Fri, 11 Oct 2002, 06:03 PM Top Fuel Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Larry Sullivan

ENNIS, Texas - Notes from round 1 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, and position in order following run:

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Left Lane: Don Garlits Runs 8.933/94.99, Now #1
Right Lane: Bill Ancona Runs 12.747/79.50, Now #2

4:15 PM It's 75 degrees, 51 percent relative humidity, the barometer 30.10 and falling, under sunny skies. The track temperature is now 101 degrees.

"Big" is in the house and the crowd gave him a standing ovation when his name was announced. Both cars went up in smoke almost immediately, Garlits getting a little further down the track before losing traction and staying with it a little longer.

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Left Lane: Jim Cavalieri Runs 4.730/307.37, Now #1
Right Lane: Scott Palmer Runs 4.924/253.44, Now #2

Good run for Cavalieri, a solid pass. Palmer was right with him to 1,000 feet, then he lost the engine, leaving oil on the track, in the lights.

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Left Lane: Joe Hartley Runs 10.398/92.30, Now #5
Right Lane: Mitch King Runs 6.877/114.24, Now #3

Hartley shook the tires, then smoked them, about 100 feet off the line. King got a bit further down the track, then did the same.

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Left Lane: Jim Head Runs 12.683/67.16, Now #7
Right Lane: Clay Millican Runs 6.458/128.20, Now #3

Head smoked the tires instantly. Millican got to about half track, then did the same.

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Left Lane: Scott Weis Runs 9.573/86.40, Now #6
Right Lane: David Grubnic Runs 13.803/72.44, Now #10

Grubnic was up in smoke immediately. Weis got about 200 feet out, then started to turn the tires and shut it down.

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Left Lane: John Smith Runs 8.634/91.38, Now #6
Right Lane: Rhonda Hartman-Smith Runs 6.637/131.36, Now #4

Maybe the husband-and-wife team can figure it out? Nope. John was up in smoke before going 100 feet, Rhonda about 200 feet.

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Left Lane: Andrew Cowin Runs 4.673/276.24, Now #1
Right Lane: Doug Herbert Runs 4.818/266.90, Now #3

Both cars went right down the groove, both "blowed it up" on the top end, running almost as fast at half track as at the finish line. There's oil in the left lane, so we'll be down for a bit of cleanup.

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Left Lane: Cory McClenathan Runs 4.651/314.46, Now #2
Right Lane: Darrell Russell Runs 4.615/320.97, Now #1

Cory Mac's team is doing it up right for new sponsor Berryman B-12 ChemTooler, right down to the Ed "Big Daddy" Roth-designed Berryman mascot driving the team bus. This pair gave us two nice runs, Cory Mac losing a little ground to Russell early in the run, then keeping pace the rest of the way.

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Left Lane: Doug Kalitta Runs 5.167/202.11, Now #7
Right Lane: Tony Schumacher Runs 10.992/79.50, Now #15

After watching the previous pair, Connie Kalitta went to work in the clutch control box, making some last-minute adjustments. Maybe he tweaked it a bit too much - Doug made a good run to almost half track, then started hazing the tires and clicked it off. Schumacher went up in smoke almost immediately.

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Left Lane: Kenny Bernstein Runs 12.218/73.64, Now #17
Right Lane: Larry Dixon Runs 4.672/321.42, Now #3

It's two beer cars, must be the last pair. Bernstein started smoking the tires after about 100 feet, Dixon went right down the groove with no visible tire smoke at all and the best speed of the session.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink

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