Sat, Oct 31, 09:06 PM BAYTOWN - Federal-Mogul Dragster Round 1 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan Three Upsets in Round One

BAYTOWN, Texas - Results of round 1 eliminations in Federal-Mogul Dragster at the 2nd annual Matco Tools Supernationals:

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   9 Darryl Hitchman     5.637 241.09  Q   8 Gene Snow           5.633 246.64
                  0.000  8.857 107.32 E1 *****WINNER***** 0.667  6.239 163.84

2:38 PM We open with a pair of "Jr. Fuel" cars and if both keep all eight candles lit, it should be a dilly. But it wasn't to be - Hitchman's car was too low in front and triggered the stage beams early - then the car lurched and Hitchman ended up staged. Snow rolled in and left on the green while Hitchman just sat there trying to figure out what was going on. Snow dropped a couple cylinders, but was an easy winner.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
  10 James Thompson      5.639 249.37  Q   7 Tom Beecham         5.630 252.31
                  0.556  6.263 211.91 E1 *****WINNER***** 0.684  5.599 250.83

Thompson's car faltered and reacted slowly, dropping cylinders, giving Beecham an easy ride to victory.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   3 John Costanza       5.542 252.31  Q  14 Darrell Russell     5.824 245.83
                  0.587  8.741 130.66 E1 *****WINNER***** 0.408  5.605 254.09

A/Fuel car in the left lane, blown alcohol in the right. Costanza's car smoked the tires and then dropped a bunch of cylinders as the engine unloaded. Russell was spot-on with his reaction time and made a nice run to advance to round two, his team apparently finally finding the gremlins that slowed that car during qualifying.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
  13 Lee Calaway         5.809 237.84  Q   4 Troy Buff           5.576 255.24
                  0.544 (Broke)       E1 *****WINNER***** 0.453  5.580 254.59

Calaway's car launched and the engine went silent, the car coasting to a stop about 200 feet down the track. No problems in the right lane, Buff virtually duplicating his not-so-shabby qualifying effort. As they push Calaway's car away we can see a naked blower drive pulley, the belt nowhere in sight.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
  15 Billy Bybee         5.988 240.44  Q   2 Shawn Bowen         5.530 253.73
                  0.570  5.839 244.29 E1 *****WINNER***** 0.516  5.684 237.78

Bowen's car shook and skated around, but he drove through it for an easy win. But the unplanned excursion toward the centerline cost him lane choice, which will go to Beecham in round two.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   6 Shane Gay           5.601 231.12  Q  11 Mark Taliaferro     5.678 247.79
                  0.462 16.106  46.02 E1 *****WINNER***** 0.478  5.625 251.25

A/Fuel left lane, blown alcohol right. Gay lit the rear tires up like a Top Fuel car, smoke boiling around the rear of the car. Taliaferro's car was very loose, the front end wandering all over the lane, but he posted his best run of the weekend - and was still 0.02 seconds too slow, losing lane choice to Russell in round two.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
  12 Shelly Howard       5.693 250.06  Q   5 Jay Payne           5.580 255.24
 *****WINNER***** 0.498  5.650 251.25 E1                  0.493  5.718 251.67

Payne made a "gorilla" run in the final qualifying session, but Shelly saved her best for this round. Payne's car shook and it sounded like he short-shifted to get out of it, saving the run, but killing some ET. Shelly advances to face Buff next round, Buff with lane choice.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
  16 Michael Bowers      6.012 224.32  Q   1 Rick Henkelman      5.402 260.94
                  0.576  6.316 191.89 E1 *****WINNER***** 0.658  5.443 258.02

Henkelman experimented with "new tires and a different clutch setup" in the final qualifying session - looks like they used the same combination here to advance to round two, where he will have lane choice against Snow. Bowers left first here, but Henkelman ran him down quickly and then the A/Fuel car really picked up the pace.

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