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Sun, 19 May 2024, 12:30 PM

Top Fuel Round 1 Eliminations
By Reporter





JOLIET, Ill. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Top Fuel at the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, 24th annual Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK Performance:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  182 Dan Mercier                             9 Tony Schumacher              
E1   ****WINNER****  0.097  3.876 311.41                     0.090  3.967 284.87
 Qualified:             #9  3.779 325.14                        #8  3.779 328.22
Weather conditions: air temperature 78 degrees, relative humidity 49 percent, barometer 29.98 inches, adjusted altitude 2,390 feet, track temperature 112 degrees.

Tony Schumacher is 1 - 4 in Rd. 1 this year. Dan Mercier is 0 - 2 against Schumacher. This is his 18th start.

Schumacher with a slight starting line advantage, but Mercier has the lead just past the 330-foot mark and never trails from there on for the win. This is is second career rond win.


 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   77 Josh Hart                             716 Shawn Reed                   
E1                   0.064  8.585  86.28     ****WINNER****  0.084  3.948 288.15
 Qualified:            #12  3.803 319.98                        #5  3.772 324.51
This (#5) is the best starting spot in Shawn Reed's career. Josh Hart is 32 - 29 in Rd. 1 in his career (2 -3 this year).

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

Hart with the starting line advantage, but is up in smoke right at the hit and clicked it off.

Reed with a clean pass for the win.


 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   14 Tony Stewart                          317 T.J. Zizzo                   
E1                   0.074  3.993 276.69     ****WINNER****  0.087  3.805 329.42
 Qualified:            #16  3.852 323.04                        #1  3.735 331.77
T.J. Zizzo is the 14th TF driver to qualify #1 at this event. In the last 10 years the #1 TF qualifier is 5 - 5 in Rd. 1 at this event. Tony Stewart is 3 - 2 in Rd. 1 this year.

Stewart with the starting line advantage, but Zizzo chases him down by half track and never trails from there on for the win. He will will have lane choice over Mercier in the next round.


 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  386 Kyle Wurtzel                           51 Clay Millican                
E1                   0.094  5.540 115.24     ****WINNER****  0.100  4.028 244.52
 Qualified:            #15  3.847 320.20                        #2  3.746 332.84
Clay Millican has won 17 rounds at this event and that's the 2nd most for him at any event (20 at Topeka) Clay is the defending event champion and no TF driver has ever won this race in back-to-back years. Kyle Wurtzel is making his 31st start in TF and his 1st since St. Louis, 2023.

Wurtzel with a slight starting line advantage, but is up in smoke and clicks it off. Millican has a hole out early and is shut off, but coast to the win.


 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    4 Justin Ashley                           1 Doug Kalitta                 
E1   ****WINNER****  0.044  3.827 320.20                     0.088  3.790 330.15
 Qualified:            #14  3.831 320.05                        #3  3.750 332.84
Doug Kalitta 4 - 10 against Justin Ashley (28.5%) and that's his worst winning percentage against any driver (Minimum 5 races). In his last 25 races Justin Ashley is 20 - 5 in Rd. 1 (5 - 0 this year)

Ashley with the starting line advantage and the power to hold on for the hole shot win. Ashley with his quickest pass of the weekend for the win. Justin Ashley's MOV: 0.0073 seconds (approximately 4 feet).


 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 211X Cody Krohn                            333 Shawn Langdon                
E1                   0.072  3.930 287.66     ****WINNER****  0.071  3.801 324.83
 Qualified:            #13  3.824 319.75                        #4  3.771 332.10
Shawn Langdon is 9 -3 after 5 races and that's the best start of his career. Cody Krohn is making his 4th start. He lost to Langdon in Rd. 1 at Gainesville this year.

Langdon with a tick advantage on the tree, but Langdon is straight down the groove with a good clean pass fort the win. He will have lane choice over Reed in the next round.

Krohn with a good clean pass in the losing effort.


 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  616 Jasmine Salinas                         6 Antron Brown                 
E1                   0.114 No Time           ****WINNER****  0.055  4.113 249.49
 Qualified:            #11  3.798 320.28                        #6  3.775 331.36
Antron Brown wins 81% of his Rd. 1 races when he has lane choice. Jasmine Salinas is the 125th driver to face Brown in eliminations. 58 of those drivers (46%) have never beaten him.

Brown with the starting line advantage and never trailed for the win. Salinas is up in smoke and she pedals it. She has a lot of cylinders out and starts to lose traction again. She pedals it again and the car make a quick move toward the centerline and it crosses over the centerline.

Brown will give up lane choice over Ashley in the next round.


 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  474 Billy Torrence                          2 Steve Torrence               
E1                   0.112  3.904 301.07     ****WINNER****  0.065  3.838 325.85
 Qualified:            #10  3.780 330.63                        #7  3.776 336.65
In his last 80 races Steve Torrence is 70 - 10 in Rd. 1. Billy Torrence is 63 - 24 (72%) in Rd. 1 races.

S. Torrence is 16 - 5 against B. Torrence in prior events.

Steve with the starting line advantage and never trailed for the win. he will have lane choice over Millican in the next round.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink

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





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