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J.R. Todd and Dexter Tuttle's SKULL Shine/Torco Racing Fuels Top Fuel dragster team had the category's quickest car for most of the Torco Racing Fuels Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park. But lost traction and tire smoke in the semifinals robbed the team of a second consecutive NHRA POWERade Series final round appearance in Sunday's eliminations.
With Jimmy Walsh doing a masterful job of tuning the 8,000-horsepower dragster, Todd ran 4.516 seconds at 324.05 mph to defeat Bobby Lagana's 5.662 at 160.98 mph and followed with a 4.541 at 318.17 lap to beat Melanie Troxel's 4.625 at 300.40.
Todd and semifinal foe Rod Fuller each experienced tire spin and smoke at the hit of the throttle but Fuller's car recovered first and he won with a 5.540 at 269.73 to Todd's 9.834 at 90.07.
"The track was going away," said Todd, who began the day from the No. 2 qualifying position. "It was disappointing because we hate to give away a race like that, but at least we got to the semifinals. The car ran like it was on rails all weekend.
"I think we had the car to beat this weekend . . . that's for sure."
Walsh said it "looked like the track (traction) went away. I didn't really change anything (from the quarterfinal run)."
Todd remained in 10th place with 956 points with only two races remaining - at Las Vegas, Oct. 27-29, and Pomona, Calif., Nov. 9-12.
J.R. Todd Reaches Semifinals at Torco Racing Fuels Nationals
J.R. Todd and Dexter Tuttle's SKULL Shine/Torco Racing Fuels Top Fuel dragster team had the category's quickest car for most of the Torco Racing Fuels Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park. But lost traction and tire smoke in the semifinals robbed the team of a second consecutive NHRA POWERade Series final round appearance in Sunday's eliminations.
With Jimmy Walsh doing a masterful job of tuning the 8,000-horsepower dragster, Todd ran 4.516 seconds at 324.05 mph to defeat Bobby Lagana's 5.662 at 160.98 mph and followed with a 4.541 at 318.17 lap to beat Melanie Troxel's 4.625 at 300.40.
Todd and semifinal foe Rod Fuller each experienced tire spin and smoke at the hit of the throttle but Fuller's car recovered first and he won with a 5.540 at 269.73 to Todd's 9.834 at 90.07.
"The track was going away," said Todd, who began the day from the No. 2 qualifying position. "It was disappointing because we hate to give away a race like that, but at least we got to the semifinals. The car ran like it was on rails all weekend.
"I think we had the car to beat this weekend . . . that's for sure."
Walsh said it "looked like the track (traction) went away. I didn't really change anything (from the quarterfinal run)."
Todd remained in 10th place with 956 points with only two races remaining - at Las Vegas, Oct. 27-29, and Pomona, Calif., Nov. 9-12.
