Sun, 1 Apr 2007, 08:28 PM Top Fuel Final, Round 4 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

BAYTOWN, Texas - Results of final, round 4 eliminations in Top Fuel at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 20th annual O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Pennzoil:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    8 J.R. Todd                             524 Joe Hartley                  
E4   ****WINNER****  0.058  4.603 313.80                     0.088  4.645 307.79
 Prior rounds:
E3    (L Dixon     ) 0.065  4.638 300.40      (D Grubnic   ) 0.108  4.623 316.15
E2    (M Troxel    ) 0.065  4.642 314.24      (W Bazemore  ) 0.081  4.894 253.18
E1    (C Millican  ) 0.048  4.597 307.58      (H Will      ) 0.059  4.820 246.57
 Qualified:             #7  4.618 311.77                        #9  4.631 312.42

7:13 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 71 degrees, relative humidity 64 percent, barometer 29.91 inches, adjusted altitude 1,081 feet, track temperature 92 degrees.

Hartley had exactly five round wins prior to today and he was Todd's fourth different final round opponent. Todd came in with an exceptional 4-1 record in final rounds, while this was Hartley's first.

Todd left first, ran quicker, and is now 5-1 in final rounds. Hartley kept him honest, but Todd never looked back and won going away. That puts Todd in second place in the points, 16 points out of first.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink