Sun, 05 Sep 2021, 10:40 AM Top Fuel Round 1 Eliminations

By Rick Green

BROWNSBURG, Ind. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Top Fuel at the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series, 67th annual Dodge//SRT NHRA U.S. Nationals:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 7129 Greg Carrillo                         386 Kyle Wurtzel                 
E1   ****WINNER****  0.100  3.839 270.81                     0.076 No Time      
 Qualified:             #7  3.769 320.20                       #10  3.849 311.77

Weather conditions: air temperature 66 degrees, relative humidity 88 percent, barometer 29.93 inches, adjusted altitude 2,118 feet, track temperature 82 degrees.

Greg Carrillo is making his first start at this event. This (#10) is the best starting spot for Kyle Wurtzel.

This is the first time Carrillo and Wurtzel have faced each other in eliminations.

Wurtzel with the starting line advantage, but had severe tire shake and popped the blower with a quick flash of fire.

Carrillo is straight down the groove, but has bang right in the lights. He gets the win.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  777 Leah Pruett                           171 Joe Morrison                 
E1   ****WINNER****  0.077  3.933 253.37                     0.071  4.331 224.36
 Qualified:             #5  3.755 322.88                       #12  4.107 294.88

Leah Pruett wins 72% of her first round races when qualified in the top half of the field. Joe Morrison is making his first start at this event.

Pruett is 1 - 0 against Morrison in prior events.

Morrison with the slight starting line advantage, but started dropping cylinders and clicked it off.

Pruett was straight down the groove, but the car just went silent on the top end.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  745 Brittany Force                        333 Shawn Langdon                
E1   ****WINNER****  0.070  3.702 332.34                     0.029 10.623  82.33
 Qualified:             #1  3.684 334.57                       #16  4.553 188.86

Brittany Force is 24 -3 in rd. 1 when qualified #1. She is 7 - 0 this year.

Shawn beat Brittany in rd. 1 here in 2017.

Force is 8 - 7 against Langdon in prior events.

Langdon with a great light and lost traction right at the hit and pedaled it one time, but couldn't get it to hook up.

Force launched hard and kept it hooked up, straight down the groove for the win.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    2 Doug Kalitta                          725 Krista Baldwin               
E1   ****WINNER****  0.108  3.794 319.75                     0.125  8.768  90.36
 Qualified:             #3  3.751 317.05                       #14  4.193 215.17

Doug Kalitta's 27 round wins here are the 5th most for any TF driver.

Krista Baldwin is the 105th driver to face Kalitta in eliminations.

Kalitta with the starting line advantage and straight down the groove for the win.

Baldwin is up in smoke right at the hit.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   77 Josh Hart                             323 Buddy Hull                   
E1   ****WINNER****  0.062  3.810 322.04                     0.126  5.495 112.26
 Qualified:             #4  3.755 325.22                       #13  4.162 257.63

Josh Hart won this race twice in TAD.

Buddy Hull is making his first start at this event.

This is the first time Hart and Hull have faced each other in eliminations.

Hart with the starting line advantage, he kept it hooked up all the way down the track for the win. He will have lane choice over Pruett in the next round.

Hull started to drop cylinders and the car pitched the blower belt.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    1 Steve Torrence                          5 Antron Brown                 
E1   ****WINNER****  0.056  3.716 325.37                     0.052  8.442  72.76
 Qualified:             #2  3.688 329.50                       #15  4.305 192.14

Steve Torrence wins 76% of his races when starting from the top half of the field.

Antron Brown is 33 - 17 against Torrence and 8 - 0 against him in rd. 1.

Brown with a slight starting line advantage, but lost traction right at the hit.

Torrence launched hard, kept it hitting on all eight all the way down the track for the win.

Torrence will have lane choice over Carrillo in the next round.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    3 Billy Torrence                        144 Tripp Tatum                  
E1   ****WINNER****  0.077  3.741 326.95                     0.079  5.288 131.72
 Qualified:             #6  3.756 324.75                       #11  3.870 282.36

Billy Torrence is 45 - 21 in rd. 1 (68%).

Tripp Tatum is making his 5th start overall at this event (3 TAD and 2 TF)

This is the first time Torrence and Tatum have faced each other in eliminations.

Torrence with a couple tick advantage on the tree and never trailed for the win. Torrence will have lane choice over Kalitta in the next round.

Tatum was up in smoke by 330 feet and clicked it off.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   40 Alex Laughlin                           7 Justin Ashley                
E1   ****WINNER****  0.095  3.878 304.94                     0.054  4.081 216.20
 Qualified:             #8  3.771 317.19                        #9  3.796 324.05

Alex Laughlin is just the 4th driver to qualify for the U.S. Nationals in both TF & PS (Bruce Larson, Paul Longenecker & Dave Connolly).

Justin Ashley went to the semi-finals her last year.

Ashley is 1 - 0 against Laughlin in prior events.

Ashley with the starting line advantage and was driving away until the engine went away. Laughlin chased him down on the top end to get his first win in Top Fuel.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink

The reports this weekend are brought to you by Quarter Mile Classifieds.

E-mail rick@fastnews.net for information about supporting these reports.

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