Sun, Oct 11, 05:01 PM MEMPHIS - Top Fuel Round 1 Eliminations

By Dave Rowe

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Top Fuel at the 11th annual Pennzoil Nationals presented by AutoZone:

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   8 Kenny Bernstein     4.684 299.93  Q   9 Doug Herbert        4.695 307.23
 *****WINNER***** 0.476  5.781 305.81 E1                  0.542  6.461 171.25

11:10 AM; We start off the first round with a pedaling battle. Bernstein goes up in smoke right off the line, while Herbert follows about 330' out. Both drivers pedal, but Bernstein gets traction first and runs him down.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   6 Bruce Sarver        4.672 306.05  Q  11 Jim Head            4.722 305.01
 *****WINNER***** 0.460  4.670 314.17 E1                  0.488  8.494 100.23

Head boils the Goodyears on the launch, pedals and hits the throttle again. Sarver makes a nice run, but loses a cylinder just before the finish line.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   5 Gary Scelzi         4.671 302.08  Q  12 Bob Vandergriff     4.723 308.28
 *****WINNER***** 0.507  4.614 313.51 E1                  0.515  5.121 212.63

...and we're back after a short cleanup. Both cars leave with no traction problems. Scelzi's run was perfect, Vandergriff with a small explosion at the 1000' mark.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   3 Joe Amato           4.619 314.97  Q  14 Steve Smith         4.770 287.66
 *****WINNER***** 0.484  4.666 316.08 E1                  1.031 14.641  69.41

I'm not sure what happened with Smith on the start, Amato looked great, flames even all the way through the finish.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   1 Mike Dunn           4.593 315.93  Q  16 Terry Mullins       4.796 258.62
                  0.508  4.795 299.40 E1 *****WINNER***** 0.486  4.701 314.53

A stunning upset, Mullins gets the holeshot and increased the lead all the way down the track. Both dragsters looked good, Dunn maybe having too soft a setup. Mullins gets lane choice over Bernstein next round.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   4 Cory McClenathan    4.623 312.78  Q  13 Doug Kalitta        4.751 300.93
 *****WINNER***** 0.496  4.572 311.56 E1                  0.472  4.779 299.06

Cory takes no chances against Kalitta, running low ET of the weekend. Both drivers made picture-perfect runs.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   2 Larry Dixon         4.597 315.71  Q  15 Shelly Anderson     4.795 283.07
                  0.523 16.831  37.72 E1 *****WINNER***** 0.517  4.798 254.47

Back after another short cleanup, Dixon in the lane of choice, the left. Shelly makes a good pass, almost as good as her last qualifying pass yesterday. Dixon leaves the line, strikes the tires, then the engine explodes in a huge ball of flame, throwing parts all over the track, all before the car goes 100'. We're down for another cleanup.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   7 Tony Schumacher     4.681 293.09  Q  10 Eddie Hill          4.703 304.12
 *****WINNER***** 0.479  4.698 308.99 E1                  0.512  6.268 278.17

We're back after the cleanup with the last pair of the round. Hill launches, strikes the tires, pedals and gets back on the throttle. It's too late for him, as Schumacher never misses a beat. In the next round we have Mullins with lane choice over Bernstein, Cory Mac with lane choice over Scelzi, Schumacher with lane choice over Anderson and Amato with lane choice over Sarver.