Sat, 12 Oct 2002, 02:01 PM Top Fuel Qualifying Notes, Session #3

By Larry Sullivan

ENNIS, Texas - Notes from round 3 qualifying in Top Fuel at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 17th annual O'Reilly Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec 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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Left Lane: John Smith Runs 6.467/136.03, Now #20; Best prior run: 8.634/91.38, Was #19
Right Lane: Bill Ancona Runs 5.394/254.02, Now #19; Best prior run: 12.747/79.50, Was #21

12:26 PM Smith lost traction and pedaled at least three times to get down the track. Ancona's car had ugly header flames, kind of green and reddish brown, mixed with lots of raw fuel.

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Left Lane: Jim Cavalieri Runs 6.650/127.60, Now #10; Best prior run: 4.730/307.37, Was #10
Right Lane: Scott Palmer Runs 4.802/297.22, Now #13; Best prior run: 4.924/253.44, Was #16

Cavalieri's car struggled to about half track, then slowed. Palmer dropped a cylinder on the left side immediately, then grenaded the engine on the top end in a big flash of flame, the supercharger flopping around atop the engine.

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Left Lane: Doug Kalitta Runs 4.669/325.73, Now #8; Best prior run: 5.167/202.11, Was #17
Right Lane: Larry Dixon Runs 4.611/324.20, Now #1; Best prior run: 4.672/321.42, Was #7

Two nice runs, Dixon to #1 and Kalitta in the field with a big speed. Both cars went right down the groove, the header flames (clearly visible under overcast skies) tall and steady.

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Left Lane: Joe Hartley Runs 4.992/312.17, Now #18; Best prior run: 9.664/93.37, Was #21
Right Lane: Doug Herbert Runs 4.595/308.32, Now #1; Best prior run: 4.818/266.90, Was #15

The track temperature is up to 89 degrees now, just about perfect. Hartley rattled the tires and pedaled, coming up short of Mike Smith's 4.842 bump time. Nice run by "Dougzilla," right down the groove and into the #1 spot - with a small explosion and a broken blower belt in the lights. Herbert was running 269 mph at half track, so the engine started eating itself before the finish line because his top speed should have been higher.

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Left Lane: Don Garlits Runs 7.325/109.06, Now #19; Best prior run: 5.332/199.73, Was #19
Right Lane: Darrell Russell Runs 4.645/313.58, Now #4; Best prior run: 4.615/320.97, Was #4

Garlits' car launched hard, the front wheels in the air, then the blower belt broke. He had a 0.866 60-foot time, in the competitive range, before something sent the belt sailing across the track. Meanwhile, Russell was taking care of business, making another strong, smooth run.

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Left Lane: Cory McClenathan Runs 5.156/192.71, Now #8; Best prior run: 4.651/314.46, Was #8
Right Lane: Mitch King Runs 8.457/95.00, Now #17; Best prior run: 4.860/262.23, Was #17

Cory Mac was on a good run to half track, quicker than Herbert to 330 feet and just a few thousandths slower at half track, then the engine went silent. King smoked the tires, pedaled, then gave it up.

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Left Lane: Scott Weis Runs 5.059/218.65, Now #14; Best prior run: 4.798/269.05, Was #14
Right Lane: David Grubnic Runs 4.662/316.45, Now #9; Best prior run: 4.726/260.19, Was #11

Weis fell off the pace almost immediately. Grubnic made a nice run, the car smooth and straight, to move a couple rungs up the ladder.

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Left Lane: Jim Head Runs 9.529/85.68, Now #13; Best prior run: 4.750/295.17, Was #13
Right Lane: Rhonda Hartman-Smith Runs 4.608/318.24, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.693/309.06, Was #11

Head lost traction after a couple hundred feet. Hartman-Smith made a very nice run, with a season-best elapsed time and a career-best speed.

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Left Lane: Andrew Cowin Runs 4.550/321.19, Now #1; Best prior run: 4.627/323.74, Was #7
Right Lane: Clay Millican Runs 4.933/224.27, Now #8; Best prior run: 4.634/314.57, Was #8

The temperature is now 70 degrees, the humidity falling as the temperature climbs. There ase some holes developing in the clouds overhead, but it's still mostly cloudy. Nice run by Cowin, clean and hard. Millican's car dropped a cylinder on the left side early and then the header flames went out around the 1,000-foot marker.

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Left Lane: Kenny Bernstein Runs 4.620/317.79, Now #5; Best prior run: 4.612/322.69, Was #5
Right Lane: Tony Schumacher Runs 4.662/314.68, Now #7; Best prior run: 4.621/326.67, Was #7

Final pair. Two good runs, but both teams will probably find them a little disappointing.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink

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