Fri, 26 Apr 2013, 15:32 PM Competition Eliminator Qualifying Notes, Final Session

By Larry Sullivan

BAYTOWN, Texas - Notes from round 2 qualifying in Competition Eliminator at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 26th annual O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Super Start Batteries listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed this round, amount over/under index this round, position in order following run, best prior elapsed time, speed & over/under Index, and position in order prior to run:

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Left Lane: Craig Bourgeois Runs 14.292/70.24/6.902, Now #10; B/DA Index: 7.39, Prior Best: 6.809/200.02/-0.581, Was #10
Right Lane: Pete Carbery Runs 7.268/182.38/-0.302, Now #20; B/AA Index: 7.57, Prior Best: 8.395/117.72/0.825, Was #23

1:54 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 78 degrees, relative humidity 66 percent, barometer 30.14 inches, adjusted altitude 1,867 feet, track temperature 115 degrees.

Bourgeois had a 0.003 light, then slowed. Carbery sat there with a green light glowing for 26.951 seconds (to allow Bourgeois to clear the track), then made his run. Better than his first, but still not a competitive run.

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Left Lane: Bruno Massel Runs 6.594/204.63/-0.646, Now #2; I/D Index: 7.24, Prior Best: 6.650/202.45/-0.590, Was #8
Right Lane: Kevin Self Runs 8.070/131.99/-0.400, Now #1; F/EA Index: 8.47, Prior Best: 7.782/167.61/-0.688, Was #1

Massel jumped up the ladder, to the #2 spot, with a nice run. Self made a half-pass.

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Left Lane: Charlie Stewart Runs 7.760/168.66/-0.490, Now #17; J/D Index: 8.25, Prior Best: 7.977/135.48/-0.273, Was #21
Right Lane: Scott Benham Runs 8.284/164.63/-0.466, Now #19; B/T Index: 8.75, Prior Best: 8.371/158.89/-0.379, Was #19

Both drivers picked up the pace a bit from their first run today.

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Left Lane: Adam Hickey Runs 8.265/152.06/-0.475, Now #19; C/SMA Index: 8.74, Prior Best: 8.186/164.19/-0.554, Was #20
Right Lane: Raymond Martin Runs 7.659/171.58/-0.631, Now #3; K/AA Index: 8.29, Prior Best: 7.666/171.64/-0.624, Was #3

Martin improved slightly, stayed third.

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Left Lane: Charles Watson Runs 8.367/161.50/-0.393, Now #15; D/SM Index: 8.76, Prior Best: 8.247/163.87/-0.513, Was #15
Right Lane: Del Segura Runs 8.238/162.72/-0.362, Now #14; F/D Index: 8.60, Prior Best: 8.061/164.45/-0.539, Was #14

Segura's Mitsubishi-engined dragster isn't much bigger than a Junior Dragster, but it's a lot quicker - 5.226 seconds and 132.8 mph at the 1/8-mile.

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Left Lane: Donald Thomas Runs 7.254/181.67/-0.576, Now #11; C/ED Index: 7.83, Prior Best: 7.281/164.87/-0.549, Was #13
Right Lane: Mike Trumble Runs 7.953/168.91/-0.577, Now #9; A/SMA Index: 8.53, Prior Best: 7.941/170.97/-0.589, Was #9

This turned ugly at the finish line, Trumble's car making a hard left turn in a cloud of smoke. He appeared to hit the left wall hard before spinning to a stop in the left lane, well past the finish line. Thomas was well clear before the incident and was not involved. Trumble was not injured, but the car took a licking.

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Left Lane: Adam White Runs 6.880/195.42/-0.550, Now #14; A/ND Index: 7.43, Prior Best: 15.196/54.08/7.766, Was #24
Right Lane: Scott Cashio Runs 9.141/119.41/0.161, Now #17; D/SMA Index: 8.98, Prior Best: 8.475/159.83/-0.505, Was #16

2:19 p.m. Back to racing.

Nice run by White in the front-engined dragster. Cashio made a half-pass.

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Left Lane: Jim Kimbrough Runs 7.045/192.74/-0.545, Now #8; C/DA Index: 7.59, Prior Best: 6.983/192.99/-0.607, Was #7
Right Lane: Clark Smiley Runs 7.373/186.33/-0.617, Now #5; BB/A Index: 7.99, Prior Best: 7.436/183.84/-0.554, Was #13

Nice pass by Smiley to move up to sixth spot.

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Left Lane: Dennis Smiley No Time, Now #24; BB/AM Index: 7.40, Prior Best: 7.606/174.12/0.206, Was #24
Right Lane: Keith Mawhee Runs 7.815/175.27/-0.465, Now #22; D/A Index: 8.28, Prior Best: 8.449/128.27/0.169, Was #23

Dennis Smiley's blown Corvette got up on the tires, then shook and he lifted. Since he left before the tree came down, he didn't get a time anyway.

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Left Lane: Joey Tanksley Runs 7.387/134.19/-0.023, Now #4; C/D Index: 7.41, Prior Best: 6.792/196.39/-0.618, Was #4
Right Lane: David Rampy Runs 7.277/181.81/-0.563, Now #7; A/EA Index: 7.84, Prior Best: 7.231/182.62/-0.609, Was #7

Tanksley made a half-pass.

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Left Lane: Duane Robison Runs 7.309/187.05/-0.621, Now #4; C/A Index: 7.93, Prior Best: 7.330/187.05/-0.600, Was #9
Right Lane: Bill Kent Runs 6.754/197.13/-0.516, Now #13; B/D Index: 7.27, Prior Best: 6.706/201.07/-0.564, Was #13

Last pair. Robison improved nicely to move up to fourth, Kent did not improve.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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