Fri, 1 Oct 2004, 06:47 PM Top Fuel Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Dave Rowe

JOLIET, Ill. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Top Fuel at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, Fourth annual CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Left Lane: Tim Gibson Runs 11.815/83.20, Now #2
Right Lane: Gary Ormsby Jr Runs 9.973/81.56, Now #1

4:54 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 73 degrees, relative humidity 55 percent, barometer 29.25 inches, adjusted altitude 1,895 feet, track temperature 94 degrees.

Gibson lost traction right off the line and shut down. Ormsby gets a little further and loses traction.

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Left Lane: Chris Karamesines Runs 4.867/307.16, Now #1
Right Lane: Andrew Cowin Runs 9.692/86.08, Now #2

Cowin goes up in smoke right off the line and clicks it off. Karamesines goes right down the groove and makes a decent pass.

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Left Lane: Luigi Novelli Runs 4.989/241.67, Now #2
Right Lane: Joe Hartley Runs 5.560/169.96, Now #3

Hartley was on a pretty good run, then gets about 700 feet out and loses traction. Novelli got about 1000 feet out, started hazing the tires, then clicked it off.

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Left Lane: T.J. Zizzo Runs 4.697/316.45, Now #1
Right Lane: Bruce Litton Runs 4.761/300.00, Now #2

A couple of pretty good runs here, both right down the groove with all the cylinders hitting.

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Left Lane: Mitch King Runs 8.700/95.20, Now #7
Right Lane: Morgan Lucas Runs 4.818/225.94, Now #3

King struck the tires about 100 feet out and shut down. Lucas lost traction about 400 feet out, made a move toward the center-line and shut down.

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Left Lane: Mike Strasburg Runs 6.648/123.59, Now #7
Right Lane: Brady Kalivoda Runs 10.271/76.90, Now #11

Kalivoda goes up in smoke right off the line and clicks it off. Strasburg makes a move to the right at the hit and tries to correct. The car makes another move, almost crosses the centerline, then he aborts the run.

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Left Lane: Bob Vandergriff Runs 4.615/309.63, Now #1
Right Lane: David Baca Runs 4.647/315.78, Now #2

A good side-by-side, both dragsters right down the groove.

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Left Lane: Clay Millican Runs 4.617/315.34, Now #2
Right Lane: John Smith Runs 5.786/183.27, Now #10

Millican got out of the groove and drifted toward the centerline. He fights it back to the middle and makes a decent pass. Smith lost traction about 200 feet out, pedaled once, then gave up on the run.

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Left Lane: Rhonda Hartman-Smith Runs 9.304/101.25, Now #13
Right Lane: Scott Weis Runs 9.964/83.21, Now #15

Side-by-side tire smoke, they get about 300 feet out and shut down.

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Left Lane: Doug Herbert Runs 5.049/228.81, Now #9
Right Lane: Cory McClenathan Runs 15.096/72.69, Now #20

McClenethan hits the throttle and goes up in smoke. Herbert gets about 500 feet out and loses traction. He pedals a couple of times but never recovers, finally giving up on the run about 700 feet out.

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Left Lane: Larry Dixon Runs 7.574/97.06, Now #13
Right Lane: Scott Kalitta Runs 10.294/79.57, Now #20

Dixon pulls the about a foot off the ground at the hit. He gets about 200 feet out, the wheels come up higher, then he shuts down.

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Left Lane: David Grubnic Runs 10.506/87.22, Now #13
Right Lane: Brandon Bernstein Runs 10.280/82.59, Now #20

Instant tire smoke for both dragsters, both shut down about 100 feet out.

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Left Lane: Doug Kalitta Runs 15.844/71.49, Now #26
Right Lane: Tony Schumacher Runs 14.880/82.72, Now #24

The rain started just after these two fired up their engines. They shut down, waited about ten minutes, then fired back up. Both drivers hit the throttle and go up in smoke.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink