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Russell's testing diary  Amato Racing Top Fuel pro Darrell Russell provides this testing diary from Phoenix. We just ran a 4.525, the best I've ever had, and what a ride that was. My crew chief, Wayne Dupuy, told me to click it off at 800 or 900 feet but the car was accelerating so quickly I think I lost track of where I was on the strip. Plus, it was dark so it's harder to judge where you are. Looking at the data, I actually clicked it off at 4.2 seconds, so there's no telling what it would have been if I had run it out the back. I have never been in a car that launched so hard. It pulled the front wheels up and carried them to at least 300 feet. I had a friend in the stands confirm that for me. It was awesome. Before I knew it I was thinking, 'man, I'm at the finish line.' So I shut her down. What a great run for the guys on this team. Everyone is revved up. They've changed a lot of things this off-season – the cylinder heads, the fuel system, the set-back blower – and it took a lot of work to get us to this point. That was only the third run and to post a career-best is a great feeling. A lot of teams are struggling here. It's a new surface and there just haven't been a lot of high-horsepower cars down the track, especially the back-half. That's another reason to be excited about the fact we were able to make this run tonight. I bet Joe's going to be excited.

Top Fuel driver Darrell Russell and Schumacher Racing Funny Car drivers Whit Bazemore and Gary Scelzi made the quickest test runs of the weekend in their respective categories at the National Time Trials at Firebird International Raceway near Phoenix.

NHRA teams are practicing for the 23-race $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, which begins Feb. 19-22 with the 44th annual K&N Filters Winternationals at Pomona Raceway in Pomona, Calif.

Russell, the 2001 NHRA Rookie of the Year, made the quickest and fastest pass of the three-day trial in his Joe Amato-owned dragster, recording a pass of 4.525 seconds at 313.00 mph. Russell's performance was followed by Tony Schumacher, driver of the U.S. Army dragster, who posted a top pass of 4.610 at 264.75. Two-time NHRA POWERade Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon and the Miller Lite team also recorded a 4.61 effort down the quarter-mile, slowing to a speed of 287.29 in a planned early shut-off.

Schumacher Racing's Funny Car teams continued to establish themselves as legitimate contenders for the 2004 POWERade crown. Bazemore, who finished second in the 2003 final standings, used the last official day of the trial to make his best pass. The driver of the Matco Tools Dodge Stratus made a complete run, shutting the clocks off at 4.929 at 309.98.

Bazemore's teammate, Scelzi, also had an impressive time trial, recording passes of 4.938 at 290.38 and a time of 4.997 during Saturday's sessions. Scelzi, a three-time Top Fuel champion, holds the five fastest Funny Car speeds in his Oakley Dodge.

Phil Burkart, driver of the Checker Schuck's Kragen Pontiac Firebird, was among the quick Funny Car runs of the weekend with his 4.98 second run. John Force, 12-time NHRA Funny Car champion, recorded a 4.99 second run in the Castrol GTX High-Mileage Ford Mustang and was matched by Skoal Racing's Ron Capps, also posting a 4.99.

Sunday morning report from the National Time Trails at Firebird International Raceway in Phoenix – It's another cool, crisp morning here in Chandler, Ariz. Right now the temperature is around 46 degrees and they have just opened the track to sportsman test and tune. On Saturday, most of the hot cars had problems getting a grip on the Firebird racing surface so E.T.s and speeds were held in check. Today the weather promises to be almost a carbon copy of Saturday's conditions so some amount of tuning is certainly taking place. The Pro sessions are scheduled for noon, 3 p.m., and 5 p.m.

Sunday Race Report 1 – It looks a lot like yesterday but it might be just a bit warmer. At the beginning of the session it's 61 degrees, 16 percent humidity, and a four mph wind out of the southwest. Lots of sun and conditions will get warmer and drier as the day goes on.

12:03 p.m. Mike Edwards PS: 1.002 2.882 First pass honors go to Mike Edwards. Great 60-foot number and then shake.

