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Sat, 13 Nov 2004, 07:45 PM

Top Fuel Qualifying Notes, Final Session

By David Gerard

POMONA, Calif. - Notes from final, round 4 qualifying in Top Fuel at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 40th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time/top speed this round, position in order following run, best prior elapsed time/speed, and position in order prior to run:

Left Lane: Cory McClenathan Runs 4.598/319.22, Now #11; Best prior run: 5.432/201.13, Was #22
Right Lane: Joe Hartley Runs 6.754/119.04, Now #23; Best prior run: 7.220/114.32, Was #23

3:52 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 66 degrees, relative humidity 62 percent, barometer 28.86 inches, adjusted altitude 2,001 feet, track temperature 93 degrees.

After watching four nostalgia Top Fuelers run right after Pro Stock, they guys are going to look really fast, but the old style dragsters were much louder on 100% nitro! Ormsby is on the bump with a 4.662 ET. Last chance for all of these guys and McCleanathan shows his class and makes a great pass well into the current field. Hartley smokes the tires and clicks it off.

Left Lane: Mike Strasburg Runs 4.712/309.56, Now #18; Best prior run: 4.867/290.07, Was #21
Right Lane: Mitch King Runs 5.442/188.07, Now #21; Best prior run: 4.794/297.02, Was #20

We are now one car away from a record low qualifying field. Strasburg has been quicker than Cowin's current 4.640 second bump in the past, but not this time. He makes his best run of the weekend, but will not get into this tough field.

King's run is expensive, as once again the car is up in flames at half track. He runs through the lights and down the track trailing flames behind the car. After the finish line, he slowly moves over towards the guard rail and the left slick deflates from the heat. The chassis dragging on the ground grinds the car to a halt and the Safety Safari pulls up and hoses down the still burning engine. He was never in any real danger, but we have a major mess on the track and this will likely take a while to clean up.

Left Lane: Chris Karamesines Runs 5.455/176.30, Now #19; Best prior run: 4.751/304.39, Was #19
Right Lane: Scott Palmer No Time, Now #20; Best prior run: 4.765/301.40, Was #20

4:08 p.m. The sun is starting to drop towards the top of the West Grandstand and the temperature will begin to drop quickly. Palmer shuts off before staging and Karamesines loses the blower belt after mid-track.

Left Lane: Andrew Cowin Runs 6.256/135.39, Now #16; Best prior run: 4.640/314.97, Was #16
Right Lane: Gary Ormsby Jr Runs 4.710/281.19, Now #17; Best prior run: 4.662/288.21, Was #17

Last change to lower the best ever qualifying field record. Nope! Not going to happen. Cowin is up in smoke before mid-track and Ormsby slows on the top end.

Left Lane: John Smith Runs 4.685/305.22, Now #15; Best prior run: 4.615/308.99, Was #15
Right Lane: Doug Herbert Runs 4.632/315.64, Now #14; Best prior run: 4.606/314.46, Was #14

Good side by side pass, but no improvement for either car.

Left Lane: Rhonda Hartman-Smith Runs 8.214/116.80, Now #13; Best prior run: 4.602/320.43, Was #13
Right Lane: Scott Weis Runs 4.694/310.05, Now #12; Best prior run: 4.600/321.12, Was #12

Smith smokes the tires and slows. Weis makes a full pull, but isn't able to improve on his times from earlier today.

Left Lane: Morgan Lucas Runs 4.546/317.49, Now #9; Best prior run: 4.566/320.66, Was #9
Right Lane: Brady Kalivoda Runs 4.640/322.19, Now #10; Best prior run: 4.594/316.30, Was #10

Two good looking passes and Lucas picks up his ET, but will stay in the current #9 spot.

Left Lane: David Grubnic Runs 4.530/307.79, Now #7; Best prior run: 4.522/327.90, Was #7
Right Lane: Larry Dixon Runs 4.555/325.61, Now #8; Best prior run: 4.534/326.16, Was #8

Both cars run well, but don't improve. Grubnic's engine was expiring near the lights. No oil on the track, so no points lost.

Left Lane: Brandon Bernstein Runs 4.517/329.26, Now #5; Best prior run: 4.522/331.77, Was #6
Right Lane: Scott Kalitta Runs 9.325/80.87, Now #4; Best prior run: 4.509/322.34, Was #4

The two red cars run together until Kalitta smokes the tires at the 330 mark. Bernstein continues on down the track and picks up a spot on the ladder with a strong pass. The engine was starting to wheeze near the lights, but still runs over 329 MPH.

Left Lane: Clay Millican Runs 4.588/316.23, Now #6; Best prior run: 4.521/322.04, Was #6
Right Lane: David Baca Runs 4.553/320.51, Now #3; Best prior run: 4.487/327.43, Was #3

Another great looking side by side pass with header flames over the wings. Millican's car noses over near the lights, when the header flames go green. Another sacrifice to the aluminum gods! The Safety Safari is out doing a little dusting and cleaning in the left lane. Baca get's the full pull, but doesn't improve either.

Left Lane: Tony Schumacher Runs 4.491/325.37, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.485/327.11, Was #2
Right Lane: Doug Kalitta Runs 4.484/332.02, Now #1; Best prior run: 4.472/328.62, Was #1

We save the best for last! A great view on the monitor from the Sanyo blimp of the two cars running side by side down the track. This could be the final about this time tomorrow night! Kalitta picks up MPH and will not improve on his #1 ET. Schumacher has another great pass to stay in the number two spot.

4:35 p.m.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink