Baytown: Rod Fuller Saturday summary

RAIN WASHES OUT SATURDAY'S ACTION AT HOUSTON, POINTS LEADER FULLER REMAINS THIRD IN TOP FUEL ORDER

BAYTOWN, Texas (March 31, 2007) -- While rain may have dampened the spirits of race fans in the Houston area on Saturday, current NHRA Top Fuel points leader Rod Fuller couldn't be more excited. After Saturday's racing action at Houston Raceway Park was canceled due to persistent rain showers, the popular driver remained third in the 16-car Top Fuel order with his 4.533-second elapsed time.

Fuller, whose victory at Phoenix on February 25 was his fourth career Top Fuel win, continued to use Rob Flynn horsepower to race his Caterpillar/Mustang Cat dragster to the No. 3 qualifying position. The striking yellow and black rail made two stout runs on Friday. The Las Vegas racer opened the day by dealing a crushing blow to the Top Fuel contingent. Fuller blistered the Houston Raceway Park quarter mile in 4.561 seconds at 317.64 to grab the early pole. It was the quickest run of the session by five hundredths of-a-second. Under the lights on Friday evening, he bettered that mark by clocking a performance of 4.533 at 326.56 to earn the No. 3 qualifying spot in the Caterpillar-backed dragster. It is the first time this season that Fuller will not start from the No. 2 spot, and the sixth time that he has qualified third in his career.

"They're just lucky we didn't get four runs in because we would have grabbed that No. 1 or 2 spot," Fuller joked. "I've won from the No. 3 spot before, so I'm ok with it. I'm happy for Whit (Bazemore) and glad we're on separate sides of the bracket."

Final eliminations for the 20th annual O'Reilly Spring Nationals begin at 11 a.m. (CT) on Sunday morning at the Houston-area track. Fuller and Flynn-produced "Canadian Horsepower" will face off against No. 14 qualifier Bruce Litton in the first round of Top Fuel eliminations. They have yet to meet during eliminations. Fuller has advanced to at least the semifinals at six of the last seven races. ESPN2 will televise three hours of final eliminations coverage from 4-7 p.m. (ET) on Sunday evening.

-credit: dpm