Pomona: Doug Herbert Saturday summary

Herbert makes the field in Pomona

POMONA, qualifying: Doug Herbert used the four rounds of qualifying at the 46th annual NHRA CARQUEST Winternationals as a test session and successfully qualified for the opening race of the 2006 season. The driver of the Snap-on Tools/Racebricks Top Fuel dragster used his first qualifying run to secure the No. 14 spot for Sunday's eliminations.

The racing conditions were ideal as Herbert began his weekend at the Winternationals on Thursday afternoon with a stout 4.582 at 323.19 mph right off the trailer, qualifying the Snap-on Tools dragster in the No. 4 position. After a tire-smoking run on Friday, Herbert dropped to 12th on the 16-car Top Fuel ladder with two qualifying sessions remaining on Saturday for a chance to improve his standing in the field.

The weather continued to be picture perfect on Saturday with plenty of sunshine and warm temperatures to greet the racers and the large contingent of hardcore Southern California drag racing enthusiast. Herbert made another solid run on his third qualifying attempt in the Snap-on dragster with a 4.603 at 321.96 mph. After overpowering the track on his final qualifying run, Herbert finished the day 14th and will face JR Todd in the first round of eliminations. "Obviously we wanted to run a little better," said Herbert following qualifying. "We're working hard to find out what the problem may be so we can get it fixed before eliminations tomorrow. We know we'll have to run better than a 4.58 to be able to win the race. We started from behind but I think we'll be all right. Basically the first round tomorrow will be our fifth test run of the year, but we'll be okay. It's just a matter of making some more runs and figuring some things out that might be a little bit different."

-dhsor-