Sun, 29 Jun 2008, 01:54 PM Top Fuel Round 2 Eliminations |
By Larry Sullivan |
NORWALK, Ohio - Results of round 2 eliminations in Top Fuel at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, Second annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals:
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
7 J.R. Todd 796 Cory McClenathan
E2 0.078 5.048 238.13 ****WINNER**** 0.083 4.638 305.77
Prior rounds:
E1 (H Will ) 0.074 4.876 299.13 (M Lucas ) 0.091 4.640 308.64
Qualified: #10 4.771 297.94 #2 4.631 301.81
1:09 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 80 degrees, relative humidity 45 percent, barometer 28.79 inches, adjusted
altitude 3,379 feet, track temperature 114 degrees.Todd and McClenathan have each won 2 times against the other in prior events, this is the first timne they have raced each other in the second round.
Todd left first and was trailing before they went 60 feet. Todd's car shook and then had a dead cylinder or two the rest of the way
before giving up completely around the 1,000-foot marker. McClenathan almost duplicated his first-round run - not spectacular, but
more than good enough to get the win light.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
6 Doug Herbert 44 David Grubnic
E2 ****WINNER**** 0.053 4.666 300.80 0.089 4.662 304.87
Prior rounds:
E1 (T Buff ) 0.077 4.692 297.29 (L Dixon ) 0.082 4.633 302.08
Qualified: #5 4.647 307.30 #13 4.841 288.09
Grubnic is 10 - 9 against Herbert in prior events, but Herbert is 3-0 when they met in the second round.He boosted that to a
4-0 second-round mark with a holeshot win in a close drag race. Doug Herbert's incremental margins: 60ft(0.035), 330 ft(0.048),
660ft(0.049), 1,000ft(0.041). MOV: 0.0323 seconds (approximately 14 feet).
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
3 Brandon Bernstein 123 Antron Brown
E2 ****WINNER**** 0.055 4.650 307.72 0.064 4.861 274.16
Prior rounds:
E1 (L Novelli ) 0.109 4.688 304.39 (S Torrence ) 0.076 4.616 302.14
Qualified: #3 4.640 315.86 #6 4.652 291.51
Brown is 1 - 0 against Bernstein in prior events and they have never met in the second round before today. Bernstein led this
wire-to-wire, Brown smoking the tires through the last half of the track, depositing a trail of oil from about 1,000 feet into the
shutdown area. That will cost him $1,000 and 10 "valuable POWERade points." Bernstein made a good run, but lost lane choice to Cory
Mac in the semifinals.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
2 Rod Fuller 1 Tony Schumacher
E2 ****WINNER**** 0.052 4.541 320.43 0.050 4.574 307.09
Prior rounds:
E1 (D Kalitta ) 0.061 4.648 303.57 (B Vandergrif) 0.078 4.607 318.62
Qualified: #1 4.629 311.13 #8 4.703 300.46
Schumacher is 11 - 6 against Fuller in prior events, 3-1 in second rounds. They met in the final round here last year,
Schumacher won that one.1:33 p.m. These two were waiting in the water while the Safety Safari cleaned up Brown's oildown and were about to fire their engines when the crowd started abandoning the stands as rain started falling. It's a "pop-up shower," not heavy, but it's heavy enough to bring things to a halt until it stops.
1:42 p.m. There's that noise again - the shower passed, the track dried itself and the crew chiefs were signaled to fire 'em up.
This was a great drag race, almost identical elapsed times and the two lowest elapsed times of the event. Fuller got what he
wanted, coming from behind on the top end to get the win light and a measure of revenge for last-year's loss. He goes to the
semifinals and will have lane choice against Herbert in that round. Rod Fuller's incremental margins (negative if behind):
60ft(-0.013), 330 ft(-0.020), 660ft(-0.008), 1,000ft(0.003). MOV: 0.0315 seconds (approximately 14 feet).
Ready to take your order at 1-800-230-3030 | Customer Service 1-800-517-1035