Sat, 21 Feb 2009, 06:16 PM Top Fuel Qualifying Notes, Final Session

By Rick Green

CHANDLER, Ariz. - Notes from final, round 4 qualifying in Top Fuel at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 25th annual Lucas Oil Slick Mist 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: Rob Passey Runs 7.530/81.82, Now #18; No Prior Run

Weather conditions: air temperature 77 degrees, relative humidity 21 percent, barometer 28.83 inches, adjusted altitude 2,755 feet, track temperature 101 degrees.

Passey starts dropping cylinders early and then spinning the tires. It finally throw the blower belt off and he coast on through the 1000 feet.

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Left Lane: Terry Haddock Runs 4.094/237.80, Now #16; Best prior run: 10.749/68.07, Was #19
Right Lane: Doug Kalitta Runs 3.897/307.86, Now #8; Best prior run: 5.563/140.05, Was #17

Kalitta with a great looking pass here to get into the show and the top half of the field. Doug Kalitta's incremental times: 60ft-0.852 sec., 330ft-2.169, 660ft-3.107/267.59 mph. Haddock gets into the show on the bump, so he will now have wait and see if this will hold. Terry Haddock's incremental times: 60ft-0.846 sec., 330ft-2.210, 660ft-3.183/259.11 mph.

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Left Lane: Del Cox Jr No Time, Now #14; Best prior run: 3.936/306.46, Was #14
Right Lane: Steve Faria Runs 7.476/76.87, Now #18; Best prior run: 4.505/222.14, Was #18

Cox Jr. did the burnout and then had problems and was shut off. Faria with problems early and he shuts it off. He will not make the show.

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Left Lane: Joe Hartley Runs 8.817/87.45, Now #12; Best prior run: 3.913/308.07, Was #12
Right Lane: Steven Chrisman Runs 4.175/280.49, Now #17; Best prior run: 4.167/279.79, Was #17

Hartley is up in smoke right off the starting line and clicks it off. Chrisman will not get into the show and Haddock will stay on the bump. Steven Chrisman's incremental times: 60ft-0.891 sec., 330ft-2.286, 660ft-3.315/244.87 mph.

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Left Lane: David Baca Runs 7.272/79.72, Now #11; Best prior run: 3.910/305.77, Was #11
Right Lane: Troy Buff Runs 4.650/165.15, Now #15; Best prior run: 3.974/283.97, Was #15

Buff started to shake the tires early and he clicks it off. Baca started dropping cylinders early and the engine let go with a huge fireball.

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Left Lane: Clay Millican Runs 5.985/105.17, Now #10; Best prior run: 3.907/311.13, Was #10

Millican started to haze the tires around 200 feet and he pedaled it real quick, but was back up in smoke.

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Left Lane: Cory McClenathan Runs 5.704/113.77, Now #9; Best prior run: 3.904/311.63, Was #9
Right Lane: Brandon Bernstein Runs 3.877/316.38, Now #5; Best prior run: 3.875/308.07, Was #5

McClenathan started to smoke the tires around 200 and clicks it off. Bernstein is just a couple ticks off his qualifying time and runs the fastest pass of the event. Brandon Bernstein's incremental times: 60ft-0.866 sec., 330ft-2.191, 660ft-3.112/275.90 mph.

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Left Lane: Shawn Langdon Runs 8.302/76.57, Now #7; Best prior run: 3.888/305.63, Was #7
Right Lane: Spencer Massey Runs 3.851/298.34, Now #4; Best prior run: 3.847/310.27, Was #4

Langdon lost traction early and clicked it off. Massey with nice pass....Spencer Massey's incremental times: 60ft-0.835 sec., 330ft-2.151, 660ft-3.063/274.89 mph.

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Left Lane: Morgan Lucas Runs 4.275/203.22, Now #6; Best prior run: 3.879/306.46, Was #6
Right Lane: Tony Schumacher Runs 3.826/314.46, Now #2; Best prior run: 3.840/315.27, Was #3

Lucas starts mixing up the cylinders and the engine let go with a quick flash of flame. Schumacher with a great looking pass here as he goes to the number two spot with the quickest pass of that session. Tony Schumacher's incremental times: 60ft-0.842 sec., 330ft-2.146, 660ft-3.058/276.41 mph.

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Left Lane: Antron Brown Runs 4.595/164.55, Now #3; Best prior run: 3.830/313.80, Was #3
Right Lane: Larry Dixon Runs 3.818/315.71, Now #1; Best prior run: 3.807/313.95, Was #1

Brown was on a nice pass until around 600 feet when the car started to haze the tires. Dixon with another good looking pass and he will hold on to the number one spot. This is the 32nd time he has qualified number one in his career, and the second time here in Phoenix.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink