Hot Rod Fuller will be driving the Yas Top Fuel car, with Yas Drag Racing Centre manager Rashed Alqubaisi as team manager. The team’s first race will be the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tennessee, on 17-19 June and the final event will be the Las Vegas Nationals on 27-30 October. In between, Fuller will race in Chicago (7-10 July), Denver (22-24 July), Brainerd, Minnesota (18-21 August), Indianapolis (31 Aug-5 Sept), Concord (15-18 Sept), Dallas (22-25 Sept), Reading, Pennsylvania (29 Sept-2 Oct) and Phoenix (14-16 Oct).

 

“We’re delighted to be back racing in the US after a successful inaugural outing there last summer,” said Richard Cregan, Chief Executive Officer of Yas Marina Circuit. “Rod is one of the world’s best Top Fuel drivers and proved to be highly competitive last year, qualifying third in Sonoma and reaching the semi-finals in Denver. We’re very pleased to have Nestlé as an associate sponsor for our 2011 summer season. We will be testing ourselves once again against the best drag racers in the world and we’re out to win.”

 

Fuller qualified third at the FRAM-Autolite Nationals at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma California in mid-July 2010 with a time of 3.873-seconds. A week later, he reached the semi-finals of the Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Raceway in Denver. His best time during the elimination rounds was 3.981 seconds and his time in his final run was 4.007 seconds.

 

Fuller will be reunited for the US tour with crew chief Rob Flynn and a team from Bob Vandergriff Racing. “Bob Vandergriff and I go back a long way in drag racing and it’s a great pleasure to be working with him again this season,” Fuller said. “The Yas Marina Circuit Drag Racing Team dipped our toe in the water by taking part  in just four US 

 

Nationals last summer to pave the way for a longer season this year. It’s great to be back.”

Fuller now lives in Abu Dhabi and is Chief Racing Instructor at the Yas Drag Racing Centre at Yas Marina Circuit, which is home to the Formula 1TM Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. In addition to instructing, he regularly drives a three-seat Super Comp to give race-day crowds first-hand experience of drag racing and is a key figure in developing the sport in the UAE. He recently beat FIA World Champion in a best-of-three Top Fuel race at the Yas Drag Racing Festival, hitting a terminal speed of 507 kph in the process – just 4 kph short of the world record.