Sonoma: Doug Herbert Saturday notes

Herbert Scores Second-Highest Qualifying Position of the Season

Doug Herbert and the SnaponFranchise.com Top Fuel team qualified fourth for Sunday's eliminations at the Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway. It is the team's second-best qualifying effort of the season.

As the sun set Friday night and the track temperature began to drop, there were several quick runs for the Top Fuel dragsters. Herbert's 3.839 ET held-up as the No. 1 qualifier until the last two pairs of dragsters ran.

"Last night's run was awesome," said Herbert. "Man, that thing was moving! That was our quickest pass with the new 1,000-foot time."

Herbert will face No. 13 qualifier Cory McClenathan in the first round of eliminations Sunday. The veterans have raced each other a total of 33 times in their Top Fuel careers but are yet to meet this season.

"Corry Mac has been around about as long as I have," said Herbert. "The first time I ever raced him was here in Sonoma. It was in 1990 when we were driving alcohol dragsters. I beat him that day and I'm hoping I can get him again tomorrow."

"I felt like we had a lot of momentum coming into the western swing," said Herbert. "Racing three weeks in a row can be tough but it has given the team a chance to get into a racing groove and that's been really good for us."

-credit: dhr