Rod Fuller and his Peterson CAT team are in an unfamiliar position – on the outside looking in. The current NHRA Top Fuel points leader missed the cut Friday at Infineon Raceway during the opening day of qualifying for the FRAM-Autolite Nationals.
Fuller, who enters the race with a 134-point lead over Brandon Bernstein, made two passes on Friday, but failed to make a run in the four-second range. Fuller’s rail coasted to a 10-second pass on Friday afternoon, and on the second attempt, the Peterson CAT dragster dropped a cylinder and blew a head gasket. It created a spectacular explosion from the motor of the yellow-and-black rail. Fuller sits 18th in the Top Fuel order with two qualifying sessions remaining. Only eight cars made passes before the track’s 10 p. m. curfew rule went into effect.
“It was not a great day, ” Fuller said. “We’re one of the few teams that were lucky with what happened with the session getting shut down. That helped us out. A lot of cars didn’t get to improve. We still have a shot to be No. 1 tomorrow. We dropped a cylinder and popped the head gasket. I believe in our team and we’ll get in tomorrow. ”
Top Fuel qualifying resumes with sessions schedule for noon and 2:45 p. m. on Saturday. ESPN2 will televise two one hours shows featuring qualifying highlights of the FRAM-Autolite Nationals at 3 p. m. (ET) on Saturday and 2 a. m. (ET) on Sunday.
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