Sat, 19 Mar 2005, 05:03 PM Top Fuel Qualifying Notes, Final Session

By Larry Sullivan

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Notes from final, round 4 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 this round, position in order following run, best prior elapsed time/speed, and position in order prior to run:

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Right Lane: Luigi Novelli Runs 4.953/271.00, Now #16; Best prior run: 11.067/85.86, Was #19

4:13 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 75 degrees, relative humidity 42 percent, barometer 29.91 inches, adjusted altitude 1,253 feet, track temperature 106 degrees.

Tony Schumacher is on the bump spot at 5.396. Not for long, Novelli getting down the track and quick enough to make the field, replacing Schumacher on the bump spot.

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Left Lane: Chris Karamesines Runs 19.346/30.71, Now #15; Best prior run: 4.883/243.96, Was #15
Right Lane: Mitch King Runs 6.506/131.92, Now #19; Best prior run: 9.348/105.79, Was #19

Tire smoke right off the line for karamesines. King launched, started smoking the tires, pedaled, and finally lifted, so he won't be in the field Sunday.

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Left Lane: David Baca Runs 4.669/322.92, Now #10; Best prior run: 4.805/222.05, Was #13
Right Lane: Bruce Litton Runs 4.832/295.76, Now #14; Best prior run: 5.888/148.00, Was #18

Two nice runs, Baca moving up the ladder and Litton bumping Novelli. Chris Karamesines is now on the bump spot at 4.883. Litton's car was well behind Baca's most of the way down the track.

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Left Lane: Rod Fuller Runs 4.722/315.78, Now #12; Best prior run: 4.671/316.45, Was #11
Right Lane: Tony Schumacher Runs 4.520/333.95, Now #4; Best prior run: 5.396/171.72, Was #18

The reason Litton slowed became evident when the Safety Safari went to work on the right lane, from the finish line on, so Schumacher got to sit and contemplate things for a bit longer before taking his last shot at qualifying for this event. His last DNQ was at Englishtown during the 2003 season and the points leader did not want to follow a win with another DNQ. The U.S. Army team came through in spades, easily into the top part of the field with a track record speed. Fuller made a clean pass, but failed to improve. That bumped Karamesines. Morgan Lucas is now on the bump spot at 4.835, but there is nobody left to bump him.

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Left Lane: John Smith Runs 6.182/149.13, Now #11; Best prior run: 4.629/318.58, Was #10
Right Lane: Morgan Lucas Runs 4.537/320.97, Now #5; Best prior run: 4.835/219.03, Was #16

Lucas can't get bumped out, but running the #1 qualifier in round one is not a great way to start eliminations. Smith lost traction around half track. Lucas' car left a puff of smoke behind it at about 1,000 feet, but it didn't seem to affect his elapsed time or speed very much. Whatever it was, it required the tender care of the Safety Safari to clean it up, but Lucas was a very happy driver when he got out of the car.

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Left Lane: Scott Kalitta Runs 4.577/313.58, Now #8; Best prior run: 4.592/326.20, Was #9
Right Lane: Scott Weis Runs 4.686/285.98, Now #14; Best prior run: 4.778/315.67, Was #15

Both these cars should be higher up the pecking order. Both improved here, but Weis sacrificed a lot of aluminum to the gods in the final 320 feet, slowing from what looked like a sure low-sixties time.

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Right Lane: Doug Herbert Runs 4.781/241.74, Now #15; Best prior run: 4.774/225.67, Was #15

Herbert's best run was his first and he fireballed the engine on that one, so he was really looking for a "full pull" to move up the ladder and get ready for eliminations. He almost got what he was looking for, on a low-sixties pace to half track, but started hazing the tires on the top end and failed to improve.

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Left Lane: Brandon Bernstein Runs 9.578/84.14, Now #7; Best prior run: 4.551/325.85, Was #7
Right Lane: Clay Millican Runs 4.572/304.77, Now #8; Best prior run: 4.625/315.90, Was #10

bernstein started to lose traction about 300 feet out and lifted. Millican went right down the groove for the first half of the run, then the car started moving around a bit and he may have shut it off early. But it was enough to give him a shot lane choice in the first round, against Scott Kalitta.

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Left Lane: Cory McClenathan Runs 4.497/329.91, Now #3; Best prior run: 4.506/331.00, Was #3
Right Lane: Larry Dixon Runs 4.525/325.61, Now #5; Best prior run: 4.543/326.56, Was #6

Nice! A pretty, side-by-side race, Cory Mac's first "forty" this year. McClenathan stayed where he was on the ladder and Dixon moved up one spot.

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Left Lane: David Grubnic Runs 4.545/321.65, Now #1; Best prior run: 4.481/331.85, Was #1
Right Lane: Doug Kalitta Runs 4.602/319.82, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.488/325.14, Was #2

Last pair. Neither made a particularly pretty run, Grubnic's car trailing a haze of some kind and Kalitta's losing a lot of ground in the first half of the run.

That's it, Grubnic stayed on top of the ladder and he will race Bruce Litton in round one.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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