Sat, 13 Feb 2016, 16:51 PM Top Fuel Qualifying Notes, Session #3 |
By David Gerard |
POMONA, Calif. - Notes from round 3 qualifying in Top Fuel at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 56th annual Circle K NHRA Winternationals 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:
Left Lane: Steve Faria Runs 5.135/123.88, Now #14; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Scott Palmer Runs 4.089/251.44, Now #13; No Prior Run
12:53 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 79 degrees, relative humidity 31 percent, barometer 28.96 inches, adjusted altitude 2,891 feet, track temperature 105 degrees.
Tony Schumacher is number one at 3.722.
Faria's engine get
very unhappy about 100 feet out and we get a flash and bang right after that. Steve Faria was charged with an oildown, #1 for the
season.
That will cost 5 points and $1K.
Palmer is done early and still picks up over four seconds to move up to the thirteen spot
for now.
Scott Palmer's incremental times: 60ft-0.867 sec., 330ft-2.253, 660ft-3.230/264.34 mph.
Left Lane: Troy Buff Runs 3.843/315.64, Now #12; No Prior Run
Right Lane: J.R. Todd Runs 3.864/319.14, Now #14; No Prior Run
1:03 p.m. Dusting and cleaning is completed and the call goes out to start the engines. We should get a bump spot out this pair.
Two strong passes to tune to and the both run into the mid-eighties. Much better than yesterday's runs.
Troy Buff's incremental times: 60ft-0.852 sec., 330ft-2.166, 660ft-3.077/277.26 mph.
J.R. Todd's incremental times: 60ft-0.849 sec., 330ft-2.181, 660ft-3.105/277.43 mph.
Left Lane: Terry McMillen Runs 4.027/253.61, Now #13; Best prior run: 3.844/313.00, Was #13
Right Lane: Doug Kalitta Runs 3.843/298.73, Now #11; Best prior run: 3.817/321.27, Was #11
Steve Faria is on the bump spot at 5.135.
Both cars get to near the finish line coasting and will stay where they are at on the ladder. Almost a full pass for Kalitta
Terry McMillen's incremental times: 60ft-0.885 sec., 330ft-2.235, 660ft-3.166/271.90 mph.
Doug Kalitta's incremental times: 60ft-0.849 sec., 330ft-2.150, 660ft-3.066/276.46 mph.
Left Lane: Shawn Langdon Runs 3.797/317.72, Now #8; Best prior run: 3.798/319.37, Was #8
Right Lane: Morgan Lucas Runs 3.815/321.35, Now #10; Best prior run: 3.806/318.39, Was #10
A great looking pair of passes. Langdon picks up a thousandth and Lucas runs close to his prior best. They stay in their current spots. Nice for the conditions.
Shawn Langdon's incremental times: 60ft-0.847 sec., 330ft-2.145, 660ft-3.043/282.42 mph.
Morgan Lucas' incremental times: 60ft-0.845 sec., 330ft-2.176, 660ft-3.070/284.39 mph.
Left Lane: Dave Connolly Runs 3.859/279.44, Now #7; Best prior run: 3.791/291.32, Was #7
Right Lane: Leah Pritchett Runs 4.336/187.42, Now #9; Best prior run: 3.804/314.46, Was #9
Pritchett was on a strong pass until the engine starts to drop cylinders before the 660 lights. Right after that the engine goes BOOM!
Connolly was running hard until near the 1000 foot lights and his engine gets unhappy too. The belt leaves the engine and everything gets quiet.
Dave Connolly's incremental times: 60ft-0.848 sec., 330ft-2.159, 660ft-3.064/281.13 mph.
Leah Pritchett's incremental times: 60ft-0.854 sec., 330ft-2.199, 660ft-3.204/228.61 mph.
Left Lane: Antron Brown Runs 3.901/307.79, Now #6; Best prior run: 3.782/315.05, Was #6
Right Lane: Brittany Force Runs 3.800/317.57, Now #5; Best prior run: 3.753/319.52, Was #5
1:17 p.m. Just a short delay to closely check out Pritchett's lane.
Force has all of the numbers except RT and powers on down the track on another strong pass to stay #5.
Brown was away first and chasing hard until right before the lights. The engine lost a cylinder early and blew up big time with a lot of smoke and flames. Antron Brown was charged with an oildown, #1 for the season. That will cost 5 points and $1K.
Antron Brown's incremental times: 60ft-0.859 sec., 330ft-2.195, 660ft-3.119/273.83 mph.
Brittany Force's incremental times: 60ft-0.852 sec., 330ft-2.162, 660ft-3.046/285.41 mph.
Left Lane: Steve Torrence Runs 3.748/323.97, Now #3; Best prior run: 3.750/326.24, Was #4
Right Lane: Clay Millican Runs 3.786/323.12, Now #2; Best prior run: 3.746/324.36, Was #2
1:33 p.m. Lots of cleanup in the left lane.
Another strong pass for Millican to stay number two. Nice!
Torrance gets his power to the ground and picks up ET again on this pass. Best of the session, so far, but no improvement on the ladder.
Steve Torrence's incremental times: 60ft-0.834 sec., 330ft-2.129, 660ft-3.008/288.39 mph.
Clay Millican's incremental times: 60ft-0.844 sec., 330ft-2.141, 660ft-3.040/283.31 mph.
Left Lane: Richie Crampton Runs 3.794/319.22, Now #4; Best prior run: 3.748/322.65, Was #4
Right Lane: Tony Schumacher Runs 3.751/325.22, Now #1; Best prior run: 3.722/323.66, Was #1
Two strong passes to wrap up the session.
They have identical 60 foot times and then Schumacher pulls steadily ahead for the second best time of the session and a big speed.
Crampton is right behind him all the way down and finishes well.
Richie Crampton's incremental times: 60ft-0.841 sec., 330ft-2.146, 660ft-3.043/285.17 mph.
Tony Schumacher's incremental times: 60ft-0.841 sec., 330ft-2.121, 660ft-3.008/286.38 mph.
1:42 p.m. Steve Faria is on the bump spot at 5.135.
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