Sat, 15 Mar 2003, 02:57 PM Top Alcohol Funny Car Round 1 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 34th annual MAC Tools NHRA Gatornationals:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  136 Jim Sickles                            23 Mark Billington
E1   ****WINNER****  0.108  5.772 250.97                     0.122  7.899 107.52
 Qualified:             #7  5.809 249.03                       #10  5.891 246.44

2:27 PM Current weather conditions: 76 degrees, 61 percent relative humidity, the barometer 29.92 inches, with a track temperature of 104 degrees, under partly cloudy skies.

Not much to brag about in the reaction time department in either lane, but then Billington's car went to the right, out of the groove, while Sickles went right down the groove with his best pass of the weekend.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   33 Jeff Craig                            253 Charles Gambino
E1   ****WINNER****  0.085  5.704 253.16                     0.090  6.160 234.43
 Qualified:             #6  5.743 252.59                       #11  5.918 238.15

They left together and both cars were a bit loose, moving around a lot, but Craig had the muscle today, running his best elapsed time and speed of the weekend, and Gambino's inaugural weekend of Top Alcohol Funny Car racing is over.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   10 Chuck Cheeseman                       518 Bruce Carlson
E1   ****WINNER****  0.125  5.658 253.02                     0.058  5.949 224.83
 Qualified:             #4  5.689 252.59                       #13  5.967 234.00

Carlson got a huge holeshot, but Cheeseman had way too much power for him, taking the lead before the 330-foot marker and then pulling away for a relatively easy win. Carlson did his job, leaving on time and running better than his qualifying pace, but Cheeseman did not make any mistakes (or take any prisoners), also running his best elapsed time of the weekend.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    8 Bob Newberry                               Bye
E1   ****WINNER****  0.147  5.670 253.95
 Qualified:             #1  5.618 255.24                     Bye

"Newb" used the #1 qualifier bye run (since there were only fifteen competitors on the ladder) to check his "race day" tuneup. Looked pretty good from here and his crew seemed happy with the run, the car smoothly down the groove with no visible problems.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   52 Cy Chesterman                        3016 Larry Bakke
E1   ****WINNER****  0.067  5.737 247.66                     0.292  8.852 121.19
 Qualified:             #2  5.637 253.95                       #15  6.761 218.07

Chesterman was vulnerable, but Bakke was late and then chattered the tires hard. Chesterman also shook, but was able to drive out of it with a quick pedal job and the rest of the run was unremarkable. Despite the pedal job, his elapsed time was quick enough to earn lane choice against Sickles in round two.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   53 Vern Moats                            121 Scott Woodington
E1   ****WINNER****  0.138  5.703 252.38                     0.231  5.922 228.07
 Qualified:             #3  5.662 252.45                       #14  6.063 230.29

Woodington made his best run of the weekend, but what he made up in elapsed time, he lost in reaction time, and Moats was able to win by a big margin. To cap it off, he took lane choice in round two away from Craig by a thousandth of a second.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    7 Marc White                            194 Michael Ferro
E1   ****WINNER****  0.091  5.694 251.60                    -0.040  5.859 244.83
 Qualified:             #5  5.738 248.34                       #12  5.956 242.84

Ferro went red, wasting his best run of the weekend. It probably didn't matter, White also ran his best time of the weekend and advances to round two, but gives up lane choice to Cheeseman.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   14 Paul Lee                              545 Thomas Frickenschmidt
E1                   0.118  7.289 146.48     ****WINNER****  0.063  5.940 242.78
 Qualified:             #8  5.821 248.27                        #9  5.871 245.16

Lee launched into shake and skate, the car all over the lane. meanwhile, Frickenschmidt went right down the groove for a surprisingly easy win. He faces Newberry next round, Newberry with lane choice.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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