In the second and quarter-final round, Doug rolled his 8,000-horsepower entry to the line to race Brandon Bernstein. Unfortunately for Doug his race car rolled through the starting line beams a bit too quickly as he turned on the ever-dreaded red light to give Bernstein the automatic round win with a foul start.
In Las Vegas, Doug’s DNQ was his first failure to qualify since the Phoenix event in 2000 and ended his streak of qualifying for 164 consecutive NHRA national events in Top Fuel.
Native Australian Dave Grubnic, driver of the Zantrex-3 Top Fueler, qualified for Sunday’s eliminations in the No. 9 qualifying spot which set him and the Zantrex-3 team up for a tough first round match-up with perennial favorite and No. 8 qualifier Bernstein. The two fan-favorite drivers were the first pair to line up at the starting line as the day of eliminations began under crystal clear skies in Georgia. The two drivers left the starting line at almost exactly the same time, but Grubnic’s black and blue mount lost traction before half-track and that let Bernstein streak to the win, 8.363 sec., 96.22 mph to 4.548 sec., 324.75 mph.
Scott Kalitta, driver of the DHL Toyota Solara Nitro Funny Car and the No. 13 qualifier, had a great side-by-side battle with No. 4 qualifier Tony Pedregon. The two fuel floppers traversed the quarter-mile racing surface with quick and clean laps, but Pedregon reached the finish line a flash sooner to deny Scott the upset win, 4.887 sec., 307.79 mph to 4.824 sec., 316.30 mph.
Hillary Will, driver of the Kalitta Motorsports-managed, Ken Black-owned KB Racing LLC Top Fueler, qualified in the No. 10 position for eliminations. Will lost in the second round after she also red lit like her teammate Doug against Doug Herbert.
The Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals was the 6th of 23 national events in the 2007 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.
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