POINTS-LEADER FULLER RUNS LOW E.T. OF SATURDAY, QUALIFIES THIRD AT SONOMA
SONOMA, Calif. (July 28, 2007) – After one week in the bottom half of the 16-car order, NHRA points leader Rod Fuller and his David Powers-owned team are back in familiar territory. The five-time NHRA Top Fuel winner qualified third Saturday at Infineon Raceway. It marks the 14th time in 15 races this season that Fuller has qualified third or better.
Entering the day on the outside looking in after mustering a Friday-best pass of 5.364 seconds, Fuller used a tune-up from crew chief Rob Flynn to power the Peterson CAT dragster to low elapsed time of the day. Fuller clocked a run of 4.562 seconds at 323.66 mph to move from 18th to third in the 16-car order. Fuller’s yellow-and-black dragster overpowered the track on his final qualifying attempt. It is the third time that he has qualified in the No. 3 spot this season. Two weeks ago, Fuller won from the third position at the Denver race.
“We were going for No. 1 on our last run,” Fuller said. “We had nothing to lose. We could have run a high 4.50, but we wanted to take a shot. The last time we qualified third and ran the CAT colors, we won at Denver . We definitely can win tomorrow. Our teammates are running well too. We’re working well together and have a shot to get both of these David Powers cars in the final round.”
Fuller will face off against No. 14 qualifier David Grubnic in the first round of eliminations at Noon (PT). Fuller is 6-4 in his career versus Grubnic. ESPN2 will televise three hours of final eliminations coverage from the FRAM-Autolite Nationals at 8 p.m. (ET) on Sunday.
Q1 10.172 ET, 82.22 MPH No. 17
Q2 5.364 ET, 158.61 MPH No. 18
Q3 4.562 ET, 323.66 MPH No. 3
Q4 6.277 ET, 120.39 MPH No. 3
