NHRA (INDY) - PERSONETT AND GARDELLA TOP QUALIFIERS

Brad Personett (Pro RWD) was able to overcome his first day troubles and overtake his Titan Motorsports teammate, Gary White, for the No. 1 qualifying position going into eliminations at the NHRA Sport Compact Nationals at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals.

Personett, in his new Scion tC, was able to earn his second straight top qualifier at the event when he drove his car to a time of 6.42 seconds at 217.98 mph. This is his sixth No.1 qualifier of 2007 and the 17th in his career.

“It is so good out there,” said Personett. “I’m tired of tiptoeing around and being safe. We had to take a little off here, but the track is too good for us to do that. The new car is a lot more stable, but not a huge difference in set-up.”

Gardella (Pro FWD) hung onto the No. 1 qualifier position with his Saturday run of 7.15 seconds at 210.91 mph. He faced a hard charge from two drivers, Marty Ladwig (7.17 seconds, 199.97 mph) and Jason Hunt (7.19 seconds, 210.67 mph). His Red Bull Chevy Cobalt has been pretty consistent throughout the weekend and he hopes that continues through to eliminations. This is Gardella’s first No. 1 qualifier of 2007 and his sixth career top position.

“I’m lucky to hang on,” said Gardella. “We had a mechanical issue in the run today. It would have been cool to have me and Marty go head-to-head in the teens. I have a tough run against Bryan Jimenez in the first round, but there is a bye into the finals after that. On the other side of the ladder are the two people ahead of me (Ladwig and Jason Hunt), so I could have a good chance to get closer to the second position. Coming here has been great for our sport. We are showing the people we’re pushing along with GM.”

Eliminations begin Sunday evening and continue Monday at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.