Brainerd: Doug Herbert Saturday notes

Herbert Qualifies Fifth at Lucas Oil Nationals

Doug Herbert and SnaponFranchise.com Top Fuel dragster qualified fifth for Sunday's eliminations at Brainerd International Raceway for the 27th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals. The team will face No. 12 qualifier Doug Kalitta in the first round.

The team, which is only 70 points behind seventh-place Hillary Will in the POWERade championship point standings, has been working on the car's consistency and has been able to make some improvements in Brainerd this weekend.

"This weekend we had a good opportunity to do what we want to do, which is build consistency in the car," said Co-Crew Chief Kevin Poynter. "We've been working on that a lot recently so when the time comes, when we need to be consistent, we'll be strong."

The two have been matched against each other two times this season. Herbert defeated Kalitta in the first round in Atlanta but Kalitta returned the favor a week later by defeating Herbert in St. Louis.

"I'm feeling good about how the car is running this weekend, especially how it was taking off today," said Herbert. "We were quickest of the session on that last run so I think we're looking good for tomorrow."

-credit: dhr