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HEBRON, Ohio - Notes from final, round 2 qualifying in Top Alcohol Dragster at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 39th annual Pontiac Excitement Nationals presented by Summit Racing listing lane, driver name, elapsed time/top speed this round, position in order following run, best prior elapsed time/speed, and position in order prior to run: Left Lane: Dana Stripe Runs 5.966/214.25, Now #16; Best prior run: 6.124/189.02, Was #19 Right Lane: Jared Dreher Runs 5.977/234.33, Now #9; Best prior run: 5.646/250.09, Was #9 10:20 AM Current weather conditions: 69 degrees, 93 percent relative humidity, the barometer 30.05 inches, under overcast skies. The TAD racers lost their second qualifying
session yesterday when rain arrived at National Trail Raceway, so this is their final shot at
qualifying. The bump spot is Rich McPhillips' 6.070, so there should be a lot of shuffling
today. Stripe got down the track today, avoiding most of the shake he ran into yesterday,
bumping McPhillips, replacing him on the bubble. Dreher shook and lost a lot of ground early
in the run. Left Lane: Rich McPhillips Runs 5.598/250.00, Now #9; Best prior run: 6.070/242.98, Was #17 Right Lane: Mike Kosky Runs 5.524/252.57, Now #3; No Prior Run Kosky's car rolled the beams yesterday, getting no time. McPhillips shook and dropped a cylinder yesterday. Neither driver did any of those bad things today, making two nice runs, right down the groove, to bump Stripe and Jeff Bohr. That put Gary Ward on the bubble at 5.778. Left Lane: Todd Datweiler Runs 7.637/116.16, Now #15; Best prior run: 5.702/257.38, Was #13 Right Lane: Russ Lindert Runs 5.492/251.91, Now #2; Best prior run: 5.589/252.90, Was #6 1:38 PM About three hours ago, these two were ready to start their engines and light rain began falling on the top end of the strip. So they waited. Then the rain got to this end of the track and they pushed the cars back and got the car covers out. Lindert made a good run in the first session, yesterday. Datweiler shook early in the run, but was able to pedal his way through it. This time around, Lindert made a very nice run, the Division 3 champion right down the groove. Datweiler left hard, started to smoke the tires about 200 feet out, dropped a couple cylinders, and then the engine went silent. Left Lane: Shelly Howard Runs 5.547/254.66, Now #6; Best prior run: 5.633/255.39, Was #10 Right Lane: Keith Stark Runs 5.554/254.52, Now #7; Best prior run: 6.082/238.26, Was #20 Both these drivers had problems with shake yesterday, Stark also dropping cylinders. Stark once again shook and dropped a cylinder, but managed to get the car down the track. Howard's car shook slightly, but went right down the groove. Stark bumped Gary Ward, putting Datweiler on the bubble at 5.702. Left Lane: Jeff Bohr Runs 5.657/241.93, Now #14; Best prior run: 5.795/250.13, Was #18 Right Lane: Tony Bartone Runs 5.422/267.43, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.558/258.17, Was #8 Good runs, a pair, Bohr bumping Datweiler and Bartone taking over the top spot. That put Mark Albert on the bump at 5.700. Left Lane: Tim Rudy Runs 8.559/127.50, Now #22; Best prior run: 9.834/98.54, Was #23 Right Lane: Jeff Wilson Runs 5.506/255.73, Now #5; Best prior run: 5.546/256.21, Was #6 Rudy's car launched, shook slightly, and then the engine went silent, the problem not obvious. No problems for Wilson, a very nice run to move one rung up the ladder. Left Lane: Arthur Gallant Runs 5.609/253.04, Now #4; Best prior run: 5.495/250.78, Was #4 Right Lane: Douglas Foley Runs 10.916/68.57, Now #15; Best prior run: 5.667/247.66, Was #15 Foley's car went out about 200 feet, lurched, and then started coasting. Gallant also had problems getting out of the starting blocks, shaking early. Left Lane: Bill McCornack Runs 5.579/248.25, Now #9; Best prior run: 5.575/249.90, Was #9 Right Lane: Marty Thacker Runs 5.523/257.14, Now #2; Best prior run: 5.459/258.12, Was #2 McCornack's car ran a bit of a crooked path to get to the finish line while Thacker lost a lot of ground early, then stormed through the top end. Left Lane: Robin Samsel Runs 5.907/231.68, Now #19; Best prior run: 6.237/187.78, Was #21 Right Lane: Steven Cantrell Runs 5.617/240.51, Now #12; Best prior run: 5.648/239.14, Was #13 The Sun is trying to peek through the clouds - unsuccessfully so far. The track temperature is 87 degrees, the air 77. Samsel made his best run of the weekend, but came up short, while Cantrell picked up a few hundredths and moved one rung toward the top of the ladder. Left Lane: Gary Ward Runs 5.649/250.92, Now #14; Best prior run: 5.778/243.68, Was #18 Right Lane: Mark Albert No Time, Now #17; Best prior run: 5.700/244.83, Was #16 Albert made his burnout and could not get the car into reverse, so he had to drive out the other end, unable to defend himself. Yesterday, Ward's wing came loose on the launch, hanging behind the supports all the way down the track. Today, the car shook and the right side of the win appeared to fold down, one of the end plates fluttering through the air. Despite the apparent aerodynamic problems, Ward managed to bump Albert. That put Doug Foley on the bubble at 5.667. Left Lane: Ken Perry Runs 5.630/222.91, Now #13; Best prior run: 6.078/180.60, Was #21 Right Lane: Robert Leverich Runs 7.311/162.63, Now #22; Best prior run: 8.892/140.21, Was #23 Both these cars had a shot at bumping Foley and Perry did so with apparent ease, his car smoothly down the groove and into the field. Leverich's car lurched off the starting line, he pedaled, and then drove through. Right Lane: Dave Hirata Runs 5.372/264.49, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.593/246.98, Was #10 No more bumping, Hirata the last car in the lanes and already in the field. Now he's way in the field, all the way to the top on a very nice run, the car straight and smooth, in the middle of the groove all the way. Dave Hirata's incremental times: 60ft-0.924 sec., 330ft-2.399, 660ft-3.550/216.69mph, 1,000ft-4.531.
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