St. Louis - Fuller - Post race 06-25-06

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Fuller's memorable weekend ends too soon

 

St. Louis (June 25, 2006) - It was a tire shaking affair for Valvoline/David
Powers Motorsports Top Fuel driver "Hot Rod" Fuller in the first round of
final eliminations of the O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway
International Speedway.

Fuller had to call upon his years of Sportsman experience to gain control of
the big Goodyear slicks about 100 feet from the starting line as the 8,000
horsepower, nitro-burning engine was more than the hot track could handle.

"Considering I had to lift off the go peddle, we still ran a pretty good
number," Fuller said. "Although it wasn't anywhere near our 4.55-second pass
that got us into the No. 1 spot last night, we still ran 4.99-seconds and
312 mph. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to get us into the second round."

It was another rookie from the Sportsman ranks, Troy Buff, driving in his
first Top Fuel event, who crossed the finish line first with a 4.758-second
pass at 314.97 mph.

Despite the loss, crew chief Lee Beard remained upbeat. "We didn't make good
runs in the heat during qualifying and that would have given us the insight
we needed to advance today," Beard said. "Although it's disappointing not to
be able to capitalize on our No. 1 qualifier spot, I think it proves just
what a serious contender we are for the championship. We'll be there in the
end."

Even though he had an early exit, Fuller will maintain the elite No. 4 slot
in the world rankings. Another shot at advancement will come after the
summer break, a three week hiatus when teams regroup for the second half of
the 2006 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

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