Sat, 9 Oct 2010, 04:34 PM Top Fuel Qualifying Notes, Final Session

By Rick Green

MOHNTON, Pa. - Notes from final, round 4 qualifying in Top Fuel at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 26th annual Toyo Tires 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: Morgan Lucas Runs 3.915/312.06, Now #13; Best prior run: 5.653/116.60, Was #20
Right Lane: Luigi Novelli Runs 10.131/90.51, Now #18; Best prior run: 4.029/292.65, Was #17

Weather conditions: air temperature 80 degrees, relative humidity 38 percent, barometer 29.37 inches, adjusted altitude 2,540 feet, track temperature 97 degrees.

Novelli with violent tire shake as soon as he hit the throttle and clicked it off. Lucas launched hard and started to lose traction and did a quick pedal job and got it to recover. He gets in the show with his quickest pass of the weekend. Morgan Lucas' incremental times: 60ft-0.862 sec., 330ft-2.216, 660ft-3.141/274.05 mph.

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Left Lane: Tim Cullinan Runs 4.105/247.43, Now #20; Best prior run: 4.165/277.37, Was #20
Right Lane: Scott Palmer Runs 4.259/223.91, Now #17; Best prior run: 3.985/296.70, Was #17

Cullinan started dropping cylinders and then pushed out a head gaskets with a quick flash of flames, but still runs his quickest pass of the weekend. He will not get in the show. Palmer is mixing up cylinders early and he will not get in the show.

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Left Lane: Fred Farndon Runs 6.485/102.43, Now #19; Best prior run: 4.046/288.15, Was #19
Right Lane: Clay Millican Runs 3.905/309.27, Now #10; Best prior run: 3.950/296.44, Was #16

Farndon starts to smoke the tires and clicks it off. Millican launched hard and keep it hooked up to run his quickest pass of the weekend. He will move up the ladder to tenth. Clay Millican's incremental times: 60ft-0.871 sec., 330ft-2.203, 660ft-3.126/273.55 mph.

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Left Lane: Terry McMillen Runs 4.420/185.82, Now #16; Best prior run: 3.931/303.16, Was #16
Right Lane: Dom Lagana Runs 8.746/82.65, Now #15; Best prior run: 3.929/305.77, Was #15

Lagana is up in smoke as soon as he hits the throttle...McMillen starts to lose traction around half track and clicked it off...

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Left Lane: Bob Vandergriff Runs 3.975/309.27, Now #12; Best prior run: 3.909/310.84, Was #12
Right Lane: Brandon Bernstein Runs 5.653/114.69, Now #13; Best prior run: 3.909/304.94, Was #13

Bernstein starts to smoke the tires around 300 feet and he clicks it off...Vandergriff was straight down the groove...Bob Vandergriff's incremental times: 60ft-0.877 sec., 330ft-2.244, 660ft-3.190/269.03 mph.

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Left Lane: Doug Foley Runs 3.887/312.93, Now #7; Best prior run: 3.907/311.56, Was #11
Right Lane: Steve Torrence Runs 3.901/306.26, Now #9; Best prior run: 3.898/282.30, Was #8

Foley was smoking the tires right at the hit and he drove through it to get in the top half of the show. Foley with the quickest pass of the session. Doug Foley's incremental times: 60ft-0.863 sec., 330ft-2.197, 660ft-3.117/274.89 mph. Torrence with real nice looking pass, second quickest pass of the session. Steve Torrence's incremental times: 60ft-0.853 sec., 330ft-2.180, 660ft-3.111/270.64 mph.

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Left Lane: Antron Brown Runs 3.863/316.82, Now #5; Best prior run: 3.904/314.46, Was #10

Brown with great looking pass as he was black tracking it from half track on, but still runs his quickest pass of the weekend. That is the quickest pass of the session and will move him up into the top half of the show. Antron Brown's incremental times: 60ft-0.856 sec., 330ft-2.189, 660ft-3.104/278.29 mph.

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Left Lane: Doug Kalitta Runs 3.850/316.23, Now #4; Best prior run: 3.885/316.38, Was #7
Right Lane: Shawn Langdon Runs 3.874/309.84, Now #7; Best prior run: 3.874/302.01, Was #6

Langdon matches his qualifying time with another good looking pass. Shawn Langdon's incremental times: 60ft-0.842 sec., 330ft-2.168, 660ft-3.094/273.11 mph. Kalitta with a great looking pass as he is straight down the groove with the quickest pass of the session. Doug Kalitta's incremental times: 60ft-0.849 sec., 330ft-2.167, 660ft-3.086/275.67 mph.

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Left Lane: Larry Dixon Runs 3.786/322.42, Now #1; Best prior run: 3.854/317.05, Was #5
Right Lane: David Grubnic Runs 3.988/240.59, Now #4; Best prior run: 3.838/308.35, Was #3

Grubnic starts to haze the tires on the top end and he clicks it off early. Dixon launched hard and keep it hooked up to go to the number one spot with a great looking pass. Dixon sets both ends of the track record...Larry Dixon's incremental times: 60ft-0.834 sec., 330ft-2.143, 660ft-3.040/284.27 mph.

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Left Lane: Tony Schumacher Runs 3.846/319.14, Now #3; Best prior run: 3.823/319.14, Was #2
Right Lane: Cory McClenathan Runs 3.815/318.54, Now #2; Best prior run: 3.832/316.01, Was #3

This was a great drag race to wrap up qualifying with the second and third quickest passes of the round. Tony Schumacher's incremental times: 60ft-0.840 sec., 330ft-2.175, 660ft-3.092/279.67 mph.
Cory McClenathan's incremental times: 60ft-0.835 sec., 330ft-2.152, 660ft-3.058/279.44 mph.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink