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Dragster Rockets From a Standstill to 60 Feet in Just .828 Seconds

Qualifying for Round 2 of NHRA's Countdown to the Championship got underway in the Betway Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway outside Charlotte, North Carolina on Friday Night. If you have never witnessed a live NHRA drag race in person you are missing out, just as you are if you have never witnessed an NHRA drag at night.
Doug Kalitta 11 photos
Photo: NHRA.com
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The roar and rumble of the 11,000-horsepower Top Fuel dragsters are significantly amplified by the visual effect of flames pouring from the headers of these powerful machines at night.

Fans in Charlotte were treated to such a visual as Doug Kalitta in his Mac Tools dragster, ran the 1,000-foot strip (305 meters) in a blazing 3.694 seconds reaching a top speed of 326.56 mph (525.55 kp/h). Twilight became the highlight for Kalitta as his reaction time off the line was a mere .069 seconds and he reached 60 feet (18 meters) in less than a second. His elapsed time was just shy of his career-best of 3.65 seconds.

Kalitta is eighth in the standings and definitely within reach of the lead with five events remaining.

The R+L dragster of defending champion Josh Hart qualified number two with a 3.702 run, just .001 ahead of new points leader Justin Ashley.

Former points leader Brittany Force was unable to rebound from engine failure last week as she once again experienced a failure just before crossing the line. It will be interesting to see if her team can regroup and salvage some points this weekend.

The Peak Camaro Funny Car of racing legend John Force was just .004 seconds off the track record with a run of 3.854 seconds. His reaction time was just 0.12 seconds and led to an impressive 330.47 mph (531.84 kp/h) run besting the Top Fuel run of Kalitta.

The guy who set the first three-second Funny Car run at the track Matt Hagan, qualified in second with a 3.861-second run. Hagan is followed by last week's winner Robert Hight, world champ Ron Capps, and Force teammate Bob Tasca III.

Pro Stock points leader Erica Enders vying for her fifth world title, continued her dominance by steering her Elite Performance Camaro to a 6.513-second run followed by U.S. Nationals winner Greg Anderson.
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