Sun, 7 Oct 2001, 05:40 PM READING - Top Fuel Round 2 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

MOHNTON, Pa. - Results of round 2 eliminations in Top Fuel at the 17th annual Pep Boys NHRA Nationals presented by Greased Lightning:

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   9 Rhonda Hartman-Smi  4.642 316.23  Q    1 Mike Dunn           4.494 320.97
   (A Cowin     ) 0.520  4.591 317.42  E1                  0.521 11.825  80.15
                  0.482  4.792 255.39  E2 *****WINNER***** 0.503  4.498 329.67

1:20 PM It's 51 degrees, 48 percent relative humidity, 30.13 inches of mercury, and partly cloudy. No surprises this time around, Dunn with another forty and Hartman with a faltering engine on the top end.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   3 Doug Kalitta        4.498 323.19  Q   11 Scott Weis          4.665 307.37
   (B Lagana Jr ) 0.536  4.655 317.87  E1   (D Russell   ) 0.467  4.564 316.67
                  0.533  7.173 125.47  E2 *****WINNER***** 0.505  5.358 175.18

Weis needed luck this time around, Kalitta up in smoke and then watching as Weis lost traction on the top end and then slowed with a missing blower belt. But a win is a win...

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   5 Tony Schumacher     4.523 333.08  Q    4 Gary Scelzi         4.513 316.90
   (J Cavalieri ) 0.535  4.639 308.07  E1   (S Smith     ) 0.478  4.527 315.71
                  0.487  6.553 200.56  E2 *****WINNER***** 0.469  5.186 260.76

Our two most-recent Winston champions square off in round two, not your usual course of events. This was a pedaling contest, of sorts, Schumacher losing traction early in the run, then Scelzi losing traction around half track. Schumacher saw Scelzi's tire smoke and pedaled it, but couldn't catch him Scelzi loses lane choice to Dunn in the semifinals.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   7 Larry Dixon         4.570 317.94  Q    2 Kenny Bernstein     4.496 332.18
   (D Herbert   ) 0.492  4.505 326.16  E1   (B Kalivoda  ) 0.495  4.494 327.35
                  0.477  5.410 322.96  E2 *****WINNER***** 0.470  5.411 329.58

Talk about unusual second-round pairings, this is usually at least a semifinals matchup and has huge implications in the points race. Bernstein retains the points lead on a holeshot, his first holeshot win of the year. Bernstein had a razor-slim 0.007 second edge at the starting line and a margin of victory = 0.006 seconds (approximately 3 feet). And he has lane choice against \Weis in the semifinals.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink