Sun, 30 Mar 2008, 02:16 PM Top Fuel Round 2 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

BAYTOWN, Texas - Results of round 2 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
  111 Urs Erbacher                           22 Doug Kalitta                 
E2                   0.107  4.785 309.70     ****WINNER****  0.060  4.635 311.13
 Prior rounds:
E1    (A Bradshaw  ) 0.053  5.046 211.99      (H Will      ) 0.046  4.607 317.19
 Qualified:            #16  4.734 302.41                        #9  4.606 317.87

12:56 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 74 degrees, relative humidity 83 percent, barometer 29.98 inches, adjusted altitude 1,830 feet, track temperature 101 degrees.

Kalitta is 1 - 0 against Erbacher in prior events.

Kalitta left first and steadily pulled away for for the win. Erbacher once again oiled the track, but Kalitta's car also ate the engine on the top end and both cars oiled the track. Kalitta had a freebie coming, so no penalty, but Erbacher earned another $5,000 in fines (a total of $13,000 for the event) and a penalty of 20 more points (35 in all).

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   91 Larry Dixon                           345 Bruce Litton                 
E2   ****WINNER****  0.054  4.955 227.11                     0.061  6.269 138.74
 Prior rounds:
E1    (M Lucas     ) 0.053  4.595 311.92      (D Grubnic   ) 0.045  4.603 298.87
 Qualified:             #3  4.549 314.46                       #11  4.620 324.28

Dixon is 9 - 0 against Litton in prior events.

They left almost together, but Litton lost traction at about 300 feet and shut off. Then something went POP on Dixon's car, between half track and 1,000 feet, and he also coasted to the line.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  123 Antron Brown                          796 Cory McClenathan             
E2   ****WINNER****  0.060  4.541 326.56                     0.095  4.566 305.22
 Prior rounds:
E1    (D Foley     ) 0.065  4.591 322.27      (R Fuller    ) 0.061  4.614 281.83
 Qualified:            #12  4.644 322.42                        #4  4.568 326.79

McClenathan is 1 - 0 against Brown in prior events.

Nice drag race, Brown with the better light and the better run, Cory Mac not far behind all the way. Antron Brown's incremental margins: 60ft(0.020), 330 ft(0.022), 660ft(0.026), 1,000ft(0.037). MOV: 0.0600 seconds (approximately 27 feet). He will have lane choice against Kalitta in the semifinals.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    6 Doug Herbert                            1 Tony Schumacher              
E2   ****WINNER****  0.055  4.572 315.49                     0.063  4.585 316.97
 Prior rounds:
E1    (B Vandergrif) 0.050  4.587 316.52      (B Bernstein ) 0.071  4.526 321.19
 Qualified:             #2  4.547 318.02                       #10  4.619 313.22

Schumacher is 24 - 8 against Herbert in prior events. These two had the two best runs in the first round.

Herbert put the Army car in the trailer, first off the line by a whisker and quicker on the scoreboards, giving Schumacher his earliest exit of the season. Doug Herbert's incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.009), 330 ft(-0.004), 660ft(0.006), 1,000ft(0.016). MOV: 0.0214 seconds (approximately 10 feet). Herbert will have lane choice against Dixon in the semifinals.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink