Sat, 22 Oct 2005, 07:09 PM Pro Modified Qualifying Notes, Final Session

By Larry Sullivan

LAS VEGAS - Notes from final, round 3 qualifying in Pro Modified at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, Fifth annual ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time/top speed this round, position in order following run, best prior elapsed time/speed, and position in order prior to run:

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Left Lane: Scott Bailey Runs 6.547/213.98, Now #25; Best prior run: 6.579/212.26, Was #25
Right Lane: Kip Dupuis Runs 6.374/224.21, Now #18; Best prior run: 6.526/219.90, Was #24

3:04 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 81 degrees, relative humidity 28 percent, barometer 28.28 inches, adjusted altitude 3,455 feet, track temperature 106 degrees.

Dupuis' Buick bears a lot of similarities with some of the Pro Mod '57 Chevies, but they have reworked the body to include the heavy Buick bumpers and tail lights as well as the portholes and body trim t make it a unique piece.

Dupuis made a nice run here, coming up just short of the bump time. Oh, yeah, Thomas Patterson is on the bump spot at 6.364.

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Left Lane: Zach Barklage Runs 6.311/224.36, Now #14; Best prior run: 6.447/221.38, Was #24
Right Lane: Joey Martin Runs 6.916/160.14, Now #21; Best prior run: 6.387/222.36, Was #20

Nice improvement for Barklage, knocking Patterson from the field. Now Kenny Lang is on the bump spot at 6.329.

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Left Lane: Harold Laird Runs 6.292/224.73, Now #12; Best prior run: 6.438/218.16, Was #24
Right Lane: Doug Palmer Runs 12.106/75.34, Now #21; Best prior run: 6.386/220.37, Was #20

Palmer's Corvette stood up and turned hard right, forcing to lift, ending his weekend. Nice pass by Laird, well into the field, bumping Lang. Now John Scialpi is on the bump spot at 6.324.

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Left Lane: Pat Stoken Runs 6.400/216.31, Now #24; Best prior run: 6.422/221.05, Was #24
Right Lane: Kenny Lang Runs 6.386/222.91, Now #17; Best prior run: 6.329/222.40, Was #17

A couple of drivers from the northern tier, Stoken from Montana and Lang from Manitoba. Both made good runs, both came up short.

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Left Lane: Brandon Pesz Runs 6.301/224.70, Now #14; Best prior run: 6.373/223.02, Was #19
Right Lane: John Scialpi Runs 9.697/115.66, Now #17; Best prior run: 6.324/221.89, Was #16

Scialpi spun and shook the tires, getting sideways, and Pesz bumped him from the field. Zach Barklage is now on the bump spot at 6.311 and he has already run.

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Left Lane: Thomas Patterson Runs 6.267/225.41, Now #11; Best prior run: 6.364/228.34, Was #19
Right Lane: Dennis Radford Runs 6.355/212.46, Now #16; Best prior run: 6.307/222.47, Was #15

Patterson was bumped from the field earlier this round. He spun the tires on the launch and the run looked "lazy," but the car came on strong on the top end and Taylor bumped Barklage, putting Radford on the bump spot.

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Left Lane: Kirk Kuhns Runs 7.154/145.02, Now #14; Best prior run: 6.301/226.58, Was #14
Right Lane: Mike Bell Runs 6.213/230.17, Now #5; Best prior run: 6.260/226.24, Was #10

That should be it for bumping, the remaining cars already in the field. Kuhns ends up with one complete run in three tries, slowing around half track on this one. Bell made a nice run in the Roy Hill Drag Racing School Mustang, moving well up into the top half of the field.

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Left Lane: Lee Smith Runs 6.288/223.69, Now #12; Best prior run: 6.277/223.06, Was #12
Right Lane: Troy Critchley Runs 10.093/136.06, Now #10; Best prior run: 6.257/230.72, Was #10

Critchley spun the tires and shook, then lifted. Smith made another nice pass, his three runs between 6.277 and 6.301.

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Left Lane: Glen Kerunsky Runs 6.282/227.31, Now #6; Best prior run: 6.231/227.11, Was #6
Right Lane: Frankie Taylor Runs 6.338/222.73, Now #9; Best prior run: 6.247/224.25, Was #9

Both cars were a bit loose early in the run, hurting their elapsed times. However, both have made three solid runs during qualifying and look good for eliminations.

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Left Lane: Chip King Runs 6.202/230.10, Now #4; Best prior run: 6.212/229.31, Was #4
Right Lane: Troy Coughlin Runs 6.234/226.43, Now #8; Best prior run: 6.244/226.66, Was #8

Two nice runs, King with a big speed to go with a strong elapsed time. No change in the ladder, but King looks ready, his three qualifying runs between 6.202 and 6.243.

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Left Lane: Steve Engel Runs 7.516/131.38, Now #3; Best prior run: 6.186/231.20, Was #3
Right Lane: Mike Ashley Runs 6.210/228.23, Now #5; Best prior run: 6.232/227.38, Was #7

Engel' car spit out the blower belt around 1,000 feet down the track. Ashley improved enough to move a couple rungs up the ladder.

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Left Lane: Jay Payne Runs 6.193/231.60, Now #2; Best prior run: 6.170/231.12, Was #2
Right Lane: Joshua Hernandez Runs 6.129/231.56, Now #1; Best prior run: 6.096/231.44, Was #1

Last pair, both wickedly quick cars when they make a good run. Both got good launches, both went right down the groove. Jay Payne's incremental times: 60ft-1.042 sec., 330ft-2.713, 660ft-4.062/182.80mph, 1,000ft-5.219.
Joshua Hernandez's incremental times: 60ft-1.007 sec., 330ft-2.657, 660ft-4.004/183.34mph, 1,000ft-5.157. They stayed in the top two spots and could meet again in the finals, tomorrow.

Qualifying is complete and Hernandez is atop the ladder, with Dennis Radford on the bump spot at 6.307. They will race each other later this evening.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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