GRAND BEND - Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #3

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Sat, 8 Jun 2002, 02:09 PM

Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #3

By Larry Sullivan

GRAND BEND, Ont. - Notes from round 3 qualifying in Funny Car at the Hooters IHRA Drag Racing Series, Third annual Mopar Performance Parts Canadian Nationals presented by Castrol 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:

Left Lane: John Vouros Runs 5.964/234.43, Now #3; Best prior run: 5.868/237.09, Was #3
Right Lane: Jimmy Rector Runs 5.906/234.55, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.840/240.19, Was #1

1:32 PM The bump as the third session opens is Dan Crownhart's 6.296. This first pair is clearly safely in the top half of the field and both make clean, straight runs in the heat of the day.

Left Lane: Rob Atchison Runs 5.888/235.47, Now #4; Best prior run: 5.928/234.13, Was #5
Right Lane: Laurie Cannister Runs 5.970/216.45, Now #6; Best prior run: 5.937/241.02, Was #6

Nice run by Atchison, bringing the Canadian fans to their feet as he moves into the top four. He pulled away from Cannister in the first half of the track and then held his lead on the top end. Cannister fell off the pace around the 990-foot marker, the reason not evident from here.

Left Lane: Jeff Lancaster Runs 8.247/97.33, Now #17; Best prior run: 6.513/219.19, Was #17
Right Lane: Ronnie Midyette Runs 6.046/228.77, Now #7; Best prior run: 5.944/220.75, Was #7

Lancaster's car slowed before half track. Midyette's car left a small trail of fuel on the launch, but it was between the tires and didn't affect his run.

Left Lane: Dale Brand Runs 5.970/236.46, Now #8; Best prior run: 6.013/236.22, Was #9
Right Lane: Mark Thomas Runs 5.965/231.60, Now #5; Best prior run: 5.907/236.22, Was #5

Two heavy-hitters, two good runs with no visible problems.

Left Lane: Lance Van Hauen Runs 6.310/226.75, Now #17; Best prior run: 7.203/209.79, Was #18
Right Lane: Terry McMillen Runs 6.276/228.02, Now #9; Best prior run: 5.984/236.90, Was #9

McMillen chattered the tires and lost a lot of ground early in the run. VanHauen got a full pass in here, a few ticks too slow to make the field.

Left Lane: Chris Foster Runs 6.081/234.31, Now #12; Best prior run: 6.059/234.68, Was #12
Right Lane: Mike Etter Runs 6.549/221.02, Now #13; Best prior run: 6.152/226.07, Was #13

Etter had problems early, shaking hard, and then again on the top end, going off the end of the track and into the "kitty litter." Good run by Foster, just light shake on the launch.

Left Lane: Dave Miller Runs 6.484/216.08, Now #18; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Larry Dobbs Runs 6.110/225.79, Now #10; Best prior run: 6.046/229.06, Was #10

Miller just finished his licensing passes yesterday, running in the mid-sixes. That's what he managed here, not a bad start for a new driver. Dobbs went down the groove after a shaky start.

Left Lane: Mike Comella Runs 5.968/233.94, Now #2; Best prior run: 5.861/239.17, Was #2
Right Lane: Russell Mudd No Time, Now #20; Best prior run: 8.559/105.31, Was #20

Mudd's car died at the end of the burnout and the starting line crew helped Mudd's crew push the car back so Comella could run - one of them losing their shoe on the sticky launch pad. Comella made a nice-looking run, a tenth off his great pass yesterday, but in the ballpark today.

Left Lane: Dan Crownhart Runs 6.686/204.68, Now #16; Best prior run: 6.296/214.59, Was #16
Right Lane: Paul Noakes No Time, Now #15; Best prior run: 6.197/226.30, Was #15

Noakes had an air leak in the shifter system and did not even fire the engine. Crownhart's car labored all the way down the track and he stays on the bubble.

Left Lane: Wayne Butler Runs 6.184/224.60, Now #14; Best prior run: 6.183/224.10, Was #14

Last car of the session. Butler almost duplicated his numbers from yesterday, the car trying to take out the 330-foot marker and Butler doing a nice job of driving to rein it in and save the run.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink