Vandergriff Sits in Lucky #13 Position at Brainerd

BRAINERD, Minn. (8/11/06) -- Bob Vandergriff Jr. had a goal coming into the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway. He is looking for more consistency from his racecar. The Jim Dupuy-led crew gave him just that. The UPS Top Fueler went down the dragstrip straight and clean in the first session, posting a 4.727 second run at 308.43 mph.

"We are trying to find more consistency," said Vandergriff. "We are on the right path. The car went down the racetrack both times, albeit a little slower than we would like it to. We figured that would happen. We wanted to make sure we weren't on the overkill side."

Vandergriff improved with his second session lap of 4.685 seconds at 312.35 mph.

"It appears we are on the right track," Vandergriff continues. "We've made progress. We need to give it more motor, and pick up the cars performance. That's what we will do on Saturday."

RACE SCHEDULE:
SATURDAY, Aug. 12 -- Professional qualifying sessions at 11:15 a.m. and 2:15 p.m.
SUNDAY, Aug. 13 -- Pre-race ceremonies, 10 a.m. Final elimination's begin at 11 a.m.

TELEVISION SCHEDULE:
Saturday, Aug. 12, ESPN2 will televise two hours of qualifying highlights at 6 p.m. (ET).
Sunday, Aug. 13, ESPN2 will televise three hours of elimination's at 7 p.m. (ET).
Sunday, Aug. 13, ESPN2 will televise NHRA 2Day, a 30-minute weekly news magazine show, at 11:30 a.m. (ET).