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Top Fuel Qualifying Notes, Session #1
Fri, 1 Aug 2003, 08:01 PM
Notes from round 1 qualifying in Top Fuel at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 16th
annual FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed,
and position in order following run:
Left Lane: Mitch King Runs 5.145/214.48, Now #2
Right Lane: Don Lampus Runs 4.861/292.71, Now #1
4:19 PM Current weather conditions: 78 degrees, 42 percent relative humidity,
the barometer 29.98 inches Funny Car was a mixed bag with a lot of cars running well
to mid-track and then having traction or engine problems. There is a light high cloud
cover and it's a little cooler than the start of the FC session. Mitch King is in
the Lucas dragster and Lampus is driving his own dragster this weekend. Both cars leave
well and Lampus makes a good pass to start the session. King is mixing the cylinders up by
mid-track and clicks it.
Right Lane: Mike Strasburg Runs 4.836/304.05, Now #1
Strasburg has a single in the B&J Transmission dragster. He leave hard and has
his hands full, as the dragster moves around a lot on the top end.
Left Lane: David Grubnic Runs 4.707/315.27, Now #2
Right Lane: Kenny Bernstein Runs 4.693/315.27, Now #1
The Bud King Team is rebounding, but still hasn't returned to the coveted
"Last to Qualify" position. Grubnic has been giving Bill Miller's dragster a good season
and he runs side by side with Bernstein and into the current #2 position. Both cars have
identical speeds.
Right Lane: Scott Weis Runs 5.664/163.37, Now #6
Weis' RaceGirl dragster will get a single too. Weis makes a good half pass,
but suffers from the mid-track blues, as the big slicks start to smoke and he clicks it
off.
Left Lane: Paul Romine Runs 4.921/282.42, Now #6
Right Lane: Rhonda Hartman-Smith Runs 4.851/295.27, Now #4
Rhonda Hartman-Smith makes a good solid run into the current top half of the
field. Romine was right there until late in the run, when the engine started to
expire.
Left Lane: David Baca Runs 4.711/306.74, Now #3
Right Lane: Doug Herbert Runs 4.759/306.26, Now #4
Great side by side pass. They had almost identical reaction times and 60-foot
ET's. Baca slowly crept ahead and takes the current #3 spot.
Left Lane: John Smith Runs 5.035/282.30, Now #9
Right Lane: Tony Schumacher Runs 6.076/146.32, Now #12
Neither car will be happy with these times. Schumacher marched ahead of Smith
from the starting line until he started to smoke the tires at mid-track. Smith was slow at
the hit and mixed the cylinders down the track.
Left Lane: Cory McClenathan Runs 4.702/316.15, Now #3
Right Lane: Darrell Russell Runs 4.699/309.84, Now #2
Russell's dragster has the conventional multi-panel mag body back on for this
session with a wild new DeeZee's paint scheme. That pass will get them scratching their
heads, as he runs just ahead of McCleanathan with a good clean pass into the current #2
position. The Berryman dragster was on a good pass too and takes the current #3
spot.
Left Lane: Doug Kalitta No Time, Now #17
Right Lane: Larry Dixon Runs 4.584/322.50, Now #1
Dixon has a chance to sweep the West Coast Swing this weekend. Kalitta kills
the engine on the burn out and they have to push him back behind the starting line. What
can I say?? Dixon is just in another class from the rest of the field. He leaves the line
with the front wheels in the air for a long way down the track and hammers low ET and top
time on to the top end clocks. No bump for Top Fuel this session. 4:52 PM and we are
down to clean up the mess that the Red Car left on the track.
Timing data courtesy of
CompuLink
By Dave Gerard
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