Sat, 06 Oct 2012, 15:39 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, 28th annual Auto-Plus 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: Terry McMillen Runs 3.902/312.35, Now #13; Best prior run: 4.281/198.52, Was #17

Weather conditions: air temperature 68 degrees, relative humidity 58 percent, barometer 29.29 inches, adjusted altitude 1,919 feet, track temperature 78 degrees.

McMillen was straight down the groove to get in the show. Terry McMillen's incremental times: 60ft-0.869 sec., 330ft-2.186, 660ft-3.120/269.67 mph.

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Left Lane: Rit Pustari No Time, Now #17; Best prior run: 4.109/269.35, Was #17
Right Lane: Clay Millican Runs 3.854/316.45, Now #13; Best prior run: 4.091/260.51, Was #15

Millican with his quickest pass of the day to move up the ladder a couple spots. Clay Millican's incremental times: 60ft-0.852 sec., 330ft-2.161, 660ft-3.082/274.27 mph. Pustari was on a good pass until the car started drifting toward the centerline and then he collected the top end cones and was over in Millican's lane. It appeared that the car then clipped the back of Millican's car with the front wing and drove around Millican on the right side. His run will be Dq'ed.

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Left Lane: Ike Maier Runs 8.354/117.70, Now #16; Best prior run: 4.100/233.84, Was #16
Right Lane: Dom Lagana Runs 8.002/83.89, Now #15; Best prior run: 3.922/279.09, Was #15

Maier with a lot of tire shake right at the hit and clicked it off. Lagana like Maier with a lot of tire shake and he clicked it off early.

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Left Lane: Steve Torrence Runs 4.886/144.50, Now #10; Best prior run: 3.803/321.04, Was #10
Right Lane: Larry Dixon Runs 3.818/316.30, Now #11; Best prior run: 3.835/315.71, Was #12

Torrence starts to haze the tires around half track and clicks it off. Dixon launched hard and was straight down the groove with his quickest and fastest pass of the season to move up the ladder one spot. Larry Dixon's incremental times: 60ft-0.850 sec., 330ft-2.144, 660ft-3.053/277.20 mph.

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Left Lane: Antron Brown Runs 3.758/325.14, Now #3; Best prior run: 3.793/322.73, Was #9
Right Lane: Bob Vandergriff Runs 3.840/320.20, Now #12; Best prior run: 3.824/324.90, Was #12

Vandergriff with another good pass, but will not improve and will start Sunday from the number 12 spot. Brown with a great pass he had the Goodyears stuck all the way down the track to go to the number three spot. Antron Brown's incremental times: 60ft-0.837 sec., 330ft-2.134, 660ft-3.017/286.74 mph.

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Left Lane: David Grubnic Runs 3.728/327.11, Now #1; Best prior run: 3.786/319.22, Was #9
Right Lane: Doug Kalitta Runs 3.739/331.45, Now #3; Best prior run: 3.767/327.27, Was #7

The Team Kalitta cars put on a great drag race here. Grubnic with the quickest pass of the weekend and the quickest of his career and that ties the quickest pass in the history of Top Fuel. This is also the fastest Grubnic has gone in the 1000-foot era. David Grubnic's incremental times: 60ft-0.831 sec., 330ft-2.110, 660ft-2.987/288.03 mph. Grubnic sets the track E.T. record.
Kalitta runs his career best pass both E.T. and speed. Kalitta's E.T. is the sixth quickest and his speed is the second fastest in the history of Top Fuel. Doug Kalitta's incremental times: 60ft-0.836 sec., 330ft-2.129, 660ft-3.006/288.64 mph. Kalitta sets the track speed record.

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Left Lane: Khalid alBalooshi Runs 11.576/51.07, Now #9; Best prior run: 3.776/327.03, Was #9
Right Lane: Spencer Massey Runs 3.778/326.08, Now #8; Best prior run: 3.763/321.12, Was #8

alBalooshi is up in smoke right at the hit and clicks it off. Massey with a great pass after two consecutive engine explosions. Spencer Massey's incremental times: 60ft-0.847 sec., 330ft-2.139, 660ft-3.033/284.51 mph.

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Left Lane: Brandon Bernstein Runs 5.225/132.10, Now #5; Best prior run: 3.758/326.48, Was #4
Right Lane: Shawn Langdon Runs 3.753/326.32, Now #4; Best prior run: 3.762/328.38, Was #7

Bernstein starts to haze the tires around half track and clicks it off. Langdon with his quickest of the weekend and will move up to the number four spot. Shawn Langdon's incremental times: 60ft-0.840 sec., 330ft-2.129, 660ft-3.016/283.31 mph.

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Left Lane: Tony Schumacher Runs 6.793/87.24, Now #3; Best prior run: 3.736/324.20, Was #2
Right Lane: Morgan Lucas Runs 3.733/330.96, Now #2; Best prior run: 3.760/326.95, Was #7

Schumacher is up in smoke early and clicks it off. Lucas launches hard and had it hitting on all eight and the Goodyear stuck all the way down the track to go to the number two spot. Lucas with the third quickest pass in the history of Top Fuel and with his run from yesterday he sets the National Top Fuel E.T. record. Lucas also with the third fastest pass in the history of the 1000-foot era. Morgan Lucas' incremental times: 60ft-0.843 sec., 330ft-2.131, 660ft-3.002/290.88 mph.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink