Rod Fuller extended his streak of qualifying his David Powers-owned dragster fourth or better at each race this season after the Las Vegas racer powered his Wagner CAT dragster to the No. 3 qualifying position Saturday at Bandimere Speedway.
After posting a solid opening pass on Friday afternoon, 4.615-seconds, the current NHRA points leader ensured himself of a starting position in the top half of the 16-car order. Fuller and crew chief Rob Flynn appeared to be on pace to clock a track record-setting pass on Friday evening when the Wagner CAT rail lifted the front tires forcing Fuller to shut off early.
The wheel stand didn’t faze the four-time NHRA Top Fuel winner as Hot Rod powered to the quickest pass of Saturday’s first qualifying session when he used Flynn-power to card a pass of 4.661 seconds at 318.47 mph. His teammate, Whit Bazemore, trailed by one thousandth of-a-second and clocked a 4.662-second pass on Saturday afternoon. The two David Powers-owned cars were the quickest of the session. Following a lengthy afternoon rain delay, Fuller’s dragster broke a mag drive on its final qualifying attempt and failed to record at time. Fuller is now the only professional driver to qualify fourth or better at each event this season.
“We’re lucky it broke the mag drive today, ” Fuller said. “It would have been in the car for the first round tomorrow. We’re happy because of that. I’m excited. We had low E. T. of the first round today in the heat. We were going for it again on that last run, but it wasn’t meant to be. I like the No. 3 spot and we kept our streak of qualifying in the top four alive. ”
Fuller will face off against No. 14 qualifier Morgan Lucas when Top Fuel eliminations begin at Noon (MT) on Sunday. Fuller is 1-2 in his career against Lucas. ESPN2 will televise three hours of final eliminations coverage at 9 p. m. (ET).
Q1 4.615 ET, 319.75 MPH No. 1
Q2 5.557 ET, 150.70 MPH No. 2
Q3 4.661 ET, 318.47 MPH No. 2
Q4 Broke No. 3
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