Denver: Hillary Will final summary

Parachute ends day early for Will at Bandimere Speedway

MORRISON, Colo. (July 16, 2006) -- An unusual occurrence ended the day for Hillary Will in the second round of eliminations at the 27th annual NHRA Mopar Mile-High Nationals today.

The second pair out in the opening round, Will and Bob Vandergriff, Jr. squared off on a track that had reached a temperature of 133 degrees. Will was out first and stayed glued to the track all the way to the win light. She ran a 4.992-second pass and won lane choice for the second round against J.R. Todd.

Against Todd, in a battle of rookies, Will was reeling Todd in as the pair approached the top end of the Bandimere Speedway quarter-mile, when one of Will's two parachutes, used to slow the car, blossomed on her KB Racing LLC-owned, Kalitta Motorsports-managed Top Fuel Dragster. The pair ran identical elapsed times of 5.070 seconds with Todd turning on the win light.

"We were pleased to get by the first round," said Will, following the round. "We had a good race car all weekend and we had a good opportunity to beat J.R. in the second round. We were gaining on him and for some unknown reason the cable came out and the parachute deployed way too early, causing us to fall short at the finish line."

Will continues to hold onto the tenth position in the NHRA POWERade Pro Stock point standing and now has 551 points.

"I'm really glad that we have a race next weekend and the weekend after," added Will. "Going to consecutive races helps me a lot and Seattle can't come soon enough."

The Western Swing, three races on three consecutive weekends in July, continues. The NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series now moves to Pacific Raceways in Kent Wash., near Seattle. The second of the three races will get underway on Friday, July 21.

ESPN2 will air same-day television coverage of eliminations for the 27th annual NHRA Mopar Mile-High Nationals from 9 p.m. until 12 midnight (Sunday, July 16). The elimination show repeats early Monday morning (July 17) from 2:30-4:30 a.m. Television times are Eastern Time (ET) and subject to change at anytime. Check local listings.

-KB Racing