Thu, 6 Nov 2003, 07:07 PM Top Fuel Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Darryl Jackman

POMONA, Calif. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Top Fuel at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 39th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Left Lane: Jim Cavalieri Runs 10.429/85.71, Now #2
Right Lane: KC Spurlock Runs 4.819/283.25, Now #1

3:00 PM Cavalieri has his problems on this pass and clicks it way early. Spurlock gets a full pull and appeared to nose over a bit at the finish line. Belt may have fallen off.

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Left Lane: Steven Chrisman Runs 13.625/87.00, Now #3

Chrisman didn't move three feet before the car was up on the tire and there was a large boom and flash from the engine. he coasted on out.

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Left Lane: Bill Ancona Runs 9.993/83.78, Now #3
Right Lane: Shirley Muldowney Runs 4.664/320.20, Now #1

Shirley is next out in the big pink racer. She's down to the few last passes of her long and storied career. Ancona has been running pretty well the last few races. Ancona has the front wheels come way up and backed out before disaster happened. Shirley got close to the center stripe at the top end but puts a good run into this weekend's book.

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Left Lane: Scott Palmer Runs 9.051/93.00, Now #4
Right Lane: Mike Strasburg Runs 4.681/307.09, Now #2

Palmer was clean to about 200 feet and the car rattled the tires loose and he was hidden behind a wall of smoke. Strasburg was on a clean pass but might have tossed the belt in the lights. Still puts him to an early #2 behind Shirley.

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Left Lane: Scott Kalitta Runs 4.549/323.89, Now #1
Right Lane: David Grubnic Runs 5.087/209.95, Now #5

And your new leader with have the fuel cars run is...Scott Kalitta. By a tenth he takes over from Shirley. Grubnic had raw fuel from all the pipes after half track so the assumption is he threw a belt.

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Left Lane: Clay Millican Runs 5.612/163.31, Now #6
Right Lane: Scott Weis Runs 6.320/140.83, Now #7

Weis had to pedal a couple of times and finally gave up. Millican had problems of his own and will have to come back on Friday.

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Left Lane: Jim Head Runs 9.131/86.69, Now #10
Right Lane: Paul Romine Runs 5.589/164.35, Now #6

Another pair of cars that are having problems. Head rattled the tires loose earlier than Romine.

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Left Lane: Rhonda Hartman-Smith Runs 4.644/313.37, Now #2
Right Lane: Doug Herbert Runs 4.688/291.01, Now #5

This pair was side by side all the way down. Herbert appeared to shut off just a bit early and the speed shows that. Rhonda got a nice baseline run that puts her #2 for the session to date.

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Left Lane: John Smith Runs 6.272/139.88, Now #11
Right Lane: Kenny Bernstein Runs 4.619/325.92, Now #2

Smith kicks the tires loose pretty hard and can't pedal the car. Bernstein is in the center of the lane from start to finish. He's now #2 behind Scott Kalitta.

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Left Lane: David Baca Runs 8.200/92.84, Now #14
Right Lane: Cory McClenathan Runs 4.565/327.27, Now #2

Oh dear! Cory has had it happen again at Pomona. He's gone into the sand and the car wound up laying on it's side in the trap. It appeared to take out some of the catch fence so there will be some damage to the car. I just saw one official carrying a front wheel. The cars right side up and they'll need a flatbed to get it back to the pits. Well, Cory's #2 but the team has soe work to do. Baca struck the tires so he had a ringside seat for the whole incident.

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Left Lane: Darrell Russell Runs 8.847/101.77, Now #16
Right Lane: Tony Schumacher Runs 4.497/329.02, Now #1

Russell headed for the center stripe at the hit and calls it off. No so Schumacher. Another top qualifying spot for the US Army dragster with only one pair to go.

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Left Lane: Doug Kalitta Runs 7.610/121.72, Now #16
Right Lane: Larry Dixon Runs 4.539/326.87, Now #2

Now its the track record holder, Doug Kalitta, to try and take over the top spot in the field. Kalitta is the record holder at this track with a 4.482. This time Conrad tries to rotate the earth and the track won't hold it. Dixon will slot in right behind Schumacher to close out the session. Doug Kalitta is on the bump when we resume on Friday.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink