Fri, 9 Apr 2010, 05:54 PM Top Fuel Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Larry Sullivan

BAYTOWN, Texas - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Top Fuel at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 23rd annual O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Pennzoil listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Right Lane: Terry Haddock Runs 5.882/107.93, Now #1

4:27 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 72 degrees, relative humidity 39 percent, barometer 30.12 inches, adjusted altitude 1,144 feet, track temperature 106 degrees.

Haddock has Paul Smith helping him out this weekend...the car went about 250 feet, then Haddock pulled the plug - most likely it was planned to be a short run.

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Left Lane: T.J. Zizzo Runs 3.982/277.72, Now #1
Right Lane: Bobby Lagana Jr. Runs 5.361/125.82, Now #2

Two more teams running on short budgets and lots of heart...Lagana struck the tires about 300 feet out and shut off. Zizzo appeared to be on a full pass, but shut off a bit early.

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Left Lane: Troy Buff Runs 3.959/289.32, Now #1
Right Lane: Terry McMillen Runs 5.357/132.14, Now #3

Buff's run looked a lot like Zizzo's - no obvious problems, possibly shutting off early. McMillen's car lost traction and got a bit sideways.

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Left Lane: David Grubnic Runs 6.820/88.36, Now #6
Right Lane: Brandon Bernstein Runs 7.464/87.61, Now #7

In almost perfect synchronization, these two went about 250 feet and struck the tires.

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Left Lane: Morgan Lucas Runs 4.580/196.87, Now #3
Right Lane: Steve Torrence Runs 6.668/88.96, Now #7

Same story, except that Lucas pedaled, possibly trying to get a better spot in the lineup for round 2 qualifying.

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Left Lane: Shawn Langdon Runs 3.879/309.49, Now #1
Right Lane: Antron Brown Runs 7.339/85.77, Now #10

Brown's run looked about like the prior four, but Langdon made a nice, smooth pass to move into the top spot.

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Left Lane: Larry Dixon Runs 3.848/317.42, Now #1
Right Lane: Doug Kalitta Runs 5.010/141.06, Now #6

Deja vu all over again, 300 feet and a puff of tire smoke in the right lane, a "full pull" in the left.

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Left Lane: Tony Schumacher Runs 4.681/158.22, Now #7
Right Lane: Cory McClenathan Runs 3.856/318.54, Now #2

Same game, but swap the lanes. This time it was Schumacher in the left lane with a puff of tire smoke about 400 feet out while Cory Mac made a full pass down the right lane...but he came up a few thousandths short of Dixon's ET and the Al-Anabi car stays at the head of the class.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink