Fuller Drives Ransome Cat Dragster to No. 2 Spot at Reading

MOHNTON, Pa. -- Hot Rod Fuller raced his David Powers-owned Ransome CAT dragster to the No. 2 qualifying position Saturday afternoon at Maple Grove Raceway. Fuller used an elapsed time of 3.861-seconds to earn the No. 2 qualifying spot for the second time this season (Atlanta).

Fuller, who earned the pole at the Reading race last August with a 4.521-second elapsed time, posted the second quickest pass on the opening day of qualifying of the 24th annual Toyo Tires Nationals. The seven-time Top Fuel winner clocked a pass of 3.861 seconds at 310.77 mph in the Ransome CAT car Friday evening under the lights at Maple Grove Raceway to earn the provisional No. 2 qualifying position.

On Saturday's first qualifying pass, Fuller's Caterpillar car posted solid early numbers before dropping a cylinder and slowing to a run of 4.145 at 216.20. He posted a run of 4.223 at 205.63 to conclude qualifying at Maple Grove Raceway. Fuller has now qualified for 78 consecutive races, the second longest streak in Top Fuel (Tony Schumacher). Fuller has never qualified lower than third at three races at Maple Grove Raceway.

"We're happy being No. 2," crew chief Rob Flynn said. "We took a more aggressive approach like last season. We've been qualifying lower than we'd like, so it's good to get near the top of the order. The sun was out and we were trying some stuff. The early numbers looked really good, now we just have to get the car through the middle of the track without spinning the tires."

Fuller will match up against No. 15 qualifier Doug Kalitta when final eliminations begin at 11 a.m. (ET) on Sunday at Maple Grove Raceway. Fuller is 3-0 against the 30-time Top Fuel winner this season. Fuller's teammate Antron Brown qualified seventh in the Matco Tools dragster.

Headquartered in Houston with race operations located in Brownsburg, Ind., David Powers Motorsports fields the two-car Top Fuel operation of drivers Rod Fuller and Antron Brown. DPM proudly represents racing partners Matco Tools, Caterpillar, Forward Sports Marketing, Valvoline, Toyota, Ringer's Gloves, Go Fast Sports, Goodyear, FRAM, and Autolite.

Q1 3.983 ET, 301.13 MPH No. 10
Q2 3.861 ET, 310.77 MPH No. 2
Q3 4.145 ET, 216.20 MPH No. 2
Q4 4.223 ET, 205.63 MPH No. 2