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Mother nature finally cooperated enough to give Top Fuel driver "Hot Rod" Fuller a shot at adding another Wally to his growing trophy collection this weekend at Maple Grove Raceway.
After only three rounds of qualifying, shortened from four due a persistent drizzle falling on the racing surface Saturday, Fuller's Friday quarter-mile pass of 4.518-seconds and 328.78 mph put him third in the 15-car field.
Fuller's first round opponent in Sunday eliminations was Doug Herbert, who Fuller has defeated twice in match-ups earlier in this season.
"Doug has been down on his luck a bit this year," Fuller said. "It's guys like that you really have to be on your guard with. We had top speed after the first round of qualifying and I knew he'd be out to get us."
As it turned out, Fuller sent Herbert packing for the third time this year, stopping the quarter-mile timer at 4.582-seconds and 328.46-mph. Herbert's car struck the tires at half-track putting an early end to his day.
Melanie Troxel took the nod to race Fuller in the second round of eliminations after she beat Larry Dixon's tire-smoking machine. Because of her quicker E.T., Troxel gained lane-choice, deciding to take the more popular left lane.
"We had our work cut out for us," Fuller said. "The track just couldn't hold all of that Lee Beard power and started to spin the tires at half track. We gave it what we thought it could take but it was just a little too much."
Still, Fuller drove the Valvoline/David Powers Homes Top Fuel dragster to a respectable 311.56-mph in 4.570-seconds to the winning Troxel's 325.53-mph in 4.536-seconds.
Fuller drops back to sixth place in POWERade points with three events left in the 2006 season.
The team heads to the Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals next week in Richmond, Va.
Fuller Takes Vavoline Car to Second Round at Maple Grove
Mother nature finally cooperated enough to give Top Fuel driver "Hot Rod" Fuller a shot at adding another Wally to his growing trophy collection this weekend at Maple Grove Raceway.
After only three rounds of qualifying, shortened from four due a persistent drizzle falling on the racing surface Saturday, Fuller's Friday quarter-mile pass of 4.518-seconds and 328.78 mph put him third in the 15-car field.
Fuller's first round opponent in Sunday eliminations was Doug Herbert, who Fuller has defeated twice in match-ups earlier in this season.
"Doug has been down on his luck a bit this year," Fuller said. "It's guys like that you really have to be on your guard with. We had top speed after the first round of qualifying and I knew he'd be out to get us."
As it turned out, Fuller sent Herbert packing for the third time this year, stopping the quarter-mile timer at 4.582-seconds and 328.46-mph. Herbert's car struck the tires at half-track putting an early end to his day.
Melanie Troxel took the nod to race Fuller in the second round of eliminations after she beat Larry Dixon's tire-smoking machine. Because of her quicker E.T., Troxel gained lane-choice, deciding to take the more popular left lane.
"We had our work cut out for us," Fuller said. "The track just couldn't hold all of that Lee Beard power and started to spin the tires at half track. We gave it what we thought it could take but it was just a little too much."
Still, Fuller drove the Valvoline/David Powers Homes Top Fuel dragster to a respectable 311.56-mph in 4.570-seconds to the winning Troxel's 325.53-mph in 4.536-seconds.
Fuller drops back to sixth place in POWERade points with three events left in the 2006 season.
The team heads to the Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals next week in Richmond, Va.
