Clam Bake
Top Fuel racer David Grubnic clawed his way to the second round of eliminations at the NHRA 52nd Mac Tools U.S. Nationals near Indianapolis. The StriVectin-SD-sponsored Top Fuel dragster got off to a slow start when Grubnic failed to qualify on Friday after smoking the tires. On Sunday, Grubnic beat Luigi Novelli during the second round of qualifying and jumped to the 10th position with a 4.56 at 324 mph, then continued to run well, qualifying 8th overall. During Monday's eliminations, Grubnic drew current NHRA Powerade points champion and No. 1 qualifier Tony Schumacher in the second round. With a losing record of 23-6 against Schumacher, Grubnic tried to put up a fight before his engine began dropping cylinders and disappeared in a plume of smoke.