Sun, 2 Sep 2001, 08:58 AM INDY - Federal-Mogul Dragster Round 1 Eliminations

By Michael L. Jex Big Speeds, Fast Times Required To Win

CLERMONT, Ind. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Federal-Mogul Dragster at the 47th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals:

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   8 Russ Lindert        5.598 248.93  Q    9 Bill Reichert       5.598 248.48
                  0.566  5.579 248.71  E1 *****WINNER***** 0.503  5.469 259.81

Russ Lindert has the distinction of being Norm Drazy's first PSI Blower Customer, a good trivia question for this class... He runs his best pass of the weekend, but so did Reichert. Nice pass for the A fuel dragster, he was going 216.58 mph at half track, then marched the rest of the way to the stripe.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   7 Brandon Henkelman   5.575 260.26  Q   10 David Wells         5.605 253.18
 *****WINNER***** 0.497  5.428 262.49  E1                  0.456  5.522 255.58

David Wells is using a wing borrowed from Shelly Howard after his came off in the final qualifying round yesterday. Henkelman's dragster has run in the 5.20's (Seattle) so this is anyone's dragrace. It's Henkelman! .953 short-time, 218.72 mph at half track. Wells kept things close, but was trailing from the 330-foot mark on. Margin of victory = 0.053 seconds (approximately 20 feet).

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   6 Paul Jones          5.573 255.68  Q   11 Jason Cannon        5.608 256.60
 *****WINNER***** 0.480  5.446 257.14  E1                  0.495  9.584  99.30

Both drivers had tire shake - Jones drove through his while Cannon started hazing, then blazing the tires. For the third pairing in a row the winner runs well under his qualifying time, this is turning into a great round of racing!

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   5 Arthur Gallant      5.503 251.58  Q   12 Dave Hirata         5.620 254.81
 *****WINNER***** 0.614  5.437 256.45  E1                  0.781  6.310 193.52

Hirata's having a hard time getting the car out of reverse after backing up from the burnout, but with a little "rocking action" from the crew they manage to get the dragster to go into forward mode again. Gallant continues the performance trend - he slams the door shut on the nitro burner with another run below his qualifying time. .922 short time for Gallant, 213.47 mph at the halfway point.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   4 Jay Meyer           5.500 254.33  Q   13 Bill McCornack      5.623 251.44
                  0.483  5.562 249.67  E1 *****WINNER***** 0.443  5.595 249.95

Great drag race! With a big hole shot advantage at the start McCornack held off the hard charging Meyer, who didn't have enough track to overcome the deficit. It was close at the stripe - just three feet was the margin of victory.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   3 Keith Stark         5.478 258.02  Q   14 Tim Rudy            5.636 227.92
 *****WINNER***** 0.474  5.329 265.90  E1                  0.534  6.736 151.56

Rudy had trouble getting his A Fueler into reverse. It looked like Stark was going to have a single, but Rudy was finally able to get backed up. Bamm! Stark's run was conservative at the start, just .975 to the 60-foot marker, but then the big yellow dragster marched like a champion all the way to the stripe. That's Low ET of the meet for Stark.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   2 Shelly Howard       5.471 255.00  Q   15 Brandon Bernstein   5.655 245.90
 *****WINNER***** 0.441  5.475 256.94  E1                  0.485  5.517 255.10

Kenny is here watching son Brandon take on one of the categories best - Brandon deep staged, but Howard still left on him, over powered him, and put the Bud Prince on the trailer. Howard will race Brandon Henkelman in round two, and Henkelman will have lane choice. Howard is now 2-0 against the young driver, who like his father seems to have some trouble against women drivers in the first round....

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   1 Duane Shields       5.445 256.02  Q   16 Shawn Bowen         5.659 254.09
 *****WINNER***** 0.561  5.425 258.47  E1                  0.548  5.792 255.05

The winner will race Bill Reichert in round two. Duane and the rest of the team were up watching the Funny Car session last night, and are very excited to race here at Indy. Shields run was almost boring to watch. No tire shake, no wiggles, no movement from side to side. Just a super smooth run into round two, and Duane will have lane choice in round two. The other match-ups are McCornack and Gallant, Stark will race Jones, and Shelly Howard will race Brandon Henkelman's A Fuel Dragster.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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