NHRA: Russell opens Pomona race as provisional No. 1 qualifier

For more information, contact
Rob Geiger at 281-913-3316.

Russell opens Pomona race as provisional No. 1 qualifier

POMONA, Calif. (Nov. 7) -- Darrell Russell, one of eight Top Fuel 
drivers who can "double-up" this weekend with victories in both the 
Budweiser Shootout and the Auto Club NHRA Finals, got off to a quick 
start in his Bilstein Engine Flush dragster with a pole-grabbing 4.571 
at 313.22 mph. The pass came after a lengthy rain delay when 
temperatures had dropped into the low 60s.

"There are definitely a lot of hot cars out here so I don't know if 
that'll hold for the No. 1 spot but we're certainly happy to start off 
the weekend like this," Russell said. "We're here for two races really, 
with the Budweiser Shootout looming on Saturday, so it's really 
important to start off strong and make a nice pass right out of the 
trailer. I didn't even think we'd get a chance when it started raining 
earlier. I'm glad it cleared up a bit.

"Now that we have this one in the books we can really get aggressive 
when the Bud deal starts. We can move right into race mode. Sometimes 
you get to that deal and you haven't even qualified well so you tend not 
to get after it as hard as you can. We don't need to worry about that. 
With all the money that's on the line this weekend it's nice to get any 
kind of edge you can."

Russell, who has never collected low qualifier honors in his two-year 
professional career, had to do some driving to get Joe Amato's dragster 
down historic Pomona Raceway. Racing out of the left lane, the car 
veered towards the centerline early before straightening out downtrack, 
with only a slight sashay near the finish line.

"Right before the run my crew chief told me to aim towards the 
centerline at first because the groove seemed to carry in that 
direction," Russell said. "Then I pulled it back towards the center and 
just went on down through there. I did click it off early, maybe at 
1,100 or 1,200 feet, because it didn't feel quite right to me, but I 
doubt we would have been much quicker than we were. It was a good run 
for us."

Qualifying highlights and the elimination rounds of the Budweiser 
Shootout will air from 10 p.m.-Midnight (ET), Saturday, on ESPN2. 
Sunday's sudden-death elimination action from the Auto Club NHRA Finals 
will be broadcast from 5-7 p.m. (ET), Sunday evening, on ESPN, and will 
continue from 7-8 p.m. (ET), Sunday, on ESPN2.

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