FULLER EXTENDS POINTS LEAD SUNDAY AT ENGLISHTOWN

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. (June 24, 2007) – Rod Fuller extended his points lead Sunday afternoon at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park after driving to a quarterfinal effort. After qualifying his David Powers-owned plain white dragster second (4.479 seconds) for the fifth time this season, Fuller edged local racer Rit Pustari, before bowing out to Top Fuel starlet Hillary Will in the quarterfinals.

Competing in his 24th round of competition this season, Fuller used a come-from-behind effort to score the opening-round victory against the Connecticut racer. Pustari used the best reaction time of the round (.045 of-a-second) to race to the early lead, but the Top Fuel points leader used crew chief Rob Flynn’s “Canadian Horsepower” to roar to a top-end charge and the round win. Fuller clocked the third quickest elapsed time of the round with a pass of 4.624 seconds at 323.81 mph to outdistance Pustari’s pass of 4.873 at 253.42.

Facing off against Will in the quarterfinals for the second consecutive race, the Las Vegas racer powered his all-white rail to a run of 4.748 at 318.77, but Will drove to the second quickest pass of the round to advance to the semifinals with a run of 4.679 at 319.60. It is the first time that Fuller has been defeated in the second round of eliminations this season and the first time he has lost to Will in four career matches.

“We had an ignition malfunction in the second round,” Fuller said. “That’s the first time we’ve had something like that happened all season long. The car just won’t run on one magneto. We were lucky to run that quick. Sure, we wanted to defend our championship and win here again and extend out points lead, but you’ll have races like this. We’ll keep our heads up and head to Norwalk ( Ohio ).”

The next NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event is the Inaugural Summit Racing Equipment Nationals, June 28-July 1, at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk , Ohio .

R1 FULLER (.106) 4.624 ET, 323.81 MPH def. Pustari (.045) 4.873 ET, 253.42 MPH

R2 Will (.095) 4.679 ET, 319.60 MPH def. FULLER (.108) 4.748 ET, 318.77 MPH

Winners
Top Fuel – Larry Dixon def. Doug Herbert
Funny Car – Tommy Johnson, Jr. def. Tony Pedregon
Pro Stock – Greg Anderson def. Jeg Coughlin
Pro Stock Motorcycle – Craig Treble def. Andrew Hines