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Sun, 06 Sep 2015, 13:53 PM

Top Fuel Qualifying Notes, Session #3

By Larry Sullivan

BROWNSBURG, Ind. - Notes from round 3 qualifying in Top Fuel at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 61st annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. 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:

Right Lane: Luigi Novelli Runs 10.346/82.31, Now #13; No Prior Run

1:06 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 87 degrees, relative humidity 54 percent, barometer 29.20 inches, adjusted altitude 3,525 feet, track temperature 118 degrees.

Novelli "lit 'em up" immediately.

Right Lane: Chris Karamesines Runs 4.900/139.39, Now #13; No Prior Run

Karamesines got about to the 660-foot marker, then there was a flash of flame and the chutes deployed, the supercharger wobbling atop the manifold.

Left Lane: Terry McMillen No Time, Now #21; No Prior Run
Right Lane: T.J. Zizzo Runs 3.942/278.98, Now #13; No Prior Run

McMillen stopped at the end of his burnout and fuel spewed from the car, making a big puddle on the track. The best guess is that a fuel line came loose.

Zizzo made a good run, with a slightly early shutoff. Even so, it's his best run of the event.

T.J. Zizzo's incremental times: 60ft-0.868 sec., 330ft-2.201, 660ft-3.138/273.55 mph.

Left Lane: Kebin Kinsley Runs 6.146/110.30, Now #15; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Khalid alBalooshi Runs 6.987/84.20, Now #16; No Prior Run

The information for alBalooshi's oildown yesterday was erroneous. Prior oildowns for the same team count, so it was the third for the team, 15 points instead of five.

Good launches in both lanes, then shake and tire smoke.

Left Lane: Doug Kalitta Runs 4.002/266.42, Now #14; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Antron Brown Runs 4.031/256.70, Now #12; Best prior run: 3.868/318.69, Was #12

Kalitta hazed the tires on the top end, Brown did the same, in this rerun of the Traxxas Top Fuel Shootout yesterday. Kalitta won this one, but Brown won when the money was on the line yesterday.

Left Lane: Wayne Newby Runs 4.387/189.36, Now #15; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Clay Millican Runs 5.877/112.33, Now #17; No Prior Run

Millican won in the "wacky" Shootout first round yesterday, but his ET was not in the top twelve (he was 13th) and he has to start over today.

Both hazed the tires, both coasted across the stripe. Newby got farther before starting to coast, he's in for now. Millican may have lost the blower belt, has one shot left to get into the field.

Chris Karamesines is on the bump spot at 4.900.

Left Lane: Richie Crampton Runs 3.892/305.15, Now #13; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Leah Pritchett Runs 4.730/163.39, Now #11; Best prior run: 3.840/320.66, Was #11

Crampton made his best run of the event and the quickest so far in this session. Pritchett lost traction near the 330-foot marker and she shut it off. Crampton dropped a cylinder or two on the top end and shredded the blower belt in the lights, but he got the job done.

Left Lane: Pat Dakin Runs 4.469/179.28, Now #10; Best prior run: 3.817/319.75, Was #10
Right Lane: Shawn Langdon Runs 3.913/299.53, Now #8; Best prior run: 3.806/319.29, Was #8

Dakin spun and shut off before the 660-foot mark. Langdon had a dead cylinder from the start, but kept it running all the way to the stripe. Neither driver improved.

Left Lane: Tony Schumacher Runs 3.897/321.58, Now #9; Best prior run: 3.812/322.88, Was #9
Right Lane: Brittany Force Runs 6.563/90.21, Now #7; Best prior run: 3.798/319.60, Was #7

Force rattled the tires and lifted. Schumacher made a full pass, quickest of the session.

Brittany Force's incremental times: 60ft-0.866 sec., 330ft-2.355, 660ft-4.215/112.37 mph.

Left Lane: Morgan Lucas Runs 5.679/93.83, Now #6; Best prior run: 3.795/320.13, Was #6
Right Lane: J.R. Todd Runs 5.743/118.11, Now #5; Best prior run: 3.795/323.58, Was #5

Both cars lost traction past the 330-foot marker.

Left Lane: Billy Torrence Runs 4.583/160.65, Now #2; Best prior run: 3.771/323.58, Was #2
Right Lane: Dave Connolly Runs 5.887/112.54, Now #4; Best prior run: 3.793/323.58, Was #4

Looks like a replay loop. The chutes deployed on Torrence's car before he started smoking the tires. Connolly lost traction around 330 feet, so he slowed.

Left Lane: Larry Dixon Runs 3.933/268.12, Now #1; Best prior run: 3.744/326.00, Was #1
Right Lane: Steve Torrence Runs 3.958/310.84, Now #3; Best prior run: 3.778/326.08, Was #3

That looked better, both cars under power most of the way, with raw fuel from Dixon's headers before the speed trap.

That is the end of this mid-day exercise, not spectacular numbers, but lots of notes in the crew chiefs' notebooks for tomorrow's eliminations.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink