Mac Tools U.S. Nationals
Indianapolis, Ind.
(Sept. 1-6)
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Andrew Cowin Cowin Family Racing Top Fueler |
Reports: Sunday Saturday Friday |
Indianapolis, Sunday: Andrew Cowin has secured a place in the Top Fuel field for tomorrow's eliminations at the 50th anniversary Mac Tools U.S. Nationals - the biggest, richest and most prestigious drag race in history.
Cowin, who watched from the cockpit of his dragster as he was 'bumped' from the 16-car field just moments earlier, drove his Cowin Family Racing Top Fueller to a 4.721 second/311 mile per hour (500 km/h) pass on his last-ditch fifth qualifying attempt to slot into 14th position.
"It was nerve-wracking seeing us slip down the order with each run before us, but we were confident we had enough in the car for us to be here tomorrow," Cowin said.
"The run felt good; it moved to the right a little but other than that it was real smooth and we're happy to be in with a chance tomorrow. It's a pity we 'lost' our first two qualifying runs as we're gaining more experience with each run and we feel as though we could have been even quicker."
Cowin, a finalist at this event in 1999, will face Scott Kalitta in the first round of eliminations tomorrow, the two-time NHRA Champion having qualified third with a 4.573 second elapsed time for the quarter-mile.
"Scott is going to be tough, but in '99 we qualified 16th and faced the top qualifier in the first round and won before going all the way to the final. This is Indy and absolutely anything can happen," Cowin said.
Indianapolis, Saturday: Despite improving on last night's performance by nearly two-tenths of a second, Andrew Cowin slipped down the order one position and now sits precariously on the Top Fuel bump spot for this weekend's 50th anniversary Mac Tools U.S. Nationals.
With just two qualifying rounds remaining tomorrow, Cowin sits in the 16th and final position after having recorded and on-and-off-the-throttle 4.782-second pass for the quarter-mile in his Cowin Family Racing dragster, the 24-year-old topping 310 mph.
"We stepped up our performance tonight which was pleasing and we're in the field for now, but it's not going to be easy tomorrow holding on to that spot. We're going to have to be on our game," Cowin said. "It's a pity we had problems on our first two runs, we were affected by fuel pump drive problems each time, but we now have a baseline to tune our car from and I'm confident we'll be able to remaining in the field for Monday's eliminations."
Indianapolis, Friday: Australian Top Fuel drag racer Andrew Cowin set the 15th quickest time during tonight's first qualifying session for this weekend's Mac Tools U.S. Nationals.
Cowin recorded a 4.977 second run for the quarter-mile, his Cowin Family Racing Top Fuel dragster slowing from early indications of an even quicker pass when the drive shaft for the car's fuel pump twisted and robbed the engine of fuel.
"The car felt strong early on, but I felt the engine lean out at halftrack," the 24-year-old Cowin said. "I drove it a little further than I normally would in that situation, but I wanted to make sure we got a reasonable time in early just in case the remaining qualifying sessions were effected by rain."
Cowin has four remaining qualifying runs, two Saturday and two on Sunday, with eliminations for the 50th running of drag racing's oldest, richest and most prestigious event schedule for Monday (U.S. time). Cowin was runner-up on debut at this event as a 19-year-old in 1999, his record as the youngest Top Fuel finalist still standing.
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