Consistency pays dividends for Fuller's efforts

Seattle, Saturday - In professional drag racing, consistency, more than anything else, usually translates to victory. For "Hot Rod" Fuller, having one of the most consistent racecars at the 19th annual Schuck's Nationals at Pacific Raceways is something that has his entire team ready to race for the trophy of the middle leg of the three-race Western Swing.

After four rounds of qualifying, Fuller's Lee Beard-tuned Top Fuel dragster tripped the track timers within a few thousands of a second during all four qualifying attempts. In fact, Friday's pass of 4.578-seconds at 322.19 mph set the benchmark for all qualifiers heading into Saturday's two qualifying rounds.

In the end, Brandon Bernstein bumped Fuller to the No. 2 position for Sunday's final eliminations, but no one in attendance wants to face Fuller and his steady racecar.

"It's going to be a tight race tomorrow," Fuller said. "All of the top teams are within a few thousands of a second of each other and since almost everyone made it down the track at least once, this is going to be the best side-by-side event in a long time."

Despite track temperatures dancing in the 130-degree range, Fuller managed full pulls during all four runs. If not for a small oildown penalty after Round 2, the David Powers Homes team would have won the Full Throttle award for having the best car on the property.

Fuller opens Sunday's action against part-time racer Mike Strasburg who qualified 15th overall with a 4.791 at 299.20 mph.

Eliminations begin at 11:00 A.M. local time.