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POMONA, Calif. (Nov. 4, 2007) – In what was a roller coaster season for Rod Fuller and the Caterpillar Top Fuel team, it was indeed a roller coaster day for the six-time NHRA Top Fuel winner Sunday at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. Fuller and his David Powers-owned team fell in round one and came up 19 points shy of earning the 2007 NHRA POWERade Top Fuel title.
After a tense qualifying outing where Fuller didn’t qualify the CAT car until the third qualifying session, he was matched up against Bob Vandergriff, Jr. for the sixth time this season after qualifying 11th. Fuller used a solid .059 of-a-second reaction time, but the Caterpillar dragster lost traction instantly and slowed to a pass of 10.998 seconds. Vandergriff cruised the UPS car to a pass of 4.540 seconds at 331.28 mph to earn the win light. He went on to post the 12th runner-up finish of his career on Sunday evening. With Tony Schumacher’s six victory of the season, Fuller finished second in the Countdown to 1. Under the old NHRA points system, Fuller would have earned the championship by 139 points over Larry Dixon.
“It was a tough day, but I guess it just wasn’t meant to be,” Fuller said. “Yes, we’re disappointed, but we had a great season. We won three races, had four poles, won the Technicoat Shootout and the Las Vegas race at my home track. It really was a dream season for everything that we had to endure along with signing CAT, which probably was our highlight of the year. We’ll come back strong next year and be a major player in the CAT car.”
The 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series begins, Feb. 7-10, 2008, at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona .
R1 Vandergriff (.049) 4.540 ET, 331.28 MPH def. FULLER (.059) 10.998 ET, 78.01 MPH
FULLER SUFFERS RARE EARLY LOSS AT POMONA , FINISHES SECOND IN STANDINGS
POMONA, Calif. (Nov. 4, 2007) – In what was a roller coaster season for Rod Fuller and the Caterpillar Top Fuel team, it was indeed a roller coaster day for the six-time NHRA Top Fuel winner Sunday at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. Fuller and his David Powers-owned team fell in round one and came up 19 points shy of earning the 2007 NHRA POWERade Top Fuel title.
After a tense qualifying outing where Fuller didn’t qualify the CAT car until the third qualifying session, he was matched up against Bob Vandergriff, Jr. for the sixth time this season after qualifying 11th. Fuller used a solid .059 of-a-second reaction time, but the Caterpillar dragster lost traction instantly and slowed to a pass of 10.998 seconds. Vandergriff cruised the UPS car to a pass of 4.540 seconds at 331.28 mph to earn the win light. He went on to post the 12th runner-up finish of his career on Sunday evening. With Tony Schumacher’s six victory of the season, Fuller finished second in the Countdown to 1. Under the old NHRA points system, Fuller would have earned the championship by 139 points over Larry Dixon.
“It was a tough day, but I guess it just wasn’t meant to be,” Fuller said. “Yes, we’re disappointed, but we had a great season. We won three races, had four poles, won the Technicoat Shootout and the Las Vegas race at my home track. It really was a dream season for everything that we had to endure along with signing CAT, which probably was our highlight of the year. We’ll come back strong next year and be a major player in the CAT car.”
The 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series begins, Feb. 7-10, 2008, at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona .
R1 Vandergriff (.049) 4.540 ET, 331.28 MPH def. FULLER (.059) 10.998 ET, 78.01 MPH
