Sat, 4 Oct 2003, 03:03 PM Top Fuel Qualifying Notes, Session #2

By Jim Samuel

MOHNTON, Pa. - Notes from round 2 qualifying in Top Fuel at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 19th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time/top speed this round, position in order following run, best prior elapsed time/speed, and position in order prior to run:

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Left Lane: John Smith Runs 6.641/137.11, Now #14; Best prior run: 5.094/214.66, Was #14
Right Lane: Josh Starcher Runs 7.847/97.77, Now #18; Best prior run: 10.777/84.00, Was #19

2:34 PM - At the start of this session, the air temperature was 54 degrees at 78 percent humidity and the barometric pressure was 29.76 and steady, under an overcast sky.

Smith was in the bottom part of the field and Starcher was not in the field when this par of drivers staged their cars. Both cars shook the tires, Starcher as he came off the starting line, Smith at about 100 feet. Starcher and Smith tried to pedal their way down the track. Starcher had to pedal it several times before he backed off. Smith broke a blower belt at mid track and cruised the rest of the way.

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Left Lane: Bruce Litton Runs 4.669/311.99, Now #12; Best prior run: 4.727/306.60, Was #13
Right Lane: Doug Kalitta Runs 4.737/315.19, Now #14; Best prior run: 10.735/80.33, Was #19

Litton was in the bottom third of the field and wanted to move up. Kalitta was in the unfamiliar position of being outside the field. Kalitta shook the tires as soon as he launched. He backed off the throttle, pedaled it, then backed off again. He got back on the throttle at about 100 feet and got the tires hooked up so he could finish the run. Litton shook the tires too but not as violently, and was able to drive through it and move up one spot in the order.

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Left Lane: Luigi Novelli No Time, Now #13; Best prior run: 4.685/318.39, Was #13
Right Lane: Scott Weis Runs 4.700/314.90, Now #14; Best prior run: 7.834/103.26, Was #18

Novelli's crew pushed the car away from the lanes before the cars got the signal to start the engines. Weis burned up a few pistons during the quarter mile but ran well enough to make the field for now.

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Left Lane: Jim Head Runs 4.577/319.52, Now #6; Best prior run: 4.652/319.22, Was #11
Right Lane: Scott Kalitta Runs 4.557/329.75, Now #4; Best prior run: 6.484/120.16, Was #18

Kalitta was not in the field and needed to run quicker than 5.094 seconds to make it in and bump John Smith out. He chattered the tires a bit for the first 330 feet but drove through it to the quickest ET he has ever recorded. Head also had a good run that moved him up five spots in the order.

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Left Lane: Rhonda Hartman-Smith Runs 10.171/82.13, Now #10; Best prior run: 4.602/305.22, Was #10
Right Lane: Clay Millican Runs 4.757/270.75, Now #12; Best prior run: 4.651/314.90, Was #12

Millican shook the tires hard at 100 feet and had to pedal it. One of the body panels came loose at 330 feet, but he kept on going to finish the run. Hartman-Smith shook the tires, tried to pedal it and then just backed off this run. She'll stay where she is in the order for now.

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Left Lane: Darrell Russell Runs 4.636/286.38, Now #8; Best prior run: 4.593/315.78, Was #8
Right Lane: David Baca Runs 9.856/86.09, Now #11; Best prior run: 4.609/311.99, Was #11

Baca shook the tires hard from the start to about 330 feet before the car shut down. Russell had a fairly clean run with just a little tire shake. he stayed with it the whole way down the track but was not able to improve his spot in the order.

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Left Lane: Cory McClenathan Runs 4.558/321.19, Now #5; Best prior run: 4.581/310.98, Was #7
Right Lane: Doug Herbert Runs 4.871/230.06, Now #9; Best prior run: 4.593/300.20, Was #9

Herbert had a good run going but the car shut down at about 1,000 feet. McClenathan had a strong run and moved up two spots in the order.

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Left Lane: Paul Romine Runs 4.579/307.30, Now #6; Best prior run: 4.564/310.13, Was #6
Right Lane: Kenny Bernstein Runs 4.573/328.86, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.537/327.35, Was #2

A pair of good runs but neither had an effect on the qualifying order.

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Left Lane: Larry Dixon Runs 13.171/76.15, Now #3; Best prior run: 4.550/322.11, Was #3
Right Lane: Tony Schumacher Runs 6.132/134.51, Now #1; Best prior run: 4.465/328.78, Was #1

Schumacher ran the quarter mile here in 4.465 seconds three weeks ago, but wrecked the car he was driving the next weekend in Memphis. He had a sluggish start and made it to mid track before he shut it down. Dixon launched, shook the tires hard, and backed off the throttle before he reached 100 feet.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink