Herbert Qualifies Third, Looks to Defend Title In Reading
MOHNTON, Pa. -- This weekend at the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals, Doug Herbert and the Snap-on team qualified third for eliminations at Maple Grove Raceway near Reading, Penn. This is their best qualifying effort since Houston in April when the SnaponFranchise.com Top Fuel dragster qualified second. The team will start their day on Sunday by facing No. 14 qualifier Dave Grubnic.
Herbert is the defending event champion at Maple Grove Raceway. Last year's race was postponed for several days, which resulted in the final round not taking place until Wednesday. Before the first qualifying session on Friday it seemed as if weather conditions might cause trouble again this year until the storm cleared, which allowed the Snap-on team to make two solid passes.
"That's the first time in a long time we've had a good opening run like that," said Kevin Poynter, co-crew chief. "The car went from point A to point B and we liked what we saw."
Herbert has gone against Grubnic twice this season with both match-ups resulting in his favor. The pair's most recent contest was in Norwalk where Herbert beat Grubnic by .004 in the quarterfinals and then went on to win the event.
"I'm pretty happy that we qualified third," said Herbert. "We have a really strong car right now and we learned some stuff today that will help us tomorrow. We need that repeat win."
