Sun, 30 Mar 2008, 12:36 PM Top Fuel Round 1 Eliminations |
By Larry Sullivan |
BAYTOWN, Texas - Results of round 1 eliminations in Top Fuel at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 21st annual O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Pennzoil:
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 48 Hillary Will 22 Doug Kalitta E1 0.080 4.619 310.84 ****WINNER**** 0.046 4.607 317.19 Qualified: #8 4.599 316.45 #9 4.606 317.8710:58 a.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 74 degrees, relative humidity 82 percent, barometer 29.96 inches, adjusted altitude 1,902 feet, track temperature 92 degrees.
The crew chiefs can throw away all the hot-track data they got yesterday, go back to what little coll track data they got Friday, and compensate for cloudy skies and swirling, gusty winds.
This is Will's 50th Top Fuel race. Teammate Kalitta is making his best start this year and one of his 30 wins came here in '03. As rumored, Richard Hogan is now in the Kalitta camp, by the way. Kalitta is 6 - 0 against Will in prior events.
Good opening race, full passes in
both lanes, but Kalitta was away first and slowly stretched his lead to move to the second round. Doug Kalitta's MOV: 0.0468 seconds
(approximately 21 feet).
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
3 Brandon Bernstein 1 Tony Schumacher
E1 0.077 11.160 74.80 ****WINNER**** 0.071 4.526 321.19
Qualified: #7 4.596 325.77 #10 4.619 313.22
Bernstein won here in '04 and '06 and this is an even year. He also qualified seventh in Gainesville, winning from that starting
spot. Schumacher won here in'05 and has been runner-up three times. This is his first bottom-half qualifying position since Dallas
last year. Schumacher is 17 - 8 against Bernstein in prior events, but Bernstein has lane choice. Bernstein smoked the tires,
fishtailed, and lifted. Schumacher went right down the groove, matching the low ET of the event so far. That's sort of a payback,
Bernstein beat Schumacher in the first round here last year, on a holeshot.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 44 David Grubnic 345 Bruce Litton E1 0.087 5.051 227.34 ****WINNER**** 0.045 4.603 298.87 Qualified: #6 4.587 322.42 #11 4.620 324.28Grubnic's first-ever final round came here in '98. Litton is making his 52nd start in NHRA Top Fuel competition.Grubnic and Litton have each won once against the other in prior events.
Litton had a nice holeshot and it was never close, Grubnic losing
traction around half track. So far, three pairs, three bottom-half winners.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 123 Antron Brown 1301 Doug Foley E1 ****WINNER**** 0.065 4.591 322.27 0.063 4.606 320.13 Qualified: #12 4.644 322.42 #5 4.582 303.09Foley has entered two races so far this year, made the field in both, but is out of money and won't return until he finds a long-term sponsor. Brown was runner-up here in '04. This is Brown's fourth Top Fuel start, the first time he's been in the bottom half of the field. Brown is 1 - 0 against Foley in prior events.
Close race, dead-even at the start and never more than two hundredths apart all the way down the track. Antron Brown's incremental margins: 60ft(0.008), 330 ft(0.017), 660ft(0.019), 1,000ft(0.015). MOV: 0.0134 seconds (approximately 6 feet).
Four pairs, four upsets.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 91 Larry Dixon 743 Morgan Lucas E1 ****WINNER**** 0.053 4.595 311.92 0.103 4.671 313.37 Qualified: #3 4.549 314.46 #14 4.691 300.60Dixon has started in the top half of the field in all four events this year. He won the Fall race here in '99 and the Spring race in '00, then was runner-up in '01. Lucas has been in six final rounds, is still looking for his first win in Top Fuel. Dixon is 4 - 2 against Lucas in prior events.
Dixon had a big starting line advantage and ran away with this one. Dixon will have lane
choice against Litton in round two.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 111 Urs Erbacher 530 Alan Bradshaw E1 ****WINNER**** 0.053 5.046 211.99 -0.002 8.855 80.79 Qualified: #16 4.734 302.41 #1 4.526 323.50This is Bradshaw's second #1 qualifier in a row, hoping to beat the #1-qualifier jinx. He won here in TAD in '02 and '03. Erbacher is making his fourth start in Top Fuel. This is the first time Erbacher and Bradshaw have faced each other in eliminations.
Bradshaw went red by two thousandths of a second and the jinx is intact. Erbacher gets the round win, but he also
gets penalized for his third oildown of the event, his fifth of the year, the engine letting go on the top half of the run. He
advances, won't have lane choice against Kalitta in round two. The oildown will cost Erbacher $4,000 and 15 points. Oh yeah, that's
five winners from the bottom half in the first six pairs.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
2 Rod Fuller 796 Cory McClenathan
E1 0.080 11.374 75.39 ****WINNER**** 0.061 4.614 281.83
Qualified: #13 4.684 308.07 #4 4.568 326.79
11:26 a.m. Cory Mac has had some success here, winning TAD in '90 and Top Fuel in '98, with runner-up finishes in '03 and '05.
None of Fuller's six wins have come here. McClenathan is 6 - 2 against Fuller in prior events. Fuller was up in smoke in the
first 100 feet and Cory had a freebie. He needed it, losing traction and then the blower belt on the top end of the run, running
3.094 at 275.84 at half track and 3.880 at 1,000 feet, the second-best half-track and 1,000-foot numbers of the round (Schumacher
was quicker and faster). He will not have lane choice against Brown in the second round.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
5 Bob Vandergriff 6 Doug Herbert
E1 0.036 5.671 220.12 ****WINNER**** 0.050 4.587 316.52
Qualified: #15 4.697 308.71 #2 4.547 318.02
Herbert is making his best start since Sonoma last year and won here in '99. Vandergriff was runner-up here in '97 and is making
his first start since a DNQ in Gainesville. Herbert is 6 - 4 against Vandergriff in prior events. vandergriff was up in smoke
early in the run and Herbert laid down a very nice run for the win - second-best of the round. Unfortunately for him, he faces
Schumacher next round and will not have lane choice.
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