Fri, 18 Mar 2005, 02:39 PM Pro Stock Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Larry Sullivan

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Pro Stock at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 36th annual MAC Tools NHRA Gatornationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Left Lane: Ronnie Humphrey Runs 6.857/179.64, Now #2
Right Lane: Dave Northrop Runs 6.742/204.31, Now #1

2:01 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 61 degrees, relative humidity 46 percent, barometer 29.87 inches, adjusted altitude 315 feet, track temperature 58 degrees.

The high-horsepower Competition Eliminator cars and the Pro Stock Motorcycles had problems getting a good launch today, so the Pro Stock cars could be in trouble. Northrop is running "Grumpy power" so he could give us a good measure of the track early in the session. Clean run by Northrop, just 0.004 seconds slower than the gainesville track record. Hunphrey had a strong launch, posting a 0.996 60-foot time, but had to lift past half track.

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Left Lane: Kevin Lawrence No Time, Now #4
Right Lane: Mark Whisnant Runs 7.094/160.39, Now #3

Lawrence's car died on the burnout and would not refire.

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Left Lane: Bob Benza Runs 7.064/151.56, Now #4
Right Lane: Rickie Smith Runs 6.723/206.23, Now #1

That's both ends of the track record for Smith and his fastest speed ever in an NHRA Pro Stock car. benza left hard, a 0.998 60-foot time, but slowed around half track.

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Left Lane: Josh King Runs 19.573/43.15, Now #6

King spun the tires and slowly coasted down the track.

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Left Lane: Tony Rizzo Runs 7.984/154.08, Now #7
Right Lane: Mark Pawuk Runs 7.342/144.00, Now #6

Rizzo's car chattered the tires hard on the launch. Pawuk's went to the left, then the right, but he drove through it, lifting around half track

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Left Lane: Barry Grant Runs 6.996/190.03, Now #4
Right Lane: Jim Cunningham Runs 8.462/115.60, Now #9

Cunningham's car almost crossed the centerline. Grant lifted before half track.

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Left Lane: Mike Edwards Runs 6.692/206.18, Now #1
Right Lane: Erica Enders Runs 13.085/83.49, Now #11

Enders' car chattered the tires and the engine bogged. Edwards destroyed the new track elapsed time record on a smooth pass, running a career-best speed.

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Left Lane: Kenny Koretsky Runs 6.660/206.28, Now #1
Right Lane: Bruce Allen Runs 6.733/204.35, Now #4

Koretsky made his quickest run ever, taking the track elapsed time record away from Edwards, but it's not his fastest speed ever. Allen made a nice run, but Koretsky ran away from him.

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Left Lane: V. Gaines Runs 6.723/205.15, Now #4
Right Lane: Ben Watson Runs 22.114/35.32, Now #16

Watson's car blew the tires loose at the hit. Gaines became the fifth driver to run under the old track record.

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Left Lane: Greg Stanfield Runs 13.314/63.92, Now #16
Right Lane: Jason Line Runs 7.255/148.00, Now #11

Stanfield shook the tires on a 0.987 60-foot run. Line posted a 0.985 short time, but the car made a hard move toward the wall and he had to lift.

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Left Lane: Greg Anderson Runs 6.649/207.32, Now #1
Right Lane: Richie Stevens Runs 6.726/204.96, Now #6

Anderson reset both ends of the track record on the quickest run in history - it's also the third-fastest run in history. Nice run by Stevens, also under the old track record, but slow by comparison.

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Left Lane: Larry Morgan Runs 17.774/56.18, Now #20
Right Lane: Jeg Coughlin Runs 6.727/204.68, Now #7

Morgan lost traction on the launch. jeg's run was almost a duplicate of Richie Stevens' run, Bob Glidden apparently putting the same tuneup in both cars.

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Left Lane: Kurt Johnson Runs 6.671/207.13, Now #3
Right Lane: Jim Yates Runs 6.672/205.76, Now #4

Both cars looked a little loose, but both drivers did a nice job of staying in the groove. Those are both career-best numbers for KJ and for Yates.

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Left Lane: Dave Connolly Runs 6.686/205.52, Now #5
Right Lane: Warren Johnson Runs 6.742/206.28, Now #12

WJ had to do a lot of driving on this one, the car making a hard move on the launch and twitchy down track to run a career-best speed. Nice run by Connolly, but not career-best numbers for the Bullet Racing Cavalier driver.

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Left Lane: Ron Krisher Runs 6.689/206.94, Now #6
Right Lane: Allen Johnson Runs 7.002/159.65, Now #17

Krisher reset both his career marks on this run, but it was only good enough for sixth in this very quick field. Johnson was quicker than Krisher to half track, but had to back lift before the 1,000-foot marker.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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