Sun, Feb 7, 05:51 PM POMONA - Comp Eliminator Round 2 Eliminations

By Ed Dykes A Pair of Crashes Mar the Round

POMONA, Calif. - Results of round 2 eliminations in Comp Eliminator at the 39th annual NHRA AutoZone Winternationals:

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---(+/-)-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---(+/-)
   9 Alan Freese         8.361 -0.489  Q  16 Tom Brown           8.702 -0.328
   C/EA   Index:  8.85                     F/ED   Index:  9.03 
   (P Cocuzza   ) 0.616  8.870  0.020 E1   (B Morrison  ) 0.539  9.012 -0.018
 *****WINNER***** 0.596  8.388 -0.462 E2                  0.568  8.779 -0.251

2:09 PM, overcast skies, 50 degrees.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---(+/-)-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---(+/-)
  28 Jim Warter         20.177 10.797  Q   7 Rich Howell         7.465 -0.495
   B/SM   Index:  9.38                     B/A    Index:  7.96 
   (T Huggins   ) 0.586  8.952 -0.428 E1   (D Waite     ) 0.568  7.515 -0.445
                  0.616  8.961 -0.419 E2 *****WINNER***** 0.603  7.515 -0.445

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---(+/-)-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---(+/-)
   6 John Linton         7.634 -0.516  Q  27 Larry Hedlund      15.788  6.728
   D/ED   Index:  8.15                     E/SM   Index:  8.99 
   (D Kilheffer ) 0.653  7.865 -0.285 E1   (J Edwards   ) 0.556  8.485 -0.575
 *****WINNER***** 0.525  7.847 -0.303 E2                  0.615  9.029  0.039

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---(+/-)-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---(+/-)
  19 Scott McClay        7.934 -0.216  Q  26 Rob Smith          15.696  6.366
   D/ED   Index:  8.15                     C/SR   Index:  9.33 
   (D Rampy     ) 0.506  7.790 -0.360 E1   (M Chapparone) 0.674  8.824 -0.506
                  0.592 (Broke)       E2                  0.641 (Broke)      

There is no winner, here, as Smith got out of shape, crossed over the center line and right into the path of McClay. The charging dragster was moving a lot faster than the slowing roadster, and McClay drove right into the back of Smith's machine, doing substantial damage to the front of the dragster and rendering McClay powerless to steer it. He finally got it stopped just short of the finishline, with Smith spinning out and stopping at midtrack; both drivers emerged unscathed. The rear end of the roadster looks a lot better than the front end of the dragster, but both of these cars are going to need a trip to the chassis shop before they race again.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---(+/-)-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---(+/-)
   3 Jim Kennedy         8.602 -0.538  Q  24 Rob Slavinski       9.557  1.597
   F/A    Index:  9.14                     B/A    Index:  7.96 
   (J Lion      ) 0.769 13.768  4.628 E1   (J Johnston  ) 0.593  7.639 -0.321
 *****WINNER***** 0.523  8.604 -0.536 E2                  0.568 11.235  3.275

After a 15-minute cleanup, we're back in business...

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---(+/-)-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---(+/-)
  11 Rick Houser         8.862 -0.468  Q   4 Rick Braun          8.322 -0.528
   C/SR   Index:  9.33                     C/EA   Index:  8.85 
   (T Snyder    ) 0.559  9.065 -0.265 E1   (F Gross     ) 0.596  8.346 -0.504
 *****WINNER***** 0.587  8.818 -0.512 E2                  0.632  8.304 -0.546

A close one, just 0.011 seconds apart at the stripe... barely 2 feet.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---(+/-)-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---(+/-)
   8 Rob Robinson        8.031 -0.489  Q  15 Tom Haueter         7.791 -0.359
   B/EA   Index:  8.52                     D/ED   Index:  8.04 
   (C Neff      ) 0.550  8.080 -0.440 E1   (J Gillette  ) 0.630  7.533 -0.617
 *****WINNER***** 0.564  8.029 -0.491 E2                  0.534  7.666 -0.374

And now there's yet another crash, but this time it's the dragster out of control. He loses it on the top end, the car making a hard left just past the finish and then rolls several times, finally stopping well past the line in the left lane. This one was pretty violent, and they're taking Haueter to the on-site medical facility to check him out, but he apparently doesn't require a trip to the hospital. We'll update you as soon as we get additional information.

And that's the last pair of the round.

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