Thu, 1 Sep 2005, 04:25 PM Top Alcohol Dragster Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Larry Sullivan

CLERMONT, Ind. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Top Alcohol Dragster at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 51st annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Left Lane: Paul Fishburn Runs 5.765/250.64, Now #1
Right Lane: Alan Bradshaw Runs 5.867/199.61, Now #2

3:32 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 79 degrees, relative humidity 48 percent, barometer 29.51 inches, adjusted altitude 2,086 feet, track temperature 123 degrees.

Two clean runs, no visible problems, Fishburn with a career-best speed.

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Left Lane: Dave Hirata Runs 6.087/256.02, Now #3
Right Lane: Dave Hedges Jr. Runs 6.370/198.64, Now #4

Hirata bought Michael Gunderson's equipment lock, stock and barrel valve, complete with tuneup and tuning help here at the U.S. Nationals. Both cars shook early in the run and both drivers had to pedal to get hooked back up again.

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Left Lane: Ken Perry Runs 5.589/234.61, Now #1
Right Lane: Robin Samsel Runs 13.177/59.90, Now #6

Samsel smoked the tires immediately. Perry was on a whale of a run until about 1,000 feet, then there was a great deal of smoke and he slowed. Ken Perry's incremental times: 60ft-0.921 sec., 330ft-2.429, 660ft-3.635/205.63mph, 1,000ft-4.675. The Safety Safari equipment rolled to clean up the top end of the left lane and the shutdown area.

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Left Lane: Todd Datweiler Runs 5.690/253.18, Now #3
Right Lane: Gene Snow Runs 5.438/261.32, Now #1

Nice run by "The Snowman."

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Left Lane: Bill Reichert Runs 5.572/257.24, Now #2
Right Lane: Noah Condo Runs 11.297/71.90, Now #9

Condo smoked the tires at the hit. Reichert went right down the lane - the run didn't look great, but it will do.

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Left Lane: Jared Dreher Runs 5.615/250.00, Now #5
Right Lane: Jeff Bohr Runs 5.466/259.41, Now #2

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Left Lane: Arthur Gallant Runs 5.523/265.90, Now #4
Right Lane: Brandon Johnson Runs 5.500/260.31, Now #3

This round has been surprisingly slow, take this pair for example. Okay runs, but not up to their usual level of performance.

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Left Lane: Marty Thacker Runs 5.494/260.21, Now #3
Right Lane: Jeff Wilson Runs 6.784/239.74, Now #14

Wilson smoked the tires at the hit - pedaled, smoked them again. Nice pass by Thacker.

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Left Lane: Hillary Will Runs 5.460/266.06, Now #3
Right Lane: Aaron Olivarez Runs 5.410/266.06, Now #1

Nice side-by-side runs.

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Left Lane: Jason Cannon Runs 5.841/224.58, Now #14
Right Lane: Steve Federlin Runs 5.485/261.67, Now #5

Cannon shook the tires and lost a lot of time early in the run.

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Left Lane: Steve Torrence Runs 5.400/262.64, Now #1
Right Lane: Ashley Force Runs 5.941/243.46, Now #17

Force's car dropped a couple cylinders immediately. Torrence continued his hot streak by taking over the top spot right out of the box.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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