Sat, 4 Nov 2000, 02:42 PM DALLAS-2 - Top Fuel Round 2 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

ENNIS, Texas - Results of round 2 eliminations in Top Fuel at the 15th annual O'Reilly Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec:

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   1 Gary Scelzi        11.000  16.98  Q    9 Don Lampus         19.000   NS
                  0.470 11.902 115.01  E1   (D Herbert   ) 0.423  4.828 302.01
 *****WINNER***** 0.476  4.805 297.94  E2                  0.477  7.598 104.07

1:10 PM Lampus surprisingly chose the right lane. They left together, but Lampus' clutch came in a bit too hard and he started hazing the tires. Scelzi's car, after immediate tire smoke in round one, was a bit on the soft side, thundering through with a fairly slow run for "Big Red." To add insult and injury to the loss, Lampus' car left an oil trail in the right lane, so he also loses points and money.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   2 Larry Dixon        12.000  14.73  Q   10 David Grubnic      20.000   NS
   (B Walsh     ) 0.494  4.733 297.94  E1   (B Vandergrif) 0.492  4.918 256.70
 *****WINNER***** 0.486  5.039 280.84  E2                  0.475 12.461  73.82

This was a bit of a wild ride for Dixon. Grubnic's car smoked the tires instantly. Dixon's shook, so he pedaled it. That got the front end up, so he pedaled it again. Then he had to keep pedaling to get the front end down and steer away from the centerline.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
  12 Melanie Troxel     22.000   NS    Q    4 Doug Kalitta       14.000  13.22
   (K Bernstein ) 0.481  4.657 322.27  E1   (B Baldwin   ) 0.485  9.650  84.45
 *****WINNER***** 0.449  4.636 325.37  E2                  0.476  4.636 315.12

What a drag race! Kalitta made a very good run, a better than average light and a strong ET, but Melanie had an even better light and an identical ET - and the biggest speed of the year, the best since the 90-percent rule was adopted. Melanie will have lane choice against Scelzi next round.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
  14 Mike Dunn          24.000   NS    Q    6 Cory McClenathan   16.000  11.25
   (J Amato     ) 0.533  4.727 313.88  E1   (R Hartman-Sm) 0.476  4.791 312.13
                  0.528  4.529 320.58  E2 *****WINNER***** 0.467  4.558 322.04

Another one they will be talking about - Dunn runs the quickest run of the year and loses to Cory Mac's holeshot. Both cars went right down the groove, with no false moves. The margin of victory = 0.032 seconds (approximately 15 feet). Cory Mac will have lane choice against Dixon in round two.