Charlotte: Rod Fuller Saturday notes

FULLER QUALIFIES 11TH AT INAUGURAL CONCORD NHRA RACE CONCORD, N.C. (Sept. 13, 2008) -- Hot Rod Fuller drove his David Powers-owned Caterpillar dragster to the No. 11 qualifying position Saturday afternoon at zMax Dragway at Concord. The ...

FULLER QUALIFIES 11TH AT INAUGURAL CONCORD NHRA RACE

CONCORD, N.C. (Sept. 13, 2008) -- Hot Rod Fuller drove his David Powers-owned Caterpillar dragster to the No. 11 qualifying position Saturday afternoon at zMax Dragway at Concord. The seven-time Top Fuel winner used a qualifying-best elapsed time of 3.889-seconds to place the Caterpillar rail in the No. 11 starting position.

The Las Vegas racer entered the final day of qualifying for the Carolina Nationals in the No. 10 position with a lap of 3.889 seconds at 304.60 mph on Friday evening at zMax Dragway. On Saturday's opening attempt, the Caterpillar car shook the tires and Fuller slowed to a pass of 7.396-seconds. Crew chief Rob Flynn and the Caterpillar crew made the proper adjustments as the popular racer sped to a run of 3.942 at 307.93 to finish in the No. 11 position. It is the fourth time in his career that he will start from the No. 11 spot. Fuller, who is flying the colors of Carolina CAT, Blanchard Machinery and Gregory Poole, currently ranks fifth in the NHRA Top Fuel standings.

"That last run was pretty good," Fuller said. "We smoked them on the first run, but Rob (Flynn) hopped her up and we made a pretty good run. It's tough out there in this heat and we have a tough match-up against (Doug) Kalitta. I always say he's the best, so we better be on our game."

Fuller will face off against 30-time NHRA winner Doug Kalitta in the opening round of Top Fuel eliminations at Noon (ET) on Sunday at zMax Dragway. Fuller is 4-0 against Kalitta this season. The have met 17 times during eliminations with Fuller holding a 10-7 advantage.