Sat, 11 Nov 2000, 05:26 PM POMONA-2 - Federal-Mogul Dragster Round 1 Eliminations

By Darryl Jackman

POMONA, Calif. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Federal-Mogul Dragster at the 36th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals:

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
  12 John Shoemaker      5.606 252.00  Q    5 David Baca          5.472 258.42
                  0.456  5.695 215.58  E1 *****WINNER***** 0.525  5.287 270.64

1:54 PM Here comes the opening round of Federal-Mogul Dragster. These folks had a barn burner in qualifying and it's a very quick field. Wow! We have a run in for Baca that is quicker than the national record. The mph comes very close to the record. The A-Fuel car left hard and never missed a beat all the way down. Shoemaker had a great light but there was no way he could overcome that shot.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   8 Duane Shields       5.546 250.92  Q    9 Steve Faria         5.577 252.90
                  0.513  5.753 200.89  E1 *****WINNER***** 0.504  5.460 259.46

Faria fires a good shot of his own. He carded a .924 60 foot number and was showing daylight header flames all the way to the finish. Shields was not so lucky in the other lane. As he approached the lights there was a big flash of fire under the engine that burned for a very long time. It must be that the fire burned off most of the oil as it's a very short cleanup.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   4 Gary Ormsby Jr      5.459 258.81  Q   13 Steve Federlin      5.625 251.02
 *****WINNER***** 0.507  5.456 240.51  E1                  0.452  5.636 250.74

A big win for Ormsby. He was a bit late as compared to Federlin but a .905 60 foot number had him caught up very quickly. The car did appear to nose over a bit at a 1100 feet and his mph was a bit down for the ET. Federlin will fight another day. Ormsby will not have choice over Baca.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   3 Bruce Bowler        5.452 254.57  Q   14 Steve Cantrell      5.649 244.29
 *****WINNER***** 0.514  5.499 260.86  E1                  0.359  5.661 244.25

Cantrell felt like he needed the light as Bowler had almost two tenths in qualifying. He gets the red instead.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   1 Rick Santos         5.373 261.32  Q   16 Kent Nuckols        5.664 250.83
 *****WINNER***** 0.484  5.370 256.99  E1                  0.482  5.565 255.68

Nuckols picked up from qualifying by a tenth but it was no use. Santos was pulling away at every marker down the course. Santos will face Faria in the second round and he will have lane choice.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
  15 Tony Meredyk        5.655 243.90  Q    2 Dave Hirata         5.448 264.65
                  0.499  5.935 244.47  E1 *****WINNER***** 0.537  5.682 254.76

Meredyk has a career weekend come to an end. He actually had a lead on Hirata at half track but it almost appeared that he lifted and got back on the pedal. That was when Hirata passed him for the win.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   6 Mike Strasburg      5.526 256.41  Q   11 Darren Nicholson    5.590 251.06
                  0.455 12.179  64.84  E1 *****WINNER***** 0.441  5.576 253.80

Strasburg has the front wheels five feet in the air and was shaking the tires at the same time. That's when he pulled the plug and brought the front end down hard. Nicholson survives one of the two chutes not coming out and will face Bowler in the next round. Bowler will have lane choice.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
  10 Mark Hentges        5.579 255.92  Q    7 Brandon Henkelman   5.544 255.97
                  0.507  5.529 256.55  E1 *****WINNER***** 0.513  5.521 260.36

That was a close drag race. Margin of victory = 0.002 seconds (approximately 9 inches). Henkelman will have lane choice over Nicholson in round two.




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