Pomona: Hillary Will Thursday summary

In professional debut Hillary Will runs 4.61-second pass
Qualifies No. 5

POMONA, Calif. (February 9, 2006) -- Hillary Will made her first qualify run as a professional Top Fuel driver today at the NHRA CARQUEST Auto Parts Winternationals ending the first day of qualifying No. 5 on the qualifying ladder..

In Will's much-anticipated debut, the driver of the KB Racing LLC-owned, Kalitta Motorsports-managed dragster, covered the quarter mile at the Auto Club Raceway of Pomona track in 4.613 seconds at 317.67 mph.

"There has been so much anticipation, it feels really good to get into the car and make a run," said Will. "I'm the most relaxed when I get into the car and they strap me and I'm ready to go. I wasn't all that nervous but everybody kept asking me how I was feeling. I was fine. I just needed to do my job.

After the run, Will gave her assessment. "I felt like it was a pretty good pass. I knew we weren't trying to run a really low number. Jim O. (crew chief) told me we were just trying to get down the track and that's what it did," recalled Will.

For Will qualifying continues tomorrow (Friday) with one session scheduled for 2:30 p.m. and concludes with two additional sessions on Saturday at 12 noon and 3 p.m. Will begins her quest for the CarQuest Winternationals Top Fuel title on Sunday with eliminations for all classes beginning at 11 a.m. All times are local Pomona time (PST) and subject to change at anytime.

-kb racing-