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GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Notes from round 4 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 this round, position in order following run, best prior elapsed time/speed, and position in order prior to run: Right Lane: Mark Pawuk Runs 6.743/205.24, Now #20; Best prior run: 7.342/144.00, Was #27 3:30 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 72 degrees, relative humidity 45 percent, barometer 29.92 inches, adjusted altitude 1,074 feet, track temperature 99 degrees. Rickie Smith is on the bump spot at 6.723. His is the only car keeping this from being the quickest field ever, the next slowest driver, Mark Whisnant, is qualified at 6.710 and the quickest field ever was at the second Chicago 2 race last year, a 6.718 bump. Pawuk had high
hopes for this weekend, but has not gotten down the track in his first three tries. He finally
got a full pass, starting with a 1.000 60-foot time and some tire spin, but came up
short. Right Lane: Jim Cunningham Runs 7.170/190.35, Now #27; Best prior run: 6.934/194.93, Was #27 Cunningham's car used up a lot of lane and that isn't a good thing. Left Lane: Josh King Runs 6.897/200.26, Now #27; Best prior run: 10.333/79.37, Was #28 Right Lane: Ben Watson Runs 6.801/204.68, Now #26; Best prior run: 6.861/203.48, Was #26 Watson came into this race two-for-two in qualifying, but he's now 2-1, unable to run the number this afternoon. Left Lane: Tony Rizzo Runs 8.694/117.70, Now #25; Best prior run: 6.789/204.82, Was #25 Right Lane: Erica Enders Runs 7.124/159.01, Now #24; Best prior run: 6.769/203.85, Was #24 Double "Nope!" here... Left Lane: Bob Benza Runs 7.991/119.03, Now #23; Best prior run: 6.761/205.15, Was #22 Right Lane: Ronnie Humphrey Runs 6.753/204.40, Now #21; Best prior run: 6.765/203.80, Was #23 Benza was very sideways before half track. Left Lane: Barry Grant Runs 14.291/53.01, Now #22; Best prior run: 6.756/204.73, Was #22 Right Lane: Bruce Allen Runs 6.746/205.10, Now #19; Best prior run: 6.733/204.35, Was #19 Allen was probably the biggest threat to Smith's hold on the bump spot, but he was unable to convert a 0.997 60-foot time into a run quick enough to qualify. Grant shook and shut off almost immediately. Left Lane: V. Gaines Runs 6.710/205.57, Now #13; Best prior run: 6.695/206.32, Was #12 Right Lane: Jeg Coughlin Runs 6.686/207.13, Now #10; Best prior run: 6.727/204.68, Was #18 Coughlin also had the potential to dislodge Smith. When a 0.988 60-foot time came up, it was a matter of keeping the rest of the run smooth enough to make it in and he did so easily, all the way up to tenth spot in the field. Gaines made a good run, but failed to improve and lost one spot to Coughlin. Left Lane: Greg Stanfield Runs 6.689/206.13, Now #12; Best prior run: 6.693/206.94, Was #12 Right Lane: Richie Stevens Runs 6.696/207.08, Now #14; Best prior run: 6.726/204.96, Was #18 Mark Whisnant was on the bump spot at 6.710. Stevens ran right with Stanfield most of the way down the track and also easily got into the field, bumping Whisnant. Left Lane: Ron Krisher Runs 6.697/206.99, Now #11; Best prior run: 6.687/207.46, Was #11 Right Lane: Rickie Smith Runs 6.709/206.46, Now #16; Best prior run: 6.723/206.23, Was #18 Smith needed to beat Dave Northrop's 6.709. He tied it, but gets the bump spot on speed! Left Lane: Larry Morgan Runs 6.681/206.65, Now #8; Best prior run: 6.683/207.03, Was #8 Right Lane: Mark Whisnant Runs 6.709/206.04, Now #17; Best prior run: 6.710/206.04, Was #18 Whisnant now faces the challenge of bettering a 6.709 to get back into the quickest field ever. He clocked a 0.987 60-foot time and became the third car to go 6.709, his speed better than Northrop but slower than Smith, so he ends up one spot out of the field. Left Lane: Kurt Johnson Runs 6.720/205.85, Now #5; Best prior run: 6.671/207.13, Was #5 Right Lane: Dave Northrop Runs 7.117/167.09, Now #18; Best prior run: 6.709/205.33, Was #18 Northrop needed to either beat a 6.709 or tie it and run faster than 206.46 to bump Smith and get back into the field. He was "only" 1.000 for the first 60 feet and slowed on the top end, so the field is determined and the remaining cars are racing for pairings and lane choice. Left Lane: Dave Connolly Runs 6.682/206.99, Now #4; Best prior run: 6.669/207.51, Was #4 Right Lane: Allen Johnson Runs 6.713/205.94, Now #15; Best prior run: 6.708/204.96, Was #15 AJ's car fishtailed slightly on the launch, but posted a 0.985 60-foot time. Connolly's 0.990 short time was slower, but he ran better than Johnson from 330 feet on. Left Lane: Kenny Koretsky Runs 6.775/206.70, Now #3; Best prior run: 6.660/206.28, Was #3 Right Lane: Warren Johnson Runs 6.693/206.32, Now #9; Best prior run: 6.683/206.42, Was #9 Koretsky let WJ cross the finish line before launching. Neither improved, but WJ was the better of the two, Koretsky with a lot of tire spin on the launch and a 1.059 60-foot time. Left Lane: Mike Edwards Runs 6.697/206.13, Now #2; Best prior run: 6.650/207.03, Was #2 Right Lane: Jim Yates Runs 11.310/77.69, Now #7; Best prior run: 6.672/205.76, Was #7 yates shook and shut it down. Edwards made a very nice run, smooth and straight. Left Lane: Greg