Fri, 21 Sep 2001, 05:43 PM FMDRS 6-6 - Federal-Mogul Dragster Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Michael L. Jex Track Records Smashed!!

MEDFORD, Ore. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Federal-Mogul Dragster at the Snap On Tools Valley Thunder Weekend listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Left Lane: Bernie Plourd Runs 6.060/194.85, Now #1
Right Lane: Bill Edwards Jr. No Time, Now #2

Edward's is a no-show for this first round of qualifying. Bernie's dragster shook, went left, then right and sputtered a few times. It had a hole out on the top end of the track.

The run was pretty gruesome looking, but it's good enough for the top spot for the time being.

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Left Lane: Don Hudson Runs 14.740/65.51, Now #3
Right Lane: Bill Edwards Jr. Runs 5.765/240.52, Now #1

Evidently Edwards was held back so Plourd could run the requisite new car single. The conditions here this afternoon are pretty good for Medford - 85 degrees, 16 percent humidity and a 30.01 barometer. Tire shake will likely be an issue this round.

Hudson blazed the tires right at the hit - the big goodyears couldn't handle all the power his engine was making. Edwards run was one of the best of the year for the team - nice lap for the Napa Sponsored driver.

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Left Lane: Steve Federlin Runs 5.719/243.17, Now #2
Right Lane: Paul Jones Runs 5.587/252.98, Now #1

Both drivers finished in the fifth spot in their home divisions last year. Jones is from Division Seven, and still recovering from their national event outing at Sonoma earlier this year, when the team blew up three motors during the weekend.

Nice run for Jones!!

Federlin had the tires "goin' square" at the start, but pedaled and recovered nicely. He left a flash of smoke at the top end, From the top end we hear that Federlin kicked the rods out of the motor, so we're down for a quick check of the track.

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Left Lane: Duane Shields Runs 5.465/260.24, Now #1
Right Lane: Brian Hough Runs 5.572/258.63, Now #2

Duane got a tire on the edge of the groove on the burnout, and had to make a quick steering adjustment on the burnout. Brian and car owner Mike Johnson could prove the big spoiler this weekend - they run well in conditions like this, have nothing to lose, and like very much the role of underdog.

Brian drove through a ton of tire shake but didn't trail Shields by much. Big speeds for both drivers, Shields may have set a new track record, officials are checking.

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Left Lane: Mark Hentges Runs 5.564/255.76, Now #3
Right Lane: Rick Santos Runs 5.402/260.19, Now #1

Mark's comment about the weekend was simple - "We're here to beat Santos." The Oakwood team must win this weekend to continue their march towards the title.

Bamm!!!! Hentges pedaled with a lot of tire shake, Santos, who made a test lap yesterday, laid down a bomb burst - he smashes the track record for both ET and speed. That may be one of the best laps of the year for Santos - this is an altitude track!

So with just one round of qualifying in the books we have seven dragsters in the 5.70's already. Wow.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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