Sat, 30 Sep 2000, 08:10 PM TOPEKA - Federal-Mogul Funny Car Round 1 Eliminations

By Bob Orme

TOPEKA, Kan. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Federal-Mogul Funny Car at the 12th annual Advance Auto Parts Nationals:

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   1 Pat Austin          5.716 249.63  Q   16 Scott McVey         7.462 205.22
 *****WINNER***** 0.483  5.694 250.23  E1                  0.461  7.139 197.59

6:22 PM McVey's car moved immediately to the right on the hit, putting him out of the groove and very close to the wall.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
  15 Cy Chesterman       6.502 171.40  Q    2 Randy Fleming       5.773 255.48
 *****WINNER***** 0.471  5.725 252.14  E1                  0.453  5.924 239.53

Fleming's car drifted toward the centerline just past the 330' cone and he fought to keep from crossing it for most of the rest of the run.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   3 Sam Blue            5.802 247.66  Q   14 Kris Hool           6.364 233.56
 *****WINNER***** 0.507  5.820 247.38  E1                  0.516  6.240 230.76

Hool's best pass of the weekend isn't nearly enough, and Sam Blue advances to the second round.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   4 Steve Gasparrelli   5.812 245.58  Q   13 Lawren Jones        6.281 228.81
 *****WINNER***** 0.483  5.819 247.25  E1                  0.518  6.016 235.19

Jones got off to to bumpy start but drove through it. Gasparrelli was moving around his lane on the top half of the track.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   5 Vern Moats          5.828 241.93  Q   12 Dale VanGundy       6.093 227.77
 *****WINNER***** 0.514  5.812 245.27  E1                  0.620  8.475 100.56

VanGundy was loose for the first 330', and off the throttle before reaching the half track mark.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   6 Kirk Williams       5.879 245.09  Q   11 Lynn Engels         6.005 237.09
                  0.000 No Time        E1 *****WINNER***** 0.591  5.973 238.64

When they started Williams car at the line, it sounded pretty strange. They shut it off and sent Engels down the track on a solo pass.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   7 Steve Addleman      5.922 243.99  Q   10 Bruce Carlson       5.979 245.40
                  0.504  9.152  93.97  E1 *****WINNER***** 0.483  7.216 141.27

Addleman shook hard on the launch, got way out of shape and took out the 330' cone. I didn't see anything wrong with Carlson's car, so he may have seen Addleman coming toward him out of the corner of his eye and slowed to avoid a collision.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   8 Scott Palmer        5.939 240.89  Q    9 Kurt Prososki       5.966 241.02
                  0.502  9.040  71.13  E1 *****WINNER***** 0.444  6.053 236.55

Palmer had severe tire shake on the launch, drifted toward the centerline at the 330' mark, and had the chute deploy at half track. making for an unusual looking pass. In round two, Austin has lane choice over Prososki, Moats picks over Gasparrelli, Chesterman chooses over Carlson, and Blue gets the nod over Engels.




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