Tim and Kim Richards (Ron Lewis photo)
“We were low elapsed time of the first round of Saturday’s qualifying sessions,” said Brandon, “and we had a good warm weather tune-up. On Sunday conditions changed. It was cool and overcast. Tim (Richards, crew chief) was aiming for a mid 4.50-second run and was trying to play it safe. Instead the car turned around and bit us.”
Doug Kalitta (Ron Lewis photo)
Doug Kalitta, driver of the “Big Red”, 8,000-horsepower Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster, picked up his first and second round-wins of the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series in his march to the semifinals in the Lone Star State.
Kalitta, the No. 9 qualifier (4.606 seconds, 317.87 mph), faced his Kalitta Motorsports teammate Hillary Will, the No. 8 qualifier (4.599 sec., 316.45 mph) in the opening round of the 16-car eliminations. Kalitta defeated Will in a great side-by-side lap for both cars, 4.607 sec., 317.19 mph to 4.619 sec., 310.84 mph. In round two, Kalitta and his Mac Tools machine blasted to the finish line in 4.635 seconds at 311.13 mph to get the quarter-final win over Urs Erbacher (4.785 sec., 309.70 mph).
In the semifinals, Kalitta raced against Antron Brown. Kalitta was away from the starting line first (.044 sec., to .056 sec.), but his 4.689-sec., 311.56-mph run was not quite enough to keep Brown from getting the win light in a good race, 4.570 sec., 321.88 mph.
“Making the semifinals is a big, big step for our Mac Tools team,” Kalitta, a 43-year old resident of Ann Arbor, Mich., said. “We’ve been struggling for a while, so this was a really good weekend for our team. I think we’ve turned the corner now, and hopefully you’ll see the Mac Tools car in more and more rounds now.”
Top Fuel Point Standings
| 1. Tony Schumacher, 357 | 2. Larry Dixon, 349 |
| 3. Antron Brown, 279 | 4. Brandon Bernstein, 216 |
| 5. Cory McClenathan, 214 | 6. Rod Fuller, 211 |
| 7. David Grubnic, 201 | 8. Hillary Will, 195 |
| 9. Doug Herbert, 193 | 10. Morgan Lucas, 148 |