Sat, 5 Nov 2005, 06:43 PM Pro Stock Qualifying Notes, Final Session

By Larry Sullivan

POMONA, Calif. - Notes from final, round 4 qualifying in Pro Stock at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 41st annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals 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:

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Left Lane: Gordie Rivera Runs 6.832/202.00, Now #24; Best prior run: 6.850/201.94, Was #25
Right Lane: Max Naylor Runs 7.118/192.47, Now #25; Best prior run: 6.840/203.28, Was #24

3:16 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 78 degrees, relative humidity 26 percent, barometer 29.32 inches, adjusted altitude 2,100 feet, track temperature 87 degrees.

These are about the worst conditions these drivers have seen all weekend, the only positive factor being the low humidity as "Santa Ana winds" have started blowing here, bringing warmer temperatures, clear skies, and low humidity to Pomona. Bob Panella is on the bump spot at 6.721 and it is unlikely anyone will improve enough to bump him out.

Rivera made his best run of the weekend, but stayed well out of the field.

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Left Lane: Tony Rizzo Runs 6.827/202.06, Now #24; Best prior run: 6.850/201.94, Was #26
Right Lane: Barry Grant Runs 6.782/204.35, Now #23; Best prior run: 6.767/204.51, Was #23

Rizzo's car went left, then right on the launch and he turned in his best run of the weekend, but he's still a tenth of a second short of the bump time.

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Left Lane: Ron Krisher Runs 6.728/205.47, Now #19; Best prior run: 6.731/205.82, Was #20
Right Lane: Mike Edwards Runs 6.809/204.48, Now #22; Best prior run: 6.750/205.01, Was #22

Both these cars are usually in the field, but the deck was stacked against them pulling it off here. Krisher made his best run of the weekend, still came up just short.

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Left Lane: Dave Howard Runs 6.777/204.39, Now #17; Best prior run: 6.725/205.16, Was #17
Right Lane: Ben Watson Runs 6.762/203.74, Now #21; Best prior run: 6.749/204.51, Was #21

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Left Lane: Larry Morgan Runs 6.733/205.07, Now #14; Best prior run: 6.717/205.63, Was #14
Right Lane: Jim Yates Runs 6.757/205.44, Now #20; Best prior run: 6.730/205.10, Was #20

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Left Lane: Allen Johnson Runs 6.764/204.05, Now #12; Best prior run: 6.716/204.42, Was #12
Right Lane: Greg Stanfield Runs 6.751/204.91, Now #18; Best prior run: 6.727/205.85, Was #18

AJ's car made a move toward the centerline on the launch. he smoothly brought it back, failed to improve.

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Left Lane: Dave Connolly Runs 6.732/205.26, Now #11; Best prior run: 6.715/205.51, Was #11
Right Lane: Bob Panella Runs 6.745/204.91, Now #16; Best prior run: 6.721/205.57, Was #16

Bumping is over, Panella is safe. Connolly came back to form here with a straight, smooth run, but nobody is going anywhere this round.

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Left Lane: Mark Pawuk Runs 6.741/205.07, Now #9; Best prior run: 6.712/205.47, Was #9
Right Lane: Tom Martino Runs 6.740/205.22, Now #15; Best prior run: 6.718/205.69, Was #15

Most of those making good runs this round are ending up about two hundredths slower than their best prior run. In Pro Stock, that's a bunch.

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Left Lane: Mike Thomas Runs 6.737/205.22, Now #8; Best prior run: 6.708/205.41, Was #8
Right Lane: Warren Johnson Runs 6.743/205.63, Now #13; Best prior run: 6.717/207.15, Was #13

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Left Lane: Richie Stevens Runs 6.740/204.91, Now #7; Best prior run: 6.707/205.60, Was #7
Right Lane: V. Gaines Runs 6.758/205.29, Now #10; Best prior run: 6.715/206.04, Was #10

Gaines found his way into the field in the first session today and is probably very glad he timed it right. This run would not have done it - in fact, so far, nobody has run quicker than the current 6.721 bump time. In fact, Ron Krisher has low ET of the round so far and his was 6.728!

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Left Lane: Rickie Smith Runs 6.736/205.38, Now #6; Best prior run: 6.705/205.79, Was #6
Right Lane: Jeg Coughlin Runs 6.754/204.57, Now #5; Best prior run: 6.704/205.79, Was #5

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Left Lane: Greg Anderson Runs 6.800/205.54, Now #4; Best prior run: 6.685/206.54, Was #4
Right Lane: Kurt Johnson Runs 6.728/206.73, Now #3; Best prior run: 6.683/207.62, Was #3

Anderson's car did a bit of a dance on the launch, something we hardly ever see from his car. KJ matched Krisher for low ET of the round.

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Left Lane: Jason Line Runs 6.723/206.16, Now #1; Best prior run: 6.677/206.83, Was #1
Right Lane: Erica Enders Runs 6.703/206.45, Now #2; Best prior run: 6.681/206.70, Was #2

Last pair. Line's car also made a hard right-left move on the launch, and Enders made it three-for-four, running low ET in three of the four qualifying sessions.

That's it, Line is the #1 qualifier and he will race Bob Panella in the first round of eliminations tomorrow.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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