Sun, 24 Oct 1999, 03:45 PM DALLAS - Top Fuel Round 2 Eliminations

By Ed Dykes

ENNIS, Texas - Results of round 2 eliminations in Top Fuel at the 14th annual O'Reilly Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec:

  
 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
  10 Doug Herbert        4.620 316.78  Q    2 Tony Schumacher     4.557 326.91
   (E Hill      ) 0.499  4.615 311.20  E1   (D Lampus    ) 0.415  4.659 323.85
                  0.452  4.639 315.45  E2 *****WINNER***** 0.476  4.591 319.94

They just don't get much better than this... These two were side-by-side right from the start, and only 11 feet (0.024 seconds) apart at the finish. Can a racer really win the Championship without winning a single race all year long??... Schumacher would rather not find out, and today may just be his day after all.

  
 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   5 Cory McClenathan    4.580 311.74  Q    4 Mike Dunn           4.573 312.60
   (T Gibson    ) 0.502  4.615 314.79  E1   (J Head      ) 0.491  4.608 303.74
                  0.386  9.267  85.29  E2 *****WINNER***** 0.483  4.637 305.08

These two swapped lanes at the last minute, crew chief Ken Veney making the call for the Mopar team. And it looks like he made the right choice, the MBNA car up in smoke right away. Of course, with that red light start by Cory Mac it didn't matter. From the top end, we hear Mike Dunn say that the only thing he doesn't like about the right lane is that the groove is more narrow, and sure enough he got loose on the top end when he drifted around, blistering the rear tires in the process.

  
 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   8 Larry Dixon         4.603 301.20  Q    1 Scott Kalitta       4.546 318.92
   (K Bernstein ) 0.460  4.624 317.12  E1   (M Smith     ) 0.496  4.567 317.01
                  0.506  4.643 312.71  E2 *****WINNER***** 0.465  4.596 310.66

Like the previous pair, these two swapped lanes at the last minute. Connie Kalitta felt that the 'bald spot' was a little smaller in that side, and again his decision paid off. Dixon had the wheels up at the start, and while he was going up the Kitty Hawk car was going away.

  
 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   3 Joe Amato           4.566 319.26  Q    6 Doug Kalitta        4.590 304.87
   (B Vandergrif) 0.458  4.561 324.20  E1   (G Scelzi    ) 0.476  4.554 309.49
                  0.486  4.702 274.64  E2 *****WINNER***** 0.488  4.596 313.47

Connie Kalitta is making these high-dollar crew chiefs look overpaid, coming in this weekend and putting these cars into the semifinals with identical 4.596 e.t.'s. That's a big loss for Amato, and gives the Exide car a 41 point lead in the points battle right now.