Bristol: Doug Herbert race summary

Snap-On Racing:
Grubnic stops Herbert in first round at Bristol.

BRISTOL, Tenn., April 28, 2002 - It wasn't the kind weekend Doug Herbert and his Snap-on Racing Top Fuel team was anticipating, and he said so following his first-round loss in the Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway Sunday.

"It wasn't a good weekend for us," Herbert commented. "We really haven't had one all year."

Herbert and tuner/assistant crew chief Johnny West hoped to turn good test results two weeks ago into better performances, but it didn't happen. The car smoked the tires on its first two qualifying runs but came back Saturday with runs of 4.774 and 4.765 seconds Saturday to earn the No. 10 starting berth.

Tire smoke returned in the opening round against David Grubnic, who won with a 4.911 at 295.53 mph to Herbert's 4.948 at 300.06.

Changing weather conditions all weekend, going from very cool to warm to wet before eliminations began an hour late caused problems for many crew chiefs.

"The weather conditions changed so much I couldn't keep up with them," West said.

After six of 23 races, Herbert is ninth with 215 points, 21 behind eighth-place Rhonda Hartman-Smith.

Herbert won't have to wait long to get back into action. The Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals race takes place Friday through Sunday at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Ga.

Qualified: No. 10, 4.765 seconds at 306.88 mph

First round: David Grubnic, 4.911 at 295.53 def. Herbert

Pro Winners: Larry Dixon, Top Fuel; Whit Bazemore, Funny Car; Warren Johnson, Pro Stock

-sor-