Sun, 25 May 2003, 03:45 PM Top Fuel Round 3 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

TOPEKA, Kan. - Results of round 3 eliminations in Top Fuel at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 15th annual O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals presented by Castrol GTX:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    4 Doug Kalitta                            2 Kenny Bernstein
E3   ****WINNER****  0.113  4.550 325.61                     0.060  5.184 208.91
 Prior rounds:
E2    (C Mc Clenath) 0.061  4.582 319.75      (D Herbert   ) 0.075  4.689 312.50
E1    (J Smith     ) 0.048  4.566 328.54      (M Troxel    ) 0.092  4.572 328.70
 Qualified:             #6  4.600 319.60                        #2  4.545 327.03

2:33 PM Current weather conditions: 72 degrees, 33 percent relative humidity, the barometer 30.10 inches under scattered clouds. The crew chiefs probably would welcome a bit more cloud cover, but it isn't here yet.

Bernstein enjoyed a 12-8 edge over Kalitta in prior events, but Kalitta has been the hottest driver on the tour lately. It may have come down to lane choice, Bernstein getting a big starting line advantage only to lose traction at half track. As soon as Bernstein's tires started to smoke, Kalitta went by like a rocket ship for an "easy win" with his best elapsed time of the weekend.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    1 Larry Dixon                             6 Darrell Russell
E3   ****WINNER****  0.062  4.541 329.67                     0.028  4.634 321.35
 Prior rounds:
E2    (P Romine    ) 0.082  4.554 325.92      (R Hartman-Sm) 0.071  4.588 323.81
E1    (C Karamesine) 0.074  4.533 329.67      (D Grubnic   ) 0.082  4.604 321.58
 Qualified:             #1  4.509 327.11                        #5  4.596 322.19

Dixon came in with a 10-3 edge over Russell and used his third mid-fifty of the day to overcome Russell's holeshot, Russell led almost to half track, then Dixon's power took over and he pulled away to win by a car length. Larry Dixon's incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.023), 330 ft(-0.018), 660ft(0.007), 1,000ft(0.039). MOV: 0.0595 seconds (approximately 28 feet). Dixon will have lane choice against Kalitta in the finals, it should be a doozie!

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink