Sun, 13 Oct 2002, 02:47 PM Top Fuel Round 2 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

ENNIS, Texas - Results of round 2 eliminations in Top Fuel at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 17th annual O'Reilly Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec:

Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   3 Rhonda Hartman-Smi  4.608 318.24  Q    6 Darrell Russell     4.615 320.97
   (J Head      ) 0.520  4.647 313.91  E1   (D Grubnic   ) 0.486  4.664 302.62
 *****WINNER***** 0.513  4.660 307.06  E2                  0.478  4.793 301.70

1:28 PM It's 62 degrees, 60 percent relative humidity, the barometer 30.39 and steady, the track temperature 77 degrees under overcast skies.

Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   4 Larry Dixon         4.611 324.20  Q    5 Kenny Bernstein     4.612 322.69
   (J Cavalieri ) 0.495  4.614 320.05  E1   (J Smith     ) 0.469  4.620 320.97
                  0.486  4.662 321.08  E2 *****WINNER***** 0.452  4.601 321.54

This was a big race for both drivers, the championship at stake. It was a good drag race, but Bernstein was away first and steadily lengthened his lead, winning by more than a car length. That cuts 20 points off Dixon's lead and gives Bernstein the opportunity to cut it down by 60 more by winning the event.

Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   1 Andrew Cowin        4.550 321.19  Q    8 Doug Kalitta        4.625 323.74
   (S Weis      ) 0.517  4.579 325.73  E1   (C Millican  ) 0.410  4.587 320.39
                  0.472  4.617 296.44  E2 *****WINNER***** 0.483  4.567 323.27

However, Bernstein will have to get around the hottest driver in the closing stages of the season, Kalitta making his quickest run of the weekend for the win and lane choice over Bernstein in the semifinals. Cowin left first, but Kalitta had the lead by 60 feet and slowly opened the margin to about 17 feet at the line, getting half that margin in the last section of the track when Cowin's engine started destroying itself.

Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   2 Doug Herbert        4.595 308.32  Q   10 Cory McClenathan    4.651 314.46
   (M Smith     ) 0.516  4.559 316.78  E1   (T Schumacher) 0.485  4.588 322.00
                  0.485  4.710 314.46  E2 *****WINNER***** 0.508  4.602 315.01

These two were 1-1 in prior races this year. Herbert went out about 200 feet and then had to pedal it, probably feeling the tires start to shake. That let Cory Mac grab a car-length lead and he never gave it back, even though there was a flash of flame from the engine just past 1,000 feet. McClenathan has lane choice against Hartman-Smith in the semifinals.

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