12:03 p.m. Barry Grant PS: 1.027 Grant has the same problem in the right lane.

12:08 p.m. Shep Ginsberg TF: .872 2.285 3.356 223.50 4.369 5.449 190.03 Ginsberg is getting seat time but has a major set back here. He has holes go out early and finally hurts the engine pretty badly. Lots of oil on the track and we're down for a while.

12:20 p.m. Gary Densham FC: .890 2.383 A bit over two hours from the clean up. It seems that something had gone unnoticed and the left lane was as bad as the lane Ginsberg oiled down. Densham only get to 60 feet before the tires shook loose.

12:20 p.m. Eric Medlin FC: .895 2.336 Medlin suffers the same problem as his teammate.

2:24 p.m. Tommy Johnson FC: .896 2.375 Johnson rattles loose right at 60 feet.

2:24 p.m. Tony Pedregon FC: .910 2.405 Pedregon was loose before 330 feet.

2:26 p.m. David Grubnic TF: .855 2.524 Another shaker.

2:26 p.m. Darrell Russell TF: .829 2.123 3.069 253.99 4.079 5.197 184.27 Not exactly a full pass as Russell was of the pedal by 1,000 feet. It was the closest thing to a full pass at this point.

2:29 p.m. Del Worsham FC: .889 2.337 3.529 Worsham rattles the tires loose.

2:29 p.m. John Force FC: .883 2.329 3.362 245.36 4.236 4.993 296.76 Force comes close to a full pass but there was a lot of tire smoke before the lights.

2:35 p.m. Gary Scelzi FC: .896 2.319 3.423 Scelzi has the belt come off before 330 feet.

2:35 p.m. Cruz Pedregon FC: .892 2.344 3.395 241.89 4.335 5.335 203.09 Cruz makes a half-track pull.

2:44 p.m. Jerry Toliver FC: .882 2.436 Toliver has no more luck than his fellow racers.

2:44 p.m. Whit Bazemore FC: .890 2.312 3.341 242.76 4.377 5.495 186.36 Another 1,000 foot shut off.

2:45 p.m. Ron Capps FC: .893 2.335 3.382 227.65 4.509 5.744 166.54 Capps is straight and clean but clicks it early.

2:45 p.m. Phil Burkart FC: .887 2.341 3.376 245.85 4.293 5.272 212.79 Burkart with a 1,000-foot run.

2:47 p.m. Clay Millican TF: .843 More early smoke.

2:47 p.m. Doug Herbert TF: .870 Just like most of the rest. Shake before 60 feet and lift.

2:50 p.m. David Baca TF: .819 This is the quickest 60-foot time I've seen this weekend but way too much for the track.

2:50 p.m. Larry Dixon TF: .851 2.191 3.223 Dixon hits it softer but still loses to the god of smoke.

2:55 p.m. Jim Head FC: .910 2.468 Another shaker for Head.

2:58 p.m. Tony Schumacher TF: .831 Schumacher kicks them loose after the 60-foot marker.

2:58 p.m. Scott Palmer TF: .862 Palmer makes his first of the weekend and it lasted less than 60 feet.

3:03 p.m. Brandon Bernstein TF: .830 2.168 3.119 261.98 4.048 5.070 201.76 Bernstein with what appeared to be a planned 1,000-foot pass.

3:03 p.m. Scott Kalitta TF: .912 Guess what happened?

3:05 p.m. Tony Bartone FC: .912 Smoke before 60 feet.

3:08 p.m. Doug Kalitta TF: .830 Somehow it only seems right that the longest test session in history ends with one last tire smoker.

Sunday Race Report 2 – The first session of the day saw a few good numbers but we were down for a couple of hours for a bad oildown that took in both lanes.

4:15 p.m. Gary Densham FC: .887 Another tire striker for the Mustang.

