Pomona: Rod Fuller Friday summary

FULLER MAKES ANOTHER SOLID RUN AT POMONA, SITS FOURTH IN WINTERNATIONALS QUALIFYING ORDER

POMONA, Calif. (Feb. 9, 2007) -- Rod Fuller raced his Valvoline Top Fuel dragster to another consistent effort on Friday to place his David Powers-owned rail fourth in the 16-car order at the 47th annual CARQUEST Auto Parts Winternationals. His second career 4.4-second elapsed time (4.497 seconds) sees Fuller in the No. 4 provisional qualifying position at the 2007 NHRA season-opener.

"We were shooting to run better than our 4.49," Fuller said. "In the process, we learned how to tune a 4.40. The car was actually accelerating harder in the middle of the track. The conditions got really good and the clutch just wasn't there. We'll come back on Saturday and try to run another .40."

The three-time NHRA Top Fuel winner followed his opening 4.497-second blast with a performance of 4.520 seconds at 327.43 mph on an overcast Friday afternoon in Southern California. It was the fourth quickest pass on Friday as Fuller fell one spot in the Top Fuel order after Tony Schumacher moved to the top of the order with his 4.48-second burst.

"We tried to run harder, but it just didn't do it," crew chief Rob Flynn said. "Our 60-foot time was off and it didn't run what we were hoping for. We'll try and improve on Saturday. We have a consistent car and we can always go back to that, but our goal is to run better."

Qualifying sessions three and four are scheduled for 12:30 and 3:30 p.m. (PT) on Saturday afternoon at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. He qualified fifth last February for the Winternationals.

-credit: dpm