Sun, 28 Jul 2013, 16:12 PM Top Fuel Round 2 Eliminations

By Rick Green

SONOMA, Calif. - Results of round 2 eliminations in Top Fuel at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 26th annual NHRA Sonoma Nationals:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    3 Spencer Massey                         99 Khalid alBalooshi            
E2   ****WINNER****  0.059  3.822 324.59                     0.089  3.820 323.97
 Prior rounds:
E1    (T Schumacher) 0.068  4.291 242.71      (B Bernstein ) 0.078  3.794 323.50
 Qualified:             #5  3.793 314.17                        #4  3.789 320.97

Weather conditions: air temperature 71 degrees, relative humidity 58 percent, barometer 29.83 inches, adjusted altitude 1,520 feet, track temperature 105 degrees.

Massey is 6 - 2 against alBalooshi in prior events. Massey with the starting line advantage and the power to hold on for the hole shot win. Spencer Massey's MOV: 0.0282 seconds (approximately 13 feet).

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    1 Antron Brown                           33 Tommy Johnson Jr.            
E2   ****WINNER****  0.066  3.835 314.31                     0.083  6.996  85.31
 Prior rounds:
E1    (C Millican  ) 0.065  3.787 322.58      (S Torrence  ) 0.049  3.786 324.51
 Qualified:             #7  3.803 320.66                       #15  3.875 303.71

This is the first time Brown and Johnson Jr. have faced each other in eliminations. brown is out of the gate first and never trailed as Johnson Jr. was up in smoke early and clicked it off.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   44 David Grubnic                          34 Morgan Lucas                 
E2                   0.094  4.323 193.68     ****WINNER****  0.077  4.296 266.16
 Prior rounds:
E1    (T McMillen  ) 0.078  3.795 324.59      (T Zizzo     ) 0.061  3.757 328.30
 Qualified:             #1  3.765 324.28                        #8  3.811 323.66

Lucas is 13 - 11 against Grubnic in prior events. Lucas is out of the gate first and then started to smoke the tires and then drives through it dropping cylinders all the way down the track, but was able to chase Grubnic down when he started to haze the tires. It appeared that Grubnic's car popped right in the lights. Morgan Lucas' MOV: 0.0444 seconds (approximately 13 feet).

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   22 Doug Kalitta                            4 Shawn Langdon                
E2                   0.039  3.819 326.87     ****WINNER****  0.055  3.799 324.67
 Prior rounds:
E1    (B Force     ) 0.100  3.785 326.87      (B Vandergrif) 0.055  3.743 324.51
 Qualified:             #3  3.780 324.83                        #6  3.797 321.96

Langdon is 7 - 5 against Kalitta in prior events. Kalitta is out of the gate first and the lead until around 1/8 of mile where Langdon chases him down for the win. Shawn Langdon's MOV: 0.0047 seconds (approximately 2 feet). Langdon with the quickest pass of the round for the win and will have lane choice in the semifinal over Brown. Kalitta with the second quickest pass of the round in the losing effort.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink