Fri, 19 Oct 2007, 07:30 PM Top Fuel Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Larry Sullivan

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Torco Top Fuel at the 2007 Knoll-Gas Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series, IHRA World Finals Presented by The U.S. Air Force featuring UTI CHampionship Sunday listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Left Lane: Luigi Novelli Runs 12.833/84.97, Now #2
Right Lane: Dave Gallegos Runs 8.627/84.91, Now #1

6:56 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 78 degrees, relative humidity 77 percent, barometer 29.29 inches, adjusted altitude 2,368 feet, track temperature 94 degrees.

Novelli lost traction almost immediately, Gallegos after 100 feet or so.

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Right Lane: Kevin Jones No Time, Now #3

Jones overpowered the track at the hit and the engine shut off so quickly that the car rolled to a stop around half track. Looked like nothing broke, but the car never developed enough momentum to go very far.

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Left Lane: Jeff O'Neill Runs 4.841/301.33, Now #1
Right Lane: Terry McMillen Runs 8.079/87.94, Now #2

McMillen shook, pedaled, shook again and shut it off. Nice opening pass for O'Neill, right down the groove.

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Left Lane: Bobby Lagana Jr. Runs 5.586/176.95, Now #3
Right Lane: Scotty Cannon Runs 4.856/282.78, Now #2

Lagana's header flames were very yellow and they went out just past half track. Cannon's header flames also appeared to go out early, but he was around the 1,000-foot marker.

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Left Lane: Bruce Litton Runs 4.736/251.44, Now #1
Right Lane: T.J. Zizzo Runs 5.161/250.92, Now #4

Last pair, locked in battle for the championship, Zizzo just 26 points ahead of Litton. Litton's teammate, O'Neill, was on the "Last Man Standing" bubble at 4.841, and that five points would close the gap to just about one round.

Zizzo smoked the tires in the first 200 feet and had to pedal to save the run. Litton lost power around the ,000-foot marker, but had the momentum to get the win light and the "Last Man Standing" bonus. Now the Top Fuel championship battle is down to just 21 points.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink