Sat, 18 Sep 2010, 04:46 PM Top Fuel Qualifying Notes, Final Session |
By Larry Sullivan |
CONCORD, N.C. - Notes from final, round 4 qualifying in Top Fuel at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, Third annual O'Reilly Auto Parts 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:
Left Lane: Pat Dakin Runs 4.017/298.80, Now #13; Best prior run: 6.942/82.25, Was #18
Right Lane: Morgan Lucas Runs 4.051/299.20, Now #14; Best prior run: 8.921/85.11, Was #19
3:50 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 86 degrees, relative humidity 44 percent, barometer 29.43 inches, adjusted altitude 3,093 feet, track temperature 126 degrees.
Dakin's car was trailing a spray of "stuff" well before the spray turned into a trail of fire as he neared the finish line. The run was good enough to get him in, bumping Doug Herbert. Meanwhile, Lucas also posted an off-pace (for him) run that was good enough to get him in (for now), bumping Doug Foley.
Terry McMillen is now on the
bump spot at 4.153 and the Safety Safari "Conga Line" is hard at work cleaning Dakin's lane.
Left Lane: Terry McMillen Runs 10.676/65.69, Now #17; Best prior run: 4.153/256.80, Was #16
Right Lane: Doug Herbert Runs 3.980/300.40, Now #12; Best prior run: 5.296/272.34, Was #18
4:05 p.m. McMillen lost traction immediately, then watched as Herbert went right down the track to bump him from the field. That's McMillen's first DNQ of the season and only the second of his career.
Left Lane: Steve Torrence Runs 4.542/174.28, Now #11; Best prior run: 3.954/305.08, Was #11
Right Lane: Doug Foley Runs 4.057/291.07, Now #16; Best prior run: 4.749/168.51, Was #18
Herbert's run put Troy Buff on the bump spot at 4.128.
Torrence lost traction early in the run. Foley went down the
track, with one cylinder out part of the way, and bumped Buff, replacing him on the bump spot.
Left Lane: Rod Fuller Runs 3.925/308.43, Now #8; Best prior run: 3.893/311.49, Was #8
Right Lane: Troy Buff Runs 4.039/298.87, Now #15; Best prior run: 4.128/243.77, Was #17
Buff was just bumped from the field, then had to sit and wait to make his run while the Safety Safari cleaned up metal parts from the track - it's not clear which car lost the pieces, the parts are in both lanes.
Both cars went straight down the
track with no visible problems and Buff returned the favor, bumping Foley back out of the field.
Left Lane: T.J. Zizzo Runs 6.025/109.15, Now #6; Best prior run: 3.867/308.21, Was #6
Right Lane: David Grubnic Runs 5.833/107.08, Now #13; Best prior run: 3.996/264.80, Was #13
Now that the sixteen-car field is set, the rest of the cars will run for pairings and bonus points.
Oh-for-two, both
losing traction in the first 200 feet.
Left Lane: Tony Schumacher Runs 3.916/312.86, Now #5; Best prior run: 3.866/308.64, Was #5
Right Lane: Bob Vandergriff Runs 3.982/306.60, Now #10; Best prior run: 3.954/311.27, Was #10
Two good runs, Schumacher with the quickest run of the session so far and Vandergriff the fourth-quickest of the session. For Schumacher, that's three good runs in the three daytime sessions.
Left Lane: Larry Dixon Runs 3.870/314.90, Now #4; Best prior run: 3.846/315.93, Was #4
Right Lane: Shawn Langdon Runs 4.004/295.08, Now #9; Best prior run: 3.930/306.05, Was #9
Dixon took low ET of the session honors away from Schumacher on this pass, straight and smooth. His car bobbled right out of the box, but the next three runs were all 'keepers." Langdon also made a clean run, but was well behind at the stripe.
Left Lane: Brandon Bernstein Runs 3.950/308.21, Now #3; Best prior run: 3.839/317.34, Was #3
Right Lane: Doug Kalitta Runs 3.892/316.45, Now #7; Best prior run: 3.879/316.08, Was #7
We are down to the last four qualifying runs for this event. Bernstein comes in with just one good run so far, Kalitta with two.
Both made clean, straight runs, but Bernstein was second and falling back fast, Kalitta making his third good run in a
row, all bunched up between 3.879 and 3.896.
Left Lane: Antron Brown Runs 9.510/77.80, Now #2; Best prior run: 3.832/315.93, Was #2
Right Lane: Cory McClenathan Runs 3.946/302.01, Now #1; Best prior run: 3.831/321.12, Was #1
Last pair, Cory Mac with two quick runs already in the books, Brown with just one.
Brown was up in smoke almost
immediately, Cory Mac ran out of traction on the top end, left a little "stuff" on the track, and Larry Dixon gets the three-point
bonus for this session. Doug Kalitta and Tony Schumacher get the other three points.
Ready to take your order at 1-800-230-3030 | Customer Service 1-800-517-1035