Sun, 12 Sep 2021, 11:26 AM Top Fuel Round 1 Eliminations

By Rick Green

MOHNTON, Pa. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Top Fuel at the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series, 36th annual Mopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals presented by Pennzoil:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    2 Doug Kalitta                            7 Justin Ashley                
E1                   0.065  3.768 321.81     ****WINNER****  0.067  3.703 328.62
 Qualified:             #9  3.743 325.69                        #6  3.721 328.78

Weather conditions: air temperature 74 degrees, relative humidity 74 percent, barometer 30.12 inches, adjusted altitude 2,027 feet, track temperature 95 degrees.

Justin Ashley is 4 - 3 against Doug Kalitta. This is the 7th time this year Doug Kalitta has started from the bottom half of the field.

Kalitta with a couple ticks on the tree, but Ashley has the lead as they go past the Christmas tree. He never trails from there on for the win. He runs his quickest pass of the weekend for the win.

Justin Ashley's MOV: 0.0632 seconds (approximately 30 feet).

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   25 Clay Millican                        1301 Doug Foley                   
E1   ****WINNER****  0.222  3.698 325.45                     0.324  3.861 287.41
 Qualified:             #3  3.696 322.65                       #12  3.856 297.55

Clay Millican wins 69% of his rd. 1 races when he has lane choice. Doug Foley's first start in TF was here in 2005.

Foley is 3 - 2 against Millican in prior events.

Millican with the starting line advantage and never trailed for the win. Millican is just a couple ticks off his qualifying time for the win. Millican will have lane choice over Ashley in the next round.

Foley with a good clean pass in the losing effort.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
        Bye                                 745 Brittany Force               
E1                                            ****WINNER****  0.074  3.655 333.49
 Qualified:                                                       #1  3.660 334.07

Brittany Force's 29 #1 spot are 10th most in TF history. This is her seventh #1 in a row and she is the first TF driver to have qualified #1 in same season seven times in a row.

Force launched hard and kept it hitting on all eight to make the quickest pass of the event. Brittany Force's incremental times: 60ft-0.816 sec., 330ft-2.077, 660ft-2.937/293.03 mph.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  333 Shawn Langdon                        7211 Mike Salinas                 
E1   ****WINNER****  0.051  3.751 318.54                     0.095  3.750 304.32
 Qualified:            #11  3.813 321.27                        #4  3.699 332.18

Mike Salinas wins 52% of his rd. 1 races and that's his best percentage for any round.

Langdon is 2 - 1 against Salinas in prior events.

Langdon with the starting line advantage and never trailed for the hole shot win. Shawn Langdon's MOV: 0.0434 seconds (approximately 19 feet).

Salinas pitched a blower right in the lights.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   77 Josh Hart                               3 Billy Torrence               
E1                   0.050  3.781 292.84     ****WINNER****  0.095  3.721 328.78
 Qualified:            #10  3.756 322.65                        #5  3.699 327.98

Billy Torrence is 46 - 21 (69%) in the first round.

This is the first time Hart and Torrence have faced each other in eliminations.

Hart with the starting line advantage and the lead until the car went silent. Torrence drove by and took the win. Billy Torrence's MOV: 0.0152 seconds (approximately 7 feet). He will have lane choice over Langdon in the next round.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  171 Joe Morrison                            1 Steve Torrence               
E1                   0.084  6.108 103.62     ****WINNER****  0.107  3.716 328.22
 Qualified:            #13  4.027 249.90                        #2  3.692 327.19

In the last 5 years Steve Torrence is 86 - 9 (91%) in round 1. Joe Morrison is making his 10th start.

Torrence is 1 - 0 against Morrison in prior events.

Morrison with the starting line advantage, but lost traction early and clicked it off.

Torrence is straight down the groove for the win. He will have a bye in the next round.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  777 Leah Pruett                             5 Antron Brown                 
E1   ****WINNER****  0.063  3.930 279.44                     0.053  5.755 121.47
 Qualified:             #8  3.733 323.89                        #7  3.731 329.34

Antron Brown is 17 - 13 against Leah Pruett but only 1 - 6 against her in the first round.

Brown with the starting line advantage, but lost traction by 330 feet. Pruett has the lead and then she started to smoke the tires. She just stayed on the throttle, smoking the tires all the way down the track. She will give up lane choice to Force in the next round.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink

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