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Fri, 31 Oct 2014, 18:35 PM

Top Fuel Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Rick Green

LAS VEGAS - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Top Fuel at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 14th annual NHRA Toyota Nationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

Left Lane: Noah Stutz Runs 3.970/298.14, Now #1
Right Lane: Kebin Kinsley No Time, Now #2

Noah was a Junior Dragster and Super Comp racer before licensing and racing in one of the Top Fuel Dragster owned by fellow Swiss and multiple FIA European Champion Urs Erbacher. Noah ran a limited schedule in Europe this season and will be racing at Vegas in a car out of the Lagana Racing stable. Noah, aged nineteen, believes that he is the youngest licensed Top Fuel racer on the planet. Stutz with a great looking pass in his NHRA debut straight down the groove. Noah Stutz's incremental times: 60ft-0.868 sec., 330ft-2.232, 660ft-3.181/268.60 mph. Kinsley with trouble getting the car back to the starting line and the crew has to push it back to the staging area and the problems continued and the crew shut him off.

Left Lane: Steve Faria Runs 5.758/112.07, Now #3
Right Lane: T.J. Zizzo Runs 5.036/132.33, Now #2

Faria is mixing up cylinders early and clicks it off. Zizzo's car starts dropping cylinders and then uses up an engine with a quick flash of flames. The word from the top end is there is oil on the track.

Left Lane: Steven Chrisman Runs 5.003/153.58, Now #3
Right Lane: Billy Torrence Runs 4.560/179.18, Now #2

Chrisman had a lot of raw fuel pumping out early and finally clicked it off. Torrence started to haze the tires just before half track and clicked it off.

Left Lane: Larry Dixon Runs 12.276/71.54, Now #7
Right Lane: Troy Buff Runs 3.893/305.63, Now #1

It appeared as Dixon's car broke right at the hit because it didn't move...Buff dropped a cylinder or two, but stayed with it to make the quickest pass of the day. Troy Buff's incremental times: 60ft-0.864 sec., 330ft-2.174, 660ft-3.105/271.52 mph.

Left Lane: Leah Pritchett Runs 3.889/313.66, Now #1
Right Lane: Terry McMillen Runs 5.004/144.75, Now #6

Gumout Performance Additives announced today the expansion of its partnership with young female racer Leah Pritchett and the Dote Racing Top Fuel Dragster team for the 2015 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. She launched hard and was straight down the groove to go to the number one spot. Leah Pritchett's incremental times: 60ft-0.855 sec., 330ft-2.196, 660ft-3.119/275.51 mph. McMillen started to lose traction and clicked it off.

Left Lane: Clay Millican Runs 4.883/150.40, Now #6
Right Lane: Bob Vandergriff Runs 3.988/302.82, Now #4

Millican started to lose traction and clicked it off before he clicked it off. Vandergriff was straight down the groove to get into the top half of the show. Bob Vandergriff's incremental times: 60ft-0.869 sec., 330ft-2.225, 660ft-3.186/262.49 mph.

Left Lane: Richie Crampton Runs 4.042/249.72, Now #6
Right Lane: Brittany Force Runs 3.939/264.34, Now #3

Crampton is dropping cylinders right at the hit and the engine let go with a big fireball. He still gets into the top half of the show. Richie Crampton's incremental times: 60ft-0.859 sec., 330ft-2.187, 660ft-3.153/256.75 mph. Force is running a special Rookie of the Year paint scheme this weekend. Force with a great looking pass until her engine went away with a quick flash of flame. She was the quickest at every incremental of the track in this session. Brittany Force's incremental times: 60ft-0.851 sec., 330ft-2.170, 660ft-3.104/273.33 mph.

Left Lane: Khalid alBalooshi Runs 3.848/313.95, Now #1
Right Lane: Spencer Massey Runs 3.881/320.05, Now #2

This was a great side-by-side drag race with these two going to the top of the list. Khalid alBalooshi's incremental times: 60ft-0.848 sec., 330ft-2.176, 660ft-3.084/279.85 mph.
Spencer Massey's incremental times: 60ft-0.849 sec., 330ft-2.193, 660ft-3.123/276.35 mph.

Left Lane: J.R. Todd Runs 3.955/308.28, Now #6
Right Lane: Antron Brown Runs 6.571/99.35, Now #16

Todd with a good clean pass, stright down the groove to get into the top half of the show. J.R. Todd's incremental times: 60ft-0.862 sec., 330ft-2.209, 660ft-3.165/265.59 mph. Brown loses traction right off the starting line and clicks it off.

Left Lane: Shawn Langdon Runs 3.837/320.66, Now #2
Right Lane: Steve Torrence Runs 3.820/323.04, Now #1

This was a great side-by-side drag race. Torrence launched hard and keep it hooked up to go to the number one spot. Steve Torrence's incremental times: 60ft-0.840 sec., 330ft-2.166, 660ft-3.073/282.48 mph. Langdon was right there with him to go to the number two spot. Shawn Langdon's incremental times: 60ft-0.862 sec., 330ft-2.177, 660ft-3.085/280.49 mph.

Left Lane: Doug Kalitta Runs 3.894/303.37, Now #8
Right Lane: Tony Schumacher Runs 3.784/326.63, Now #1

Kalitta with a good clean pass to start the weekend. Doug Kalitta's incremental times: 60ft-0.847 sec., 330ft-2.187, 660ft-3.111/273.39 mph. Doug Kalitta's incremental times: 60ft-0.847 sec., 330ft-2.187, 660ft-3.111/273.39 mph.
Schumacher launched hard and was straight down the groove to go to the number one spot and three bonus points. Tony Schumacher's incremental times: 60ft-0.839 sec., 330ft-2.144, 660ft-3.043/284.03 mph.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink