Thu, 3 Nov 2005, 05:55 PM Pro Stock Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Larry Sullivan

POMONA, Calif. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Pro Stock at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 41st annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Left Lane: Tom Martino Runs 6.777/204.63, Now #1
Right Lane: Gordie Rivera Runs 6.880/201.04, Now #2

5:22 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 70 degrees, relative humidity 39 percent, barometer 29.39 inches, adjusted altitude 1,530 feet, track temperature 93 degrees.

Martino's car was very twitchy for the first 100 feet. He still ran career-best numbers by a bunch - his prior best a 6.789 at 202.97.

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Left Lane: Max Naylor Runs 6.899/194.88, Now #4
Right Lane: Tony Rizzo Runs 6.858/201.76, Now #2

Rizzo's car went to the left on the launch and stayed left of the groove most of the way down the track.

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Left Lane: Bob Panella Runs 6.766/204.29, Now #2
Right Lane: Mike Thomas Runs 6.765/204.88, Now #1

Two nice runs, not much wasted motion in either lane.

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Right Lane: Mark Pawuk Runs 6.760/204.91, Now #1

Nice run by Pawuk, smooth and straight to the top - for now.

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Left Lane: Ben Watson Runs 6.772/203.61, Now #5
Right Lane: Dave Howard Runs 6.763/205.32, Now #2

Watson's car went to the right on the launch and it took him until half track to get back in the center of the groove.

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Left Lane: Mike Edwards Runs 6.750/205.01, Now #1
Right Lane: Rickie Smith Runs 6.838/199.91, Now #8

Edwards raised the bar...Smith lost a lot of time in the first part of the run.

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Left Lane: Erica Enders Runs 6.696/206.29, Now #1
Right Lane: Larry Morgan Runs 6.791/204.82, Now #9

Enders came up just short of both ends of the track record on this run - track records here at Pomona are 6.692 seconds and 206.35 mph. Nice, smooth pass by Morgan - that time may hold up through this round.

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Left Lane: V. Gaines Runs 6.741/205.38, Now #2
Right Lane: Allen Johnson Runs 6.763/204.48, Now #6

Gaines' Dodge made a big move to the left on the launch, but he brought it back smoothly to move into second spot in the order. Good run by AJ to get into the top half, for now.

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Left Lane: Jim Yates Runs 6.730/205.10, Now #3
Right Lane: Richie Stevens Runs 6.729/205.57, Now #2

Two nice runs, Enders stays #1.

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Left Lane: Jeg Coughlin Runs 6.719/205.41, Now #2
Right Lane: Ron Krisher Runs 12.665/68.52, Now #19

Krisher shook hard and shut down. Coughlin made a nice run, moving into the second spot.

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Left Lane: Greg Stanfield Runs 6.750/204.48, Now #8
Right Lane: Dave Connolly Runs 6.739/205.44, Now #5

Two more nice runs, Enders is still #1. However, "the big four" are coming up next...

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Left Lane: Warren Johnson Runs 6.741/206.35, Now #7
Right Lane: Jason Line Runs 6.704/206.67, Now #2

Line reset the track speed record, but Enders is still #1. WJ was slower early in the run and could not make it up.

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Left Lane: Kurt Johnson Runs 6.699/206.64, Now #2
Right Lane: Greg Anderson Runs 6.714/206.83, Now #4

Last pair - either could go to #1, but many have found the starting line a bit treacherous today. Both cars were solid off the starting line, but both moved around a bit during the run and Enders has the "provisional #1 qualifier" spot for the first time in her career. Anderson took the track speed record away from Line, but that is probably small consolation for coming up fourth in the first session.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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