events plus eight to ten NHRA events while Cowin will run the full NHRA tour plus six or seven IHRA events. Cowin lost traction almost immediately. Millican made a strong run, the car smoothly down the groove.

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Left Lane: John Smith Runs 4.629/318.58, Now #1
Right Lane: Scott Weis Runs 10.012/97.03, Now #3

Weis shook and lifted. Smith went right down the groove, a nice opening run for the Hartman team.

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Left Lane: David Baca Runs 10.746/75.38, Now #6
Right Lane: Doug Kalitta Runs 4.488/325.14, Now #1

baca smoked the tires and lifted. Kalitta stormed down the strip to reset the track elapsed time record despite a hard move toward the centerline at half track Doug Kalitta's incremental times: 60ft-0.839 sec., 330ft-2.126, 660ft-3.036/276.49mph, 1,000ft-3.808.

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Left Lane: Cory McClenathan Runs 4.506/331.00, Now #2
Right Lane: Larry Dixon Runs 4.543/326.56, Now #3

Nice side-by-side runs, Cory Mac making the first-ever 330 mph run at Gainesville Raceway. Cory McClenathan's incremental times: 60ft-0.843 sec., 330ft-2.146, 660ft-3.063/274.80mph, 1,000ft-3.836
Larry Dixon's incremental times: 60ft-0.832 sec., 330ft-2.152, 660ft-3.080/272.56mph, 1,000ft-3.863. Note that McClenathan's speed at half track was almost 2 mph slower than Kalitta's!

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Left Lane: Brandon Bernstein Runs 11.234/68.09, Now #11
Right Lane: Doug Herbert Runs 4.774/225.67, Now #6

Bernstein chattered the tires and lifted. Herbert was on a strong pass, on a low-fifties pace, until there was a green flash of flame from the engine bay (probably a head gasket) and he slowed around the 1,000-foot marker.

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Left Lane: David Grubnic Runs 4.481/331.85, Now #1
Right Lane: Morgan Lucas Runs 10.248/79.49, Now #9

Lucas' car started to shake and move around, so he lifted. Grubnic went to the top of the heap with a track-record elapsed time and track-record speed. David Grubnic's incremental times: 60ft-0.834 sec., 330ft-2.134, 660ft-3.045/277.43mph, 1,000ft-3.814. Look at his half-track speed! Oh yes, and today is the first time the new "rev-limiter" chips are required in the ignition systems. So far, it doesn't look like they are hurting the performance very much.

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Left Lane: Scott Kalitta Runs 9.685/71.07, Now #9
Right Lane: Tony Schumacher Runs 5.396/171.72, Now #8

Kalitta went up in smoke before the 330-foot marker, Schumacher before half track.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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