Sun, 1 Jun 2008, 03:42 PM Top Fuel Round 3 Eliminations

By Rick Green

TOPEKA, Kan. - Results of round 3 eliminations in Top Fuel at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 20th annual O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals presented by Castrol GTX:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  796 Cory McClenathan                       48 Hillary Will                 
E3                   0.091  7.197 116.27     ****WINNER****  0.087  4.809 291.51
 Prior rounds:
E2    (T Schumacher) 0.069  4.660 307.51      (M Lucas     ) 0.087  4.757 292.58
E1    (B Vandergrif) 0.051  4.587 314.46      (D Herbert   ) 0.065  4.633 310.91
 Qualified:             #2  4.565 323.04                       #11  4.649 285.35

Weather conditions: air temperature 87 degrees, relative humidity 47 percent, barometer 28.80 inches, adjusted altitude 3,886 feet, track temperature 124 degrees.

Will is 2 - 1 against McClenathan in prior events, and this is the first time they have raced in the semifinals. McClenathan is up in smoke as soon as he hit the throttle and Will is going to the second final round in her career.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  123 Antron Brown                           91 Larry Dixon                  
E3                   0.049  5.079 236.01     ****WINNER****  0.046  4.787 302.01
 Prior rounds:
E2    (J Hartley   ) 0.065  4.617 318.99      (B Bernstein ) 0.038  4.691 302.14
E1    (D Grubnic   ) 0.048  4.612 294.50                     0.066  4.630 308.85
 Qualified:             #4  4.584 292.77                        #1  4.527 325.30

Brown is 1 - 0 against Dixon in prior events, and they have never raced in the semifinals. Brown with the lead until just before half track when he hazed the tires and then had parts flying off it on the top end. Dixon with a good clean pass to go his 81st final round, fourth this year and second in as many races. He will have lane choice in the final.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink