For the second consecutive event Doug Kalitta was No. 1 qualifier, posting a 3.779 at 326.32 mph at Gainesville. He defeated Leah Pruett and Brandon Bernstein on his way to a semifinal match up against Clay Millican. For the first time in eliminations, the Mac Tools dragster struggled to maintain traction as it went into tire smoke just before the half-track marker, and that allowed Millican to advance, 4.125 at 243.33 mph to 3.818/323.27.  (Steve Gruenwald photo)

Steve Torrence  (Ron Lewis photo)

Steve Torrence took 3.769 seconds Sunday morning to relieve any doubts about the performance of the Torrence Racing/Capco Contractors Inc. Top Fuel dragster. That was all the time he needed to defeat Morgan Lucas in the first round. It also was the second-quickest Top Fuel time of the weekend and came three weeks after he missed the starting line-up at Phoenix.