Fri, 18 Mar 2005, 08:35 PM Top Fuel Qualifying Notes, Session #2

By Rick Green

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Notes from round 2 qualifying in Top Fuel at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 36th annual MAC Tools NHRA Gatornationals 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:

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Left Lane: Luigi Novelli No Time, Now #16; Best prior run: 11.500/82.97, Was #16
Right Lane: Chris Karamesines No Time, Now #19; No Prior Run

7:43 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 60 degrees, relative humidity 51 percent, barometer 29.94 inches, adjusted altitude 152 feet, track temperature 54 degrees.

Two veteran drivers lead off the next-to-last session of racing today, Novelli 62 and Hall-of-Famer Karamesines 74. Karamesines was unable to get into reverse after his burnout, so Novelli made a solo pass. Novelli's car kept drifting right and took out the half-track timing reflectors, finishing his run in the right lane. Oh-for-two.

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Left Lane: Bruce Litton Runs 5.888/148.00, Now #9; Best prior run: 10.541/76.52, Was #12
Right Lane: Andrew Cowin Runs 14.987/77.78, Now #17; Best prior run: 12.287/68.98, Was #17

Cowin was up in smoke immediately. Litton got about to half track, the car started to move around, and he lifted.

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Left Lane: Morgan Lucas Runs 4.835/219.03, Now #9; Best prior run: 10.248/79.49, Was #12
Right Lane: Brandon Bernstein Runs 4.551/325.85, Now #5; Best prior run: 11.234/68.09, Was #15

Lucas shut off around half track, the reason not evident in the darkness. bernstein's car wandered around a bit, but the header flames were steady all the way through the lights.

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Left Lane: Scott Weis Runs 11.595/71.23, Now #13; Best prior run: 10.012/97.03, Was #13
Right Lane: Rod Fuller Runs 10.803/80.63, Now #15; Best prior run: 10.773/81.06, Was #15

Both drivers launched, shook, and shut off.

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Left Lane: Tony Schumacher Runs 7.221/100.89, Now #11; Best prior run: 5.396/171.72, Was #10
Right Lane: David Baca Runs 4.805/222.05, Now #9; Best prior run: 10.746/75.38, Was #14

Schumacher's car headed for the centerline and he had to shut it off. Baca was on a strong pass to half track, then fireballed the engine. David Baca's incremental times: 60ft-0.822 sec., 330ft-2.111, 660ft-3.028/270.67mph, 1,000ft-3.878. We'll be down for a few minutes while the Safety Safari works on getting oil off the cold track.

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Left Lane: Doug Herbert Runs 10.711/85.31, Now #9; Best prior run: 4.774/225.67, Was #8
Right Lane: Scott Kalitta Runs 4.592/326.20, Now #6; Best prior run: 9.685/71.07, Was #13

Herbert lost traction early in the run. Kalitta made a nice-looking run, the car perhaps tamed down a bit to better negotiate the tightrope masquerading as a groove tonight. Scott Kalitta's incremental times: 60ft-0.858 sec., 330ft-2.191, 660ft-3.123/270.43mph, 1,000ft-3.909.

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Left Lane: Clay Millican Runs 4.731/267.22, Now #8; Best prior run: 4.677/308.95, Was #8

This run looked very good to about 1,000 feet, then the engine let go in a green flash followed by a ball of flame.

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Left Lane: Larry Dixon Runs 9.508/88.03, Now #4; Best prior run: 4.543/326.56, Was #4
Right Lane: Cory McClenathan Runs 8.194/84.79, Now #3; Best prior run: 4.506/331.00, Was #3

Amazingly, despite the big fireball, there was no oil to clean up. That left the top four cars - two pairs - all having one very good run already on the books. These two both had problems finding traction early in the run and shut off.

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Left Lane: Doug Kalitta Runs 4.514/321.42, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.488/325.14, Was #2
Right Lane: David Grubnic Runs 9.544/84.17, Now #1; Best prior run: 4.481/331.85, Was #1

Last pair, then the Pro Modifieds Grubnic lost traction, pedaled, lost traction again, and lifted. Kalitta ran it all the way through, a nice run, but no improvement.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink