Memphis: Hillary Will Saturday summary

Will in field at No. 13 at Memphis

MILLINGTON, Tenn. (August 19, 2006) -- Saving her best run for last Hillary Will drove her KB Racing LLC-owned, Kalitta Motorsports-managed Top Fuel Dragster to the No. 13 spot on the final qualifying ladder at the 19th annual NHRA O'Reilly Mid-South Nationals.

Since turning professional at the season-opening NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif., it was the first time this season that the 26-year-old driver was at risk of not qualifying, but Will and her team did what was necessary to get into the field.

On Friday, a late-afternoon thunderstorm swept through Memphis Motorsports Park (MMP) and pushed back the first round of qualifying until the 9 o'clock hour and cancelled the second.

Of the three sessions that were run, including two today, Will's best elapsed time was that final pass when she covered the MMP quarter-mile in 4.696 seconds at 310.27 mph.

"There wasn't any reason why we shouldn't have gone down the track and I knew going into that last session that we had a really good chance," Will said following the final qualifying round. "With the team I have behind me and their ability and the experience of crew chief Jim Oberhofer, the car was going down the track. I knew we were going to qualify.

"It was definitely a relief.  I guess I've never been so
happy just to qualify before.  Now we focus on tomorrow."

When Will pulls to the line in the opening round of eliminations tomorrow, she will find that Melanie Troxel will occupy the other lane. Troxel qualified fourth with an elapsed time of 4.620 seconds.

Will begins her quest for the O'Reilly Mid-South Nationals Top Fuel title on Sunday, August 20, with eliminations for all classes beginning at 3 p.m. NOTE THE LATE START FOR ELIMINATIONS. Time is local Memphis time (CT) and subject to change at anytime.

-credit: kb racing