Sun, 5 Oct 2003, 04:27 PM Top Fuel Round 3 Eliminations

By Jim Samuel

MOHNTON, Pa. - Results of round 3 eliminations in Top Fuel at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 19th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  888 Jim Head                              337 Paul Romine
E3   ****WINNER****  0.095  4.622 322.81                     0.066  4.678 314.39
 Prior rounds:
E2    (S Weis      ) 0.157  4.550 310.34      (L Dixon Jr  ) 0.051  5.264 217.56
E1    (R Hartman-Sm) 0.077  4.649 295.08      (D Baca      ) 0.069  4.524 313.66
 Qualified:             #7  4.577 319.52                        #6  4.564 310.13

4:18 PM - At the start of this round, the air temperature was 58 degrees, humidity 39 percent, the barometer read 29.98 inches and steady and the sky was mostly clear and sunny.

Head beat Kenny Bernstein in round one, then had a single run into this round when Scott Weis could not answer the call. Romine had the quicker start but Head had the stronger car. he took the lead at mid track and never looked back on his way to his first final round since Memphis in 1999. Jim Head's incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.014), 330 ft(-0.020), 660ft(-0.015), 1,000ft(0.006). MOV: 0.0274 seconds (approximately 13 feet).

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    3 Tony Schumacher                       104 Clay Millican
E3   ****WINNER****  0.065  4.449 331.04                     0.049  4.951 220.80
 Prior rounds:
E2    (D Herbert   ) 0.065  4.441 332.34      (S Kalitta   ) 0.081  4.542 323.12
E1    (D Kalitta   ) 0.099  9.470 102.80      (C Mc Clenath) 0.045  7.626 198.85
 Qualified:             #1  4.465 328.78                       #12  4.651 314.90

Millican launched first but Schumacher got past him by the time they reached the 330 foot marker. Schumacher pulled ahead on his was to another run in the 4.40s. Millican had a good run going until his engine popped out a burst of flame at about 1,000 feet. Schumacher will have lane choice over Jim Head in the final round. Tony Schumacher's incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.013), 330 ft(0.029), 660ft(0.100), 1,000ft(0.227). MOV: 0.4867 seconds (more than 100 feet).

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink