Sat, 22 Oct 2005, 07:47 PM Pro Stock Qualifying Notes, Final Session

By Larry Sullivan

LAS VEGAS - Notes from final, round 4 qualifying in Pro Stock 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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Right Lane: Max Naylor Runs 6.960/197.80, Now #24; Best prior run: 6.958/197.57, Was #24

4:13 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 75 degrees, relative humidity 28 percent, barometer 28.28 inches, adjusted altitude 3,179 feet, track temperature 96 degrees.

A thin layer of clouds has moved in and improved conditions in the past hour, so it is possible (but not likely) we could see some movement in the field this round. Allen Johnson is on the bump spot at 6.874.

Naylor had problems getting the burnout and it took him two tries before he staged. He almost matched his best run of the weekend, but his weekend is over.

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Left Lane: Tony Rizzo Runs 7.051/196.10, Now #25; Best prior run: 6.987/197.48, Was #25
Right Lane: Bob Benza Runs 6.960/198.88, Now #23; Best prior run: 6.936/199.08, Was #23

So far, nobody has improved...

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Left Lane: Barry Grant Runs 14.860/56.28, Now #22; Best prior run: 6.928/199.20, Was #22
Right Lane: Mike Thomas Runs 6.878/200.23, Now #17; Best prior run: 6.894/199.97, Was #21

Grant launched, shook, and slowed. Thomas made his best run of the weekend, right down the groove, and came up four thousandths short of the field.

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Left Lane: Mike Edwards Runs 8.207/114.12, Now #21; Best prior run: 6.891/199.88, Was #21
Right Lane: Dave Howard Runs 6.889/199.82, Now #18; Best prior run: 6.881/200.14, Was #18

Edwards slowed around half track. Howard made a good run, but failed to improve.

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Left Lane: Ben Watson Runs 6.905/199.26, Now #20; Best prior run: 6.881/199.23, Was #20
Right Lane: Allen Johnson Runs 6.889/199.61, Now #16; Best prior run: 6.874/199.49, Was #16

No improvement for either driver...

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Left Lane: Larry Morgan Runs 6.892/199.46, Now #19; Best prior run: 6.881/200.14, Was #19
Right Lane: Mark Pawuk Runs 6.852/200.89, Now #9; Best prior run: 6.862/200.53, Was #12

Pawuk made a nice improvement, the best run of the round so far.

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Left Lane: Bob Panella Runs 6.899/199.29, Now #15; Best prior run: 6.872/200.77, Was #15
Right Lane: Greg Stanfield Runs 13.113/85.93, Now #12; Best prior run: 6.862/200.68, Was #12

The remaining cars are already qualified, so AJ is safe. Stanfield launched, shook, and coasted through.

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Left Lane: Jim Yates Runs 6.886/200.23, Now #14; Best prior run: 6.866/200.41, Was #14
Right Lane: Dave Connolly Runs 17.674/65.56, Now #11; Best prior run: 6.861/200.83, Was #11

Connolly has signed up with GM and Evan Knoll for three more years, so that should put some of the Internet rumors to rest.

Connolly launched, the car shuddered, and he slowed almost immediately. Clean pass by Yates, no help.

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Left Lane: Rickie Smith Runs 6.878/200.68, Now #13; Best prior run: 6.863/200.59, Was #13
Right Lane: V. Gaines Runs 6.874/199.97, Now #8; Best prior run: 6.850/200.53, Was #8

Two more straight, smooth runs, no improvement in either lane. So far, Mark Pawuk's is the run of the round and looking better with each pair that goes down the track.

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Left Lane: Warren Johnson Runs 6.889/200.74, Now #10; Best prior run: 6.859/201.43, Was #10
Right Lane: Richie Stevens Runs 6.838/201.31, Now #5; Best prior run: 6.841/202.03, Was #5

WJ joins the pack, but Stevens shows some nice power, replacing Pawuk's as the run of the round.

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Left Lane: Jeg Coughlin Runs 6.858/200.59, Now #7; Best prior run: 6.847/201.40, Was #7
Right Lane: Jason Line Runs 6.833/201.58, Now #4; Best prior run: 6.834/202.09, Was #4

Line needed to move up a spot or two to avoid meeting his teammate before the finals...he ran low ET of the round so far, but failed to move up the ladder. Coughlin failed to improve.

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Left Lane: Ron Krisher Runs 6.868/200.77, Now #6; Best prior run: 6.844/201.70, Was #6
Right Lane: Erica Enders Runs 13.825/60.73, Now #3; Best prior run: 6.827/201.25, Was #3

Enders launched and slowed almost immediately. Krisher joined the gaggle running in the mid to high eighties this round.

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Left Lane: Kurt Johnson Runs 6.828/202.33, Now #2; Best prior run: 6.820/202.76, Was #2
Right Lane: Greg Anderson Runs 6.825/201.52, Now #1; Best prior run: 6.818/201.97, Was #1

Last pair. Both made stunning runs earlier today, Anderson winning the ET battle and KJ with the biggest speed. Once again they ran the two quickest times of the round, once again KJ had top speed and Anderson top ET. By qualifying in the top half of the field, Anderson clinches the 2005 POWERade Pro Stock Championship.

That's it, Anderson is once again #1 at 6.818 and Allen Johnson is on the bump spot at 6.874.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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