HEBRON, Ohio - SUMMIT FastNews - Results of round 1 eliminations
in Top Fuel at the NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series, 39th annual Pontiac Excitement Nationals
presented by Summit
Racing:
W/L Driver RT ET Speed
(W) Doug Herbert (Snap-On Tools Dragster) 0.049 4.703 299.06
(L) John Smith (Prestone Dragster) 0.051 5.004 269.29
11:21 AM Current weather conditions: 73 degrees,67 percent
relative humidity, the
barometer 30.14 inches, with a track temperature of 91 degrees.We're
just a bit behind
schedule because of an accident during the first round of Top Alcohol
Dragster eliminations.
Doug Herbert, who has won this event twice during his career, came into
this race with a 2-1
edge over John Smith. He extended that to 3-1, but it was an expensive
win. Smith took the
lead almost immediately, but started smoking the tires as he neared half
track and Herbert went
by and pulled away on a strong run, clocked at 3.170 seconds and 265.27
mph at half track.
Smith pedaled and lost traction again and may have hurt the engine, the
header flames getting
very orange. The major engine damage, however, came as Herbert neared
the finish line, his
engine erupting in flames, the supercharger sitting crooked as he tried
to stop the Snap-On
Tools dragster. Herbert went across the road, but stopped short of the
sand pit.
(W) Scott Weis (RaceGirl Dragster) 0.068 4.911 245.05
(L) Kenny Bernstein (Budweiser King Dragster) 0.072 7.166 113.59
Bernstein held a 4-0 advantage over Weis in races prior to today.
Both teams struggled a
bit during qualifying, Bernstein with just one full pass in two runs,
losing the third when an
electrical gremlin kept the engine from firing. Weis also only had one
full pass in two tries,
skipping the third session. Upset city! Weis broke Bernstein's shutout
when the Budweiser
dragster lost traction about 100 feet out, gaining a big enough margin
to coast home the winner
when Weis' car spit out the blower belt on the top end , running a
mid-seventies pace up to that
point.
(W) Cory McClenathan (N.Y. Yankees/Berryman Drag0.078 4.616 324.12
(L) David Baca (American Racing Dragster) 0.097 4.656 314.02
Former teammates Baca and McClenathan have raced each other just
once before, Cory Mac
winning that one. It was a good race, but Cory Mac had the starting
line advantage and never
gave it up. Baca closed the gap on the first half of the run, but
dropped a cylinder and
McClenathan slowly pulled away for the win. Cory McClenathan's
incremental margins:
60ft(0.035), 330 ft(0.017), 660ft(0.018), 1,000ft(0.037). MOV: 0.0596
seconds (approximately
27 feet).
(W) Darrell Russell (Bilstein Eng. Flush Dragste0.062 4.640 311.49
(L) Rhonda Hartman-Smith (Fram Filters Dragster)0.083 6.077 158.43
Russell held a 2-1 edge over Hartman-Smith coming into this race.
He did well here in Top
Alcohol Dragster, by the way, the winner in 1996 and runner-up in 1997.
Joe Amato's birthday is
this weekend, so a win would be a nice birthday present for Joe. Still
sporting the new
one-piece body, Russell's car went right down the groove while
Hartman-Smith's struck the tires
about 200 feet out and was never in it after that.
(W) Jim Head (Head Racing Dragster) 0.072 4.587 321.12
(L) Josh Starcher (Colhart M'Sports Dragster) 0.100 5.041 214.62
"The kid against the veteran," this was the first time Starcher
and Head have faced each
other in eliminations. Head gave the youngster a lesson today, leaving
first and steadily
pulling away over the first half of the run. It appeared that something
went wrong on
Starcher's dragster on the top end because the car nosed over abruptly,
slowing from a
half-track speed of 259.71 mph. Head posted our first 4.50s elapsed
time of the day and will
have lane choice against Russell next round.
(W) Larry Dixon (Miller Lite Dragster) 0.084 4.535 326.32
(L) Bruce Litton (Lucas Oil Dragster) 0.074 4.650 306.26
Larry Dixon won this event the last two years and had a chance to
become the only driver
to win it three times in a row, holding a 5-0 record against Litton
during their careers.
Litton was away first and turned in his best run of the weekend, by
two-tenths of a second, in
fact it was a career-best elapsed time, but Dixon wasn't far behind on
the launch and led from
the 60-foot timer, running low elapsed time of eliminations (so far).
He will have lane choice
against Cory McClenathan next round.
(W) Tony Schumacher (U.S. Army Dragster) 0.068 4.547 324.44
(L) Paul Romine (CARQUEST Auto Parts Dragster) 0.041 4.580 318.09
Schumacher held a 4-3 edge over Romine in prior meetings, but
Romine came very close to
putting a win in his column with a great effort here. Romine tattooed
Schumacher at the tree
and led all the way to the 1,000-foot marker before Schumacher edged by
for the win. .Tony
Schumacher's incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.016), 330
ft(-0.022),
660ft(-0.016), 1,000ft(-0.004). MOV: 0.0069 seconds (approximately 3
feet). Schumacher will
have lane choice against Scott Weis next round.
(W) Doug Kalitta (MAC Tools Dragster) 0.066 4.552 324.98
(L) Chris Karamesines (Chizler Dragster) -0.215(R) 4.943 252.76
This is only the second time Doug Kalitta has faced Karamesines,
but "Bounty Hunter versus
Chizler" match races were fixtures in this part of the country during
the sixties, so Connie
Kalitta has a long track record against Doug's first-round opponent. To
put that in
perspective, Don Garlits was running "Swamp Rat IV" in those days.
Karamesines competed in Top
Fuel at the inaugural event here, in 1965 (at age 35), and was runner-up
to Maynard Rupp that
year. Karamesines was a big underdog and knew it, taking a shot at the
tree and missing. It
probably didn't matter, Kalitta's car went right down the groove.
Kalitta will have lane choice
against Herbert in the second round.
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