Sun, 5 Oct 2003, 11:33 AM Top Fuel Round 1 Eliminations |
By Jim Samuel |
MOHNTON, Pa. - Results of round 1 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
6 Darrell Russell 7 Doug Herbert
E1 0.100 8.239 139.57 ****WINNER**** 0.063 4.592 288.33
Qualified: #8 4.593 315.78 #9 4.593 300.20
11:01 AM - Three weeks after they were supposed to start, Top Fuel eliminations finally got
underway here at Maple Grove Raceway. The air temperature was 55 degrees, humidity 56 percent
and the barometric pressure was 29.99 inches and steady under a cloudy sky.
This was the 67th straight race for Darrell Russell. His best finish at Maple Grove was a third round loss to Doug Kalitta last year. Herbert's best finish here came in 2000 when he lost to Gary Scelzi in round three. Last year, he was involved in the infamous first-round staging battle with Clay Millican. Russell has five wins and three losses against Herbert in prior competition.
Russell shook and smoked the tires as soon as he launched. he tried to pedal it at 330 feet,
but quickly backed off the throttle. Herbert had a good run but hurt his engine a bit as he
crossed the finish line.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 888 Jim Head 9 Rhonda Hartman-Smith E1 ****WINNER**** 0.077 4.649 295.08 0.079 11.397 96.33 Qualified: #7 4.577 319.52 #10 4.602 305.22Jim Head has eight round one losses her at Maple Grove. This is the seventh time in his career he started in the number seven position. Head ran his first race here in a funny car in 1985. He beat Bruce Larson and lost to Kenny Bernstein in the second round. If Head and Bernstein win both win their first round matchups, they'll meet in the second round.
Hartman-Smith smoked and shook the tires when she launched and backed off the throttle by the
time she reached the 330 foot mark. Head had a clean run to take the win.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 345 Bruce Litton 319 Scott Kalitta E1 0.084 4.692 307.58 ****WINNER**** 0.065 4.526 322.65 Qualified: #13 4.669 311.99 #4 4.557 329.75Scott Kalitta won here twice in his championship years of 1994 and 1995. He has seven first round losses here as well. This is the first time he's met Bruce Litton in eliminations. Litton has made it past the first round only five times in his NHRA career and has gone to the third round only once, when he lost to Darrell Russell at Brainerd in 2001.
Kalitta had the start and stayed in front the whole way down the track. Litton's engine popped
and he lost some cylinders at mid track and Kalitta's car did the same as he crossed the finish
line. Scott Kalitta's incremental margins: 60ft(0.029), 330 ft(0.067), 660ft(0.109),
1,000ft(0.150). MOV: 0.1853 seconds (approximately 84 feet).
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 797 David Baca 337 Paul Romine E1 0.091 4.623 315.86 ****WINNER**** 0.069 4.524 313.66 Qualified: #11 4.609 311.99 #6 4.564 310.13Baca drove the first half of this race with the rear tires chattering. He stayed with it but was not able to get the win as Paul Romine made the quickest run of his career to take the win. Paul Romine's incremental margins: 60ft(0.028), 330 ft(0.070), 660ft(0.101), 1,000ft(0.116). MOV: 0.1217 seconds (approximately 56 feet).
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
4 Doug Kalitta 3 Tony Schumacher
E1 No Time ****WINNER**** 0.099 9.470 102.80
Qualified: #16 4.737 315.19 #1 4.465 328.78
This was the sixth race for which Tony Schumacher qualified in the number one position.
Three of those times have come here at Maple Grove Raceway. He got the number one qualifying
time of 4.465 seconds -- three weeks ago in the car that he later crashed at Memphis.
Schumacher was runner-up here in 1999.This was the first time that Doug Kalitta has started eliminations in the number 16 spot. The last time he started in the bottom half of the field was at Memphis in 2002. Before this race, Kalitta had six wins and 17 losses in the first round when he has started in the bottom half. He is the defending Top Fuel champion here at Maple Grove and had 14 wins and 10 losses to Schumacher before this meeting.
When Kalitta's crew tried to start the car in the staging lanes, there was a very loud back fire
that sent the crew scattering. Whatever caused the backfire damaged the engine so Kalitta's car
was pushed back, giving Schumacher a competition single. Schumacher smoked the tires as soon as
he launched and got the front wheels up in the air, so he had to back off the throttle and give
up lane choice to Doug Herbert in round two.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 104 Clay Millican 5 Cory McClenathan E1 ****WINNER**** 0.045 7.626 198.85 0.094 8.152 191.00 Qualified: #12 4.651 314.90 #5 4.558 321.19This is the 21st time that Cory McClenathan has started in the number five spot. He beat Clay Millican the only time these two have met in NHRA competition at Houston this year. Last year, Millican was involved in the round one staging duel with Herbert.
Millican smoked the tires and went sideways as soon as he launched. He backed off the throttle
and then pedaled it to get back underway. The car headed toward the center line, so he backed
off again. Meanwhile, McClenathan got out to 100 feet, then his car got loose and started
smoking the tires. He and Millican kept going down the quarter mile, with both pedaling it as
they went. Millican hit the throttle seven times and held on to get the win. Millican gave up
lane choice to Scott Kalitta in the second round.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
2 Kenny Bernstein 201 Scott Weis
E1 0.085 6.794 253.71 ****WINNER**** 0.041 6.412 282.24
Qualified: #2 4.537 327.35 #15 4.700 314.90
Prior to today, Bernstein had won 997 rounds of NHRA competition and has won three times at
Maple Grove, the last time being 1996. Bernstein beat Weis here in the third round 2001.
This was a lot like the previous pair. Bernstein smoked the tires as he launched and backed
off the throttle. Weis made it out to 330 feet, then he started to smoke and had to back off as
well. As soon as Weis backed off, Bernstein got back on the throttle. Bernstein started to
shoot ahead, then Weis got back on his throttle and hooked up. The two pedaled a couple of more
times, with Weis finally getting the win. Jim Head will have lane choice when he and Weis meet
in round two.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 394 Luigi Novelli 1 Larry Dixon E1 -0.028 4.932 257.68 ****WINNER**** 0.115 12.004 75.00 Qualified: #14 4.685 318.39 #3 4.550 322.11Maple Grove is one of the two tracks at which Dixon has never won. The other is St. Louis. This is Luigi Novelli's fourth start of the season. The 318 miles per hour he ran during qualifying for this race three weeks ago is the fastest he's ever run.
Dixon launched hard, shaking and smoking the tires until he backed off the throttle at about 200
feet down the track. Luckily for Dixon, Novelli left the starting line too soon and lit the red
light. Dixon gave up lane choice to Paul Romine in round two. Dixon oiled the track as he
cruised down the quarter mile.
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