Sat, Mar 20, 03:40 PM GAINESVILLE - Federal-Mogul Funny Car Round 1 Eliminations

By Ed Dykes Fryfogle Takes A Hot Ride

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Federal-Mogul Funny Car at the 30th annual Mac Tools Gatornationals:

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
  15 Dave Keddy          6.470 213.70  Q   2 Frank Manzo         5.649 253.90
                  0.653  6.478 216.45 E1 *****WINNER***** 0.452  5.861 251.72

2:25 PM and mostly sunny skies, low-eighties mark the first round. Manzo doesn't even make this one close, the margin over 0,8 seconds.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
  13 Larry Bakke         6.243 220.73  Q   4 Tony Bartone        5.739 249.72
                  0.561  6.179 220.44 E1 *****WINNER***** 0.490  5.726 252.57

Bakke makes his best run of the weekend but it's not enough to topple Bartone. Bakke burned up some parts on the top end, but the clean-up is quick.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
        Bye                            Q   1 Pat Austin          5.642 255.15
                                      E1 *****WINNER***** 0.542  5.693 251.25

Austin draws the odd-lot bye this round... and runs low ET of the round, just that easy.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
  14 Bobby Martin        6.384 218.97  Q   3 Paul Gill           5.696 252.66
                  0.342  6.460 215.27 E1 *****WINNER***** 0.551  5.891 247.93

Martin tried, to no avail.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   5 Marc White          5.749 236.51  Q  12 John Sieger         6.188 226.39
                  0.498  6.096 244.52 E1 *****WINNER***** 0.472  6.202 233.48

White crossed the finishline about 0.080 seconds or 28 feet ahead of Sieger, the only problem was that White got over on the center stripe and punted one of the timing reflectors and that resulted in his disqualification.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
  11 Mark Billington     6.003 233.76  Q   6 Bob Newberry        5.770 249.86
                  0.430  5.985 233.20 E1 *****WINNER***** 0.480  5.907 244.47

Newberry was there for the taking this time... he had to get completely off the throttle to get the car off the centerline, and almost let Billington get there first. The margin at the finish was only 0.028 seconds, or about nine feet.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
  10 Carnie Fryfogle     5.942 246.71  Q   7 Todd Paton          5.792 247.52
                  0.447  5.946 229.59 E1 *****WINNER***** 0.478  5.833 249.58

Carnie lost the race, then it got worse... the engine let go on the top end and started a pretty fierce Funny Car fire, but fortunately Carnie was able to rub the car against the concrete wall enough that it shed the body and the fire dissapated quickly after that. The Safety Safari was on the scene quickly and Fryfogle climbed out under his own power as they were rolling to a stop. There's some damage to the car, but it certainly could have been a lot worse, the flames reminding us of some of the most fierce fires that Force, Pedregon, and others have suffered so many times. The medics report that Fryfogle has some burns and will be transported to Shands Medical Center for observation and treatment.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   9 Fran Monaghan       5.915 238.93  Q   8 Jay Payne           5.802 245.72
                  0.531  5.936 238.01 E1 *****WINNER***** 0.583  5.839 244.25

And Jay Payne finally takes his first national event round win in a Funny Car, as we close out the first round here today.

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