4:22 p.m. Del Worsham FC: .910 2.383 3.450 236.96 4.344 5.249 227.42 Worsham makes to 1,000 feet and shuts off.

4:30 p.m. Steven Neese FC: .937 Neese’s first hit of the weekend ends in a tire smoker before 60 feet.

4:35 p.m. Jerry Toliver FC: .896 2.409 Toliver hasn't found the handle on the Toyota yet.

4:40 p.m. Doug Herbert TF: .863 2.197 3.137 266.48 3.939 4.724 261.78 Herbert softened up his racer and makes a nice shut-off pass.

4:40 p.m. Tony Schumacher TF: .831 Crew chief Alan Johnson hits the first 60 hard and pays the price.

4:45 p.m. Cruz Pedregon FC: .880 2.324 3.359 240.25 4.255 5.072 254.14 Pedregon uses up some track and clicks it early.

4:47 p.m. Larry Dixon TF: .847 2.192 3.167 Off the pedal before 330 feet.

4:52 p.m. Phil Burkart FC: .883 2.311 3.348 243.68 4.220 4.983 241.95 Burkart had smoke off the tires from 1,000 feet on.

4:57 p.m. Whit Bazemore FC: .887 2.343 3.364 248.20 4.207 4.929 309.98 Well. There's top speed and low E.T. of Funny Car.

4:57 p.m. Tommy Johnson Jr FC: .883 2.335 3.397 241.63 4.261 5.002 302.75 Soften it up and get down the track. That's the way it looks.

5:00 p.m. David Baca TF: .834 2.220 Shake claims another one.

5:05 p.m. Eric Medlin FC: .874 2.376 Tire smoke before 330 feet.

5:10 p.m. Clay Millican TF: 1.05 Instant smoke, just add nitro.

5:13 p.m. Ron Capps FC: .894 2.355 3.387 243.94 4.252 4.997 301.60 A full pass is a thing of beauty after all the short number tire smokers. Capps shows it can be done.

5:15 p.m. Jim Head FC: .888 2.506 Head doesn't make it stick.

5:20 p.m. Clay Millican TF: .825 2.155 3.092 270.64 3.891 4.698 254.86 Now that was a pretty pass. Still clicked it early but some really good numbers during the run.

5:23 p.m. Tony Bartone FC: Bartone got no time as the clocks malfunctioned but it was a 60 foot shaker anyway.

5:25 p.m. Darrell Russell TF: .820 2.122 3.046 270.70 3.833 4.525 313.00 This just came from the middle of nowhere! Russell and crew had struggled just like all the rest and up pops a 4.50. Beautiful Top Fuel pass and it was worth waiting for.

5:28 p.m. John Force FC: .890 2.358 3.387 245.47 4.276 5.214 220.58 Nice pass until something went away.

5:35 p.m. Gary Scelzi FC: .909 2.352 3.539 This was a brand new racecar that they took out of the trailer and got a half a pass on. This was the final car of session two.

Sunday Race Report 3 – The final session of the day is taking place around sunset and I don’t believe all that many cars will make the session. Yesterday the track cooled quickly and the conditions were very difficult. Considering all the early smoke this could be a short session.

5:43 p.m. Gary Densham FC: .869 Considering all the great numbers for JFR last weekend at Las Vegas this must be a bit of a bust for the team. Here Densham has another smoker.

6:04 p.m. Del Worsham FC: .000 We had a bit of a timing system problem but I was able to get the final numbers. 5.018 288.64. Not bad for the day.

6:14 p.m. Doug Herbert TF: .855 2.192 3.131 267.53 Beginning of a nice pass for Herbert falls aside due to a blower belt.

6:47 p.m. Tony Pedregon FC: .884 2.436 Pedregon slapped the pedal twice but couldn't save the run.

6:55 p.m. Cruz Pedregon FC: 1.290 Instant smoke for the Pedregon as well. Word is that is the final car of the event.

Saturday testing report from Phoenix