Sun, 8 Oct 2000, 05:06 PM MEMPHIS - Top Fuel Round 3 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

MILLINGTON, Tenn. - Results of round 3 eliminations in Top Fuel at the 13th annual AutoZone Nationals presented by Pennzoil:

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   4 Gary Scelzi         4.604 311.85  Q   16 Rhonda Hartman-Smi  5.174 203.89
   (L Novelli   ) 0.516  4.601 312.42  E1   (T Schumacher) 0.547 10.894  73.89
   (M Troxel    ) 0.463  4.645 305.70  E2   (B Vandergrif) 0.478  4.810 297.68
 *****WINNER***** 0.485  4.630 305.84  E3                  0.490 17.312  61.82

3:54 PM Hartman-Smith's charmed life came to an end here, her rear tires enveloped in dense white smoke as soon as she hit the throttle. Meanwhile, Scelzi and "Big Red" sailed right down the groove on a string-straight pass with no tire smoke and no signs of engine damage.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   3 Doug Kalitta        4.598 313.07  Q   10 Larry Dixon         4.675 303.71
   (B Baldwin   ) 0.497  6.497 133.91  E1   (D Grubnic   ) 0.484  4.668 305.98
   (C McClenatha) 0.503  4.620 308.64  E2   (J Amato     ) 0.468  4.743 274.39
                  0.497  4.699 260.01  E3 *****WINNER***** 0.473  4.709 299.53

Dixon got a holeshot win here, but only because Kalitta's engine expired in a ball of flame as he passed the 1,000-foot marker. The margin of victory = 0.014 seconds (approximately 5 feet). That's a payback for Sonoma, where Kalitta defeated Dixon on a holeshot in the final round. However, Dixon loses lane choice to Scelzi in this final round.