Sun, 25 Jun 2006, 02:35 PM Top Fuel Round 1 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

EDMONTON, Alb. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Knoll Gas - Torco Racing Fuels Top Fuel at the 2006 eMax Drag Racing Series, CARS RV & Marine & Motorsports Rocky Mountain Nationals presented by TORCO Racing Fuels:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    4 Rick Cooper                          6073 Ed Verenka                   
E1   ****WINNER****  0.111  4.866 304.46                     0.347 22.908  55.98
 Qualified:             #4  4.945 256.06                        #8  5.442 236.09

12:17 p.m. Verenka's car eased off the starting line and idled down the track - looked like he broke a throttle cable. It probably did not matter, Cooper made a very nice run, his best of the weekend.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    2 Doug Foley                            443 Mitch King                   
E1   ****WINNER****  0.144  4.751 314.61                           No Time      
 Qualified:             #3  4.843 264.96                        #7  5.403 237.17

King got the crowd on his side, flying a big Canadian flag on his wing struts for the burnout. Unfortunately, something broke on the burnout and he was shut off after backing up. Again, it probably didn't matter, Foley also made his best run of the weekend, running top speed of the meet as a bonus.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  345 Bruce Litton                          141 Bobby Lagana Jr.             
E1   ****WINNER****  0.090  4.772 311.13                     0.101  5.041 229.98
 Qualified:             #2  4.765 304.94                        #6  5.099 224.21

Lagana had a Superman doll on the wing struts for the burnout - and he wears a Superman T-shirt under his driving suit. But even Superman sometimes comes out on the short end. Lagana tried his best, but Litton steadily pulled away for the win, sealing the deal when Lagana started hazing the tires on the top end. Litton faces Cooper in the semifinals and will have lane choice.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    1 Clay Millican                         323 Chris Karamesines            
E1   ****WINNER****  0.082  4.746 310.34                     0.136  7.681  92.98
 Qualified:             #1  4.639 303.64                        #5  4.965 245.40

Millican was away first and leading when Karamesines lost traction about 200 feet out. Once again, Millican's car showed none of the early-run tire shake that has plagued him this season. Millican will have lane choice against Foley in the semifinals - by five thousandths of a second. Should be a good semifinal round, both matchups are very close in performance.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink