Englishtown: Doug Herbert final summary

Herbert remains confident despite early exit at Englishtown

ENGLISHTOWN, NJ, post-race: Doug Herbert was upset during the first round on Sunday at the 37th annual K&N Filters NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in New Jersey. The driver of the Snap-on Tools/Doug Herbert Performance dragster was defeated after his car smoked the tires just off the starting line.

Sunday began as another beautiful day for racing at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, with clear skies and warm temperatures. Herbert qualified in the top half of the 16-car field in the No. 7 position for Sunday's eliminations and was paired up against J.R. Todd in the first round.

Herbert's car jumped off the starting line at the flash of green with the front tires in the air but then went into tire shake several hundred feet down track and began to smoke the tires. Todd drove by him to take the win with a 4.645 at 311.85 mph to Herbert's 5.037 at 270.54 mph.

"When went to the starting line with a tune up that we were confident would get us down the track but something definitely changed and it bit us," said Herbert. "It's disappointing because the Snap-on Tools car has been running very well and I felt we really had a chance to win some rounds and gain some points today."

Herbert remains anchored in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Top 10 point's standings despite the early exit. "We'll head to St' Louis next and do our best to maintain a positive winning attitude. We're confident the Snap-on Tools car is a threat to win wherever we are racing."

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