Indianapolis: Hillary Will final summary

Tire smoke ends Indy eliminations for Will

CLERMONT, Ind. (September 4, 2006) -- The quickest Top Fuel field in the NHRA history book took to the track today for final eliminations for the 52nd annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O'Reilly Raceway Park (ORP) in Indianapolis.

Starting from the No. 7 position, Will squared off against Brandon Bernstein, who qualified No. 10, in the opening round. Shortly after the green light, Will's KB Racing-owned, Kalitta Motorsports-managed dragster lost traction and went up in tire smoke. Meanwhile, Bernstein headed for the finish line and the win light.

Bernstein recorded an elapsed time of 4.514 seconds, while Will coasted to a 8.463 seconds.

Will's crew chief reviewed the run. "I'm at a loss as to what happened," said Jim Oberhofer. "We have been running consistently throughout the weekend and didn't change anything for this run that would cause this type of action. We'll go back to the shop and evaluate everything to determine the cause."

In the NHRA POWERade Top Fuel point standings Will leaves ORP with 834 points and remains in the No. 9 position.

The NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series now moves to Maple Grove Raceway Park, just outside Reading, Penn., for the 19th event on the 23-race schedule, the NHRA Toyo Tires Nationals which runs September 14-17. Professional qualifying begins on Fri., Sept. 15 and concludes on Sat., Sept. 16. Final eliminations for all classes get underway on Sun., Sept. 17.

-credit: kb racing