Las Vegas: Doug Herbert final summary

Herbert earns quarterfinal finish in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS, post-race: Doug Herbert drove to a quarterfinal finish on Sunday at the NHRA Nationals at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the fifth stop on the 23-race NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series tour. By advancing to the second round, the driver of the Snap-on Tools/Doug Herbert Performance Top Fuel dragster maintained a spot in Top 10 championship point standings.

Herbert entered Sunday's eliminations at 'The Strip' from the No. 6 qualifying position with a 4.571 at 320.97 mph. It was the 52nd consecutive NHRA national event that Herbert has qualified the Snap-on Tools dragster. His first round opponent was NHRA Top Fuel rookie, J.R. Todd.

A huge crowd of drag racing faithful filled the stands as the first round began under clear, beautiful skies. Herbert and Todd were the third pair of Top Fuelers to battle it out during the first round. Herbert had the jump off the starting line and nipped his opponent at the quarter-mile stripe for the win with a 4.630 at 318.39 mph to Todd's game 4.669 at 315.42 mph.

Herbert raced against Brandon Bernstein in the quarterfinals. 'Dougzilla' made another consistent run with a 4.681 at 311.49 mph, but Bernstein took the victory with a 4.564 at 324.75 mph. Herbert explained afterward that the team needed to find a little more performance to remain competitive and among the elite teams.

"We've got the Snap-on Tools dragster going down the track," Herbert said, "it's just not running as fast as we need to be. Now, luckily, we have a couple of weeks off where we can go back to the shop and do some work on clutches and blowers and everything we need to do to get the Snap-on car running with the front runners. That's where we expect to be."

-dhr