Fri, 20 Jun 2008, 06:06 PM Top Fuel Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Jim Samuel

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Top Fuel at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 39th annual Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Left Lane: Steve Torrence Runs 4.579/315.42, Now #1

5:39 p.m. - Weather conditions: air temperature 83 degrees, relative humidity 38 percent, barometer 29.88 inches, adjusted altitude 2,194 feet, track temperature 112 degrees.

Some of the Funny Cars had trouble getting down the left lane but Torrence did not. He's driving the car that used to be driven by Alan Bradshaw. Torrence took his dragster right down the groove to start off Top Fuel qualifying on a high note.

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Left Lane: Doug Foley Runs 4.711/266.58, Now #2
Right Lane: Bob Vandergriff Runs 12.766/74.52, Now #3

Foley had a clean run but clicked it off early. He may have had traction problems for the last couple hundred feet. Vandergriff smoked the tires and shut his car down.

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Left Lane: J.R. Todd Runs 4.678/301.33, Now #3
Right Lane: Morgan Lucas Runs 4.690/311.99, Now #4

Todd and Lucas had a pair of nice runs down the track to put themselves solidly in the field.

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Left Lane: David Grubnic Runs 7.464/96.27, Now #5
Right Lane: Doug Herbert Runs 5.242/255.97, Now #4

Grubnic smoked the tires at about 330 feet. Herbert waited to the end of his run to smoke the rear tires. He pedaled it at the end to drive through it.

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Left Lane: Doug Kalitta Runs 4.609/319.14, Now #2
Right Lane: Brandon Bernstein Runs 4.619/320.20, Now #3

A pair of side-by-side solid runs put Kalitta and Bernstein into the second and third spots in the order for now.

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Left Lane: Cory McClenathan Runs 4.635/316.01, Now #4
Right Lane: Rod Fuller Runs 4.638/317.27, Now #5

Another pair of good, side-by-side runs. McClenethan's car started trailing smoke as he crossed the finish line.

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Left Lane: Hillary Will Runs 4.614/319.60, Now #3
Right Lane: Larry Dixon Runs 5.000/215.62, Now #11

Dixon's run looked good to about 1,000 feet, then the flames went out. Will had a full-power run all the way down the track to move into the number three spot for now.

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Left Lane: Antron Brown Runs 4.628/319.37, Now #6
Right Lane: Tony Schumacher Runs 4.582/320.36, Now #2

This was the final pair of cars in this qualifying session. Schumacher had a strong run but was not able to beat Torrence's time. Torrence was the first driver down the track in this session and he stayed in the number one position. Brown's car started smoking at the end of the track.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink