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GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Top Alcohol Dragster 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: Left Lane: John Finke Runs 9.798/78.44, Now #2 Right Lane: Aaron Olivarez Runs 5.440/262.92, Now #1 4:44 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 58 degrees, relative humidity 50 percent, barometer 29.85 inches, adjusted altitude 143 feet, track temperature 58 degrees. Finke lost a lot of ground to Olivarez in the first half of the track and lifted.
Olivarez made a clean, straight pass to get off to a good start for the weekend. Left Lane: Darryl Hitchman Runs 5.469/262.31, Now #2 Right Lane: Tim Bowgren Runs 5.763/239.04, Now #3 Good run for Hitchman, no obvious problems. Bowgren pedaled at least once and took a very crooked route to the finish line. Left Lane: Daniel Mercier Runs 5.463/265.56, Now #3 Right Lane: Michael Gunderson Runs 5.208/276.49, Now #1 This one ought to have the tongues wagging - Gunderson stormed down the middle of the groove, all eight cylinders lit all the way down the track. Nice pass by Mercier, but he wasn't even in the same county at the finish. Left Lane: Bill Reichert Runs 5.181/276.07, Now #1 Right Lane: Mark Albert Runs 5.408/259.29, Now #3 That didn't last long, Reichert dipped into the 'teens on yet another stunning run. Meanwhile, Albert ran career best numbers and nobody noticed. Bill Reichert's incremental times: 60ft-0.920 sec., 330ft-2.353, 660ft-3.446/228.60mph, 1,000ft-4.377. Michael Gunderson's incremental times: 60ft-0.920 sec., 330ft-2.371, 660ft-3.469/228.07mph, 1,000ft-4.401. Left Lane: Jeff Veale Runs 10.306/77.96, Now #10 Right Lane: Ron Griffis Runs 6.535/227.27, Now #8 Veale lifted before half track. Griffis dropped two or three cylinders immediately and never lifted, the car blubbering its way down the track. Left Lane: Jason Cannon Runs 9.760/84.42, Now #10 Right Lane: Wayne Morris Runs 5.704/255.46, Now #7 Cannon shook the tires. Morris' car was off the pace all the way down the track. Left Lane: Artie Allen Runs 15.296/98.80, Now #14 Right Lane: Rich McPhillips Runs 5.525/262.16, Now #7 Allen's car lost power on the launch - it was still running, but weakly, and he drove it out the other end. McPhillips made a full pass, right down the groove. Left Lane: Robin Samsel No Time, Now #17 Right Lane: Jeff Wilson Runs 5.650/252.10, Now #8 Wilson's blown car is one of few this weekend and was the only blown car in last-weekend's Lucas Oil event at Houston Raceway Park, where he went to the finals. Samsel pre-staged and then his engine went silent. Wilson made a full pass, but lost time with tire shake early in the run. Left Lane: Dave Hirata Runs 10.564/78.05, Now #16 Right Lane: Guy Kelly Runs 5.370/264.47, Now #3 Hirata lost traction, pedaled once, then lifted. Nice pass by Kelly, a career-best elapsed time. Left Lane: Ashley Force Runs 5.396/267.37, Now #5 Right Lane: Ken Perry Runs 5.350/263.85, Now #3 Nice race, and the blown car got the win light. That's a career-best elapsed time for Perry. Left Lane: Randy Meyer Runs 5.458/257.06, Now #9 Right Lane: Arthur Gallant Runs 5.304/270.92, Now #3 Gallant barely missed the half-track timing reflectors, taking the long route to the finish line. That hurt his elapsed time a bit, but the extra distance gave him a career-best speed. Meyer lost a lot of ground early in the run, then picked up the pace considerable, but he left some "stuff" on the top half of the quarter mile. Right Lane: Karen Benkovich Runs 6.142/172.87, Now #16 5:41 p.m. Benkovich was all over the track and shut it down. Right Lane: Gene Snow Runs 5.338/266.82, Now #4 Good run by "the Snowman," right down the groove, to close the show.
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