Drag Race Central | Presented by Summitracing.com

Sat, 30 Oct 2010, 10:56 PM

Top Fuel Qualifying Notes, Final Session

By Rick Green

LAS VEGAS - Notes from final, round 4 qualifying in Top Fuel at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 10th annual NHRA Las Vegas 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: Scott Palmer Runs 3.963/296.70, Now #13; Best prior run: 6.933/99.42, Was #24
Right Lane: Ron August Runs 14.040/33.01, Now #25; Best prior run: 29.765/0.00, Was #25

Weather conditions: air temperature 70 degrees, relative humidity 31 percent, barometer 27.81 inches, adjusted altitude 3,624 feet, track temperature 76 degrees.

August was up in smoke right at the hit. Palmer with his quickest pass of the weekend to get in the show. Palmer's engine let go right in the lights.

Left Lane: Steven Chrisman Runs 7.951/88.42, Now #19; Best prior run: 4.141/276.46, Was #19
Right Lane: Stig Neergaard Runs 4.160/243.85, Now #21; Best prior run: 6.872/100.54, Was #24

Chrisman started to haze the tires and clicked it off...Neergaard was on a good pass until right in the lights when the engine went silent.

Left Lane: Morgan Lucas Runs 6.999/80.61, Now #18; Best prior run: 4.106/286.19, Was #18
Right Lane: Steve Faria Runs 5.427/163.67, Now #23; Best prior run: 6.722/93.78, Was #24

Lucas started to lose traction and he pedaled it and then around 300 feet his engine let go with a huge fireball...Faria's engine lets go around 800 with a huge fireball...

Left Lane: Doug Kalitta Runs 4.695/284.15, Now #17; Best prior run: 4.086/301.20, Was #17
Right Lane: Terry McMillen Runs 4.356/193.65, Now #22; Best prior run: 5.479/128.46, Was #24

Kalitta started to lose traction and pedaled it and then the engine let go with a huge fireball. Kalitta will not get in the show and that is the first time he hasn't qualified since Houston 2009. McMillen resigned with Amalie for another two years. McMillen was on a good pass until it pitched the blower belt.

Left Lane: Mark Mariani Runs 3.986/286.92, Now #15; Best prior run: 4.040/297.81, Was #16
Right Lane: Mike Strasburg Runs 4.067/295.40, Now #17; Best prior run: 4.154/272.34, Was #20

Strasburg with his quickest pass of the weekend and he will not get in the show. Mike Strasburg's incremental times: 60ft-0.887 sec., 330ft-2.271, 660ft-3.248/258.96 mph. Mariani launched hard and keep it hooked up to move up the ladder one spot. He will race tomorrow. Mark Mariani's incremental times: 60ft-0.887 sec., 330ft-2.236, 660ft-3.179/268.06 mph.

Left Lane: Troy Buff Runs 4.005/256.31, Now #14; Best prior run: 3.973/289.51, Was #14
Right Lane: Bob Vandergriff Runs 3.996/267.06, Now #16; Best prior run: 3.997/291.32, Was #16

Buff was dropping cylinders on the top end, so he will stay in the number 14 spot. Vandergriff was on a good pass until right in the light when the engine let go with a big fireball. He still runs his quickest pass of the weekend, but will stay 16th.

Left Lane: Dom Lagana Runs 8.306/85.04, Now #11; Best prior run: 3.928/309.27, Was #11

Lagana is up in smoke as soon as he hits the throttle...

Left Lane: T.J. Zizzo Runs 3.884/312.21, Now #7; Best prior run: 3.923/309.49, Was #10
Right Lane: Antron Brown Runs 7.061/92.94, Now #10; Best prior run: 3.911/311.27, Was #9

Brown starts to lose traction right off the starting line and clicks it off. Zizzo launched hard and keep it hooked up with the header flames shooting high over the rear wing. He runs his quickest pass of the weekend to get into the top half of the show. T.J. Zizzo's incremental times: 60ft-0.874 sec., 330ft-2.193, 660ft-3.110/274.50 mph.

Left Lane: Brandon Bernstein Runs 7.835/84.94, Now #8; Best prior run: 3.885/302.55, Was #8
Right Lane: Shawn Langdon Runs 8.207/86.48, Now #9; Best prior run: 3.891/315.19, Was #9

Bernstein was up in smoke as soon as he hit the throttle. Langdon started to lose traction right off the starting line and clicked it off.

Left Lane: Clay Millican Runs 5.214/131.02, Now #6; Best prior run: 3.878/309.77, Was #6
Right Lane: David Grubnic Runs 3.838/318.32, Now #4; Best prior run: 3.866/317.49, Was #5

Millican started to lose traction around half track and clicked it off. Grubnic launched hard and keep it hooked up to go to the number four spot. David Grubnic's incremental times: 60ft-0.862 sec., 330ft-2.173, 660ft-3.078/279.90 mph.

Left Lane: Steve Torrence Runs 3.841/314.09, Now #5; Best prior run: 3.865/312.71, Was #5
Right Lane: Larry Dixon Runs 7.745/84.16, Now #3; Best prior run: 3.825/318.99, Was #3

dixon loses traction right off the starting line and clicks it off. Torrence with a real nice pass as the header flames were shooting high over the rear wing. He runs his quickest pass of the weekend, but will stay in the number five spot. Steve Torrence's incremental times: 60ft-0.847 sec., 330ft-2.163, 660ft-3.069/275.90 mph.

Left Lane: Cory McClenathan Runs 9.022/62.35, Now #2; Best prior run: 3.822/321.50, Was #2
Right Lane: Tony Schumacher Runs 8.574/76.75, Now #1; Best prior run: 3.812/325.14, Was #1

Both cars start to lose traction right off the starting line and they both click it off.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink