Gainesville: Doug Herbert Saturday summary

HERBERT QUALIFIES IN THE 5TH POSITION FOR ACDELCO NHRA GATORNATIONALS

Gainesville, Saturday: The second day of qualifying at the 2007 ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals wrapped up with Doug Herbert and the Snap-on Tools Top Fuel dragster sitting comfortably in the number five spot.

Herbert's best pass of the weekend came in the fourth qualifying session late Saturday afternoon. Herbert began the final session sitting in the 10th position. Crew chief Jim Brissette had one more opportunity to put the Snap-on Tools dragster deep in the field.

The once chilly day had turned warm with the Florida sunshine as Herbert prepared for his fourth and final run. He passed through the lights with a strong 4.57 at 316 mph.

"The Snap-on dragster ran really good today," said Herbert. "Jim Brissette, Dave Fletcher and everybody on the team has worked really hard, and it looks like things are coming together for our team. We had some special guests today and that might have brought us some luck. Norm Froscher from the local newspaper worked with us to give some U.S. Marines a special day at the track as VIP guests of our team. We're ready to go tomorrow. We want a win."

Herbert will face Hillary Will, driver of the KB Racing dragster in first round action on Sunday.

-credit: nhra