Pomona II: Hillary Will Saturday summary

Will enters eliminations in ninth POMONA, Calif. (November 11, 2006) -- Hillary Will ran a 4.535-second elapsed time in the final qualifying session to move up to the No. 9 position for tomorrow's eliminations at the season-ending 42nd annual ...

Will enters eliminations in ninth

POMONA, Calif. (November 11, 2006) -- Hillary Will ran a 4.535-second elapsed time in the final qualifying session to move up to the No. 9 position for tomorrow's eliminations at the season-ending 42nd annual NHRA Auto Club Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona (Calif.).

"We ran strong during qualifying," said Will, "going down the track three out of four times. Hopefully tomorrow we'll make it four fast runs and walk out of here with our first win and end the season on a high note."

Will, who drives the KB Racing LLC-owned, Kalitta Motorsports-managed Top Fuel dragster, faces J.R. Todd in the opening round. Todd finished in the eighth position, running 4.515 seconds at 324.38 mph.

Currently No. 10 in the NHRA POWERade Top Fuel point standings, Will is going all out at Pomona to maintain a spot in the top ten final standings. Morgan Lucas, currently 11th, Will and Cory McClenathan (No. 9) are all separated by less than one round of competition. Following qualifying, Will is just one point behind McClenathan and 50 behind tomorrow's opponent J.R. Todd, who occupies the eighth position. This should make for some close racing during eliminations as drivers try to solidify their final position in the 2006 NHRA POWERade Top Fuel point standing.