Sat, 1 Jun 2002, 04:55 PM Top Fuel Round 1 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

DINWIDDIE, Va. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Top Fuel at the Hooters IHRA Drag Racing Series, 2nd annual ACDelco Nationals presented by Chevrolet:

Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   5 Louie Allison       4.915 298.73  Q    4 Paul Romine         4.900 289.94
                  0.449  5.172 274.78  E1 *****WINNER***** 0.432  4.959 288.89

2:54 PM Right now there's a big, puffy cloud shading the track. It's 95 degrees, but only 39 percent relative humidity (it feels worse). Romine smoked the tires in the time trial around noon today, Allison didn't make a run. Looks like Romine's team learned from the time trial because his car was "soft and safe," smoothly down the groove and steadily pulling away from Allison.

Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   6 Jack Ostrander      5.084 295.85  Q    3 Josh Starcher       4.825 300.60
                  0.523  5.244 247.75  E1 *****WINNER***** 0.538  5.192 246.62

Veteran versus rookie, and the rookie gets the win light. This one was close all the way, Starcher opening a few hundredths of a second advantage early and then holding it all the way to the line. Ostrander was closing on the top end, but it looked like his engine gave up around the 1,000-foot marker. MOV: 0.0375 seconds (approximately 14 feet).

Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   8 Roger Dean          5.141 284.75  Q    1 Bruce Litton        4.747 308.43
                  0.533  7.826 108.30  E1 *****WINNER***** 0.530  4.946 283.31

Dean had dead cylinders on both sides of the engine and shook the tires. He pedaled it, to no avail. Meanwhile, Litton pedaled it a couple of times and made it work, getting the win light and lane choice against Romine in the semifinals.

Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   7 Donald Reed         5.105 232.87  Q    2 Clay Millican       4.818 299.66
                  0.543 15.194  69.17  E1 *****WINNER***** 0.508  5.022 274.61

Since his trouble-plagued outing here, Reed has shown 4.80s performance and Millican's team could take nothing for granted here. Millican made a test run earlier today, with a puff of smoke at 400 feet, Reed skipped the time trials. Reed went up in smoke at the hit, while Millican made a soft launch (a 0.915 60-foot well off his usual short times) and sailed right down the middle of the groove, earning lane choice against Starcher in the semifinals.