Sun, 15 Jun 2003, 06:33 PM Top Fuel Final, Round 4 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

HEBRON, Ohio - Results of final, round 4 eliminations in Top Fuel at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 39th annual Pontiac Excitement Nationals presented by Summit Racing:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    6 Darrell Russell                         1 Larry Dixon
E4                   0.062 11.250  91.96     ****WINNER****  0.077  4.655 313.58
 Prior rounds:
E3    (D Kalitta   ) 0.102  4.670 305.70      (T Schumacher) 0.075  4.597 316.67
E2    (J Head      ) 0.048  5.491 238.47      (C Mc Clenath) 0.062  4.761 286.01
E1    (R Hartman-Sm) 0.062  4.640 311.49      (B Litton    ) 0.084  4.535 326.32
 Qualified:             #5  4.589 319.29                        #3  4.565 321.35

6:14 PM Current weather conditions: 78 degrees, 55 percent relative humidity, the barometer 30.11 inches, with a track temperature of 105 degrees.

Dixon came in with an 11-3 career edge over Russell, 4-1 in final rounds. To add to that, his crew chief, Dick LaHaie, was undefeated in final rounds at this race, both as a crew chief and as a driver. Chalk up another one for Dixon and LaHaie, Russell up in smoke as soon as he hit the throttle. That makes Dixon the only driver to win this even three years in a row and extends his points lead over Doug Kalitta to 268 points.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink