Thu, 11 Nov 1999, 05:31 PM POMONA - Pro Stock Truck Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Larry Sullivan Panella on Record Pace

POMONA, Calif. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Pro Stock Truck at the 35th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Left Lane: Ruben Celedon Runs 7.710/175.84, Now #1
Right Lane: Jeff Gracia Runs 7.889/174.80, Now #2

1:43 PM Gracia debuts in the Pro Stock Truck ranks with this run...and shakes the tires.

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Left Lane: Chris DeSalvo Runs 7.907/171.36, Now #3
Right Lane: Darren Davis Runs 8.051/173.94, Now #4

So far nobody has made a really good run - Celedon's the best so far. The conditions should support runs in the sixties...

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Left Lane: John Lingenfelte Runs 7.637/177.53, Now #1
Right Lane: Mark Whisnant Runs 7.678/176.60, Now #2

Like these two...two clean, strong efforts.

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Left Lane: David Spitzer Runs 7.691/176.14, Now #4
Right Lane: Bart Price Runs 7.673/175.80, Now #2

Spitzer took a very crooked route to the finish line in the Sonoma. Price went right down the groove.

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Left Lane: Larry Kopp Runs 9.081/104.10, Now #10
Right Lane: Randy Daniels Runs 7.595/178.12, Now #1

Daniels is the first into the fifties and resets the event ET record

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Left Lane: Larry Seay Runs 7.708/175.37, Now #6
Right Lane: Kim Smith Runs 7.719/174.80, Now #8

Two more clean runs, but as closely as the trucks typically run in qualifying these times probably won't hold up over four sessions - maybe not even one.

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Left Lane: Bob Panella Jr Runs 7.515/178.61, Now #1
Right Lane: Brad Jeter Runs 11.279/80.32, Now #14

Two of the three Winston championship contenders square off here, Jeter quitting after heavy shake on the launch while Panella resets both ends of the track record and misses the national ET record by just 0.01 seconds.

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Left Lane: Jose Maldonado Runs 7.728/174.53, Now #10
Right Lane: Brian Self Runs 17.914/46.26, Now #16

Once again tire shake wipes out the run for the truck in the right lane.

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Left Lane: Jeff Lukovich Runs 7.778/173.58, Now #12
Right Lane: Craig Eaton Runs 7.663/175.59, Now #4

Eaton holds up the honor for the Dodge contingent.

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Left Lane: Jerry Haas Runs 7.665/176.65, Now #5
Right Lane: Don Smith No Time, Now #20

Smith's left rear tire went flat on the burnout and his truck sat there like a listing barge while Haas made a snaking run, his S-10 veering to the left on the launch and Haas bringing it smoothly back to the groove by the time he reached the 330-foot marker. Then the Safety Safari brought out the floor jack and hauled the beached barge back to the front of the tower where the AAA haulback could pick it up.

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Left Lane: Scott Tidwell No Time, Now #22
Right Lane: Mark Osborne Runs 7.670/177.23, Now #6

Something went awry on Tidwell's truck after the burnout and he, too, made an unceremonious return to the pits.

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Left Lane: Scott Perin Runs 7.644/176.26, Now #4
Right Lane: John Coughlin Runs 7.660/175.84, Now #5

The starting line crew cleaned up a few dribbles from Tidwell's truck, in the left lane, before this pair made their burnouts. The bump is a respectable 7.778 now, Jeff Lukovich with the dubious honor.

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Left Lane: Bo Nickens Runs 7.756/174.14, Now #17
Right Lane: Greg Stanfield Runs 7.694/176.10, Now #12

Stanfield bumps Lukovich and puts Maldonado on the bubble at 7.728.

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Left Lane: Steve Johns Runs 7.595/178.31, Now #2
Right Lane: Lou Ficco Runs 7.765/174.75, Now #19

Johns gets in on a good run, bumping Maldanado and putting Kim Smith on the bubble at 7.719.

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Left Lane: Todd Patterson Runs 7.663/175.07, Now #8
Right Lane: Roy Simmons Runs 7.748/174.91, Now #19

Goodbye Smith, hello Patterson, Celedon's opening pass now on the bubble at 7.710.

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Left Lane: Dale Eaton Runs 7.688/175.21, Now #14
Right Lane: Mike Coughlin Runs 7.654/176.53, Now #6

Goodbye Celedon and Seay, the bump is now Stanfield's 7.694 after just one session, but the stunner is Bob Panella's 7.515 second elapsed time, 0.08 seconds quicker than number-two qualifier Steve Johns in a category where 0.08 seconds usually barely covers the sixteen-truck field.




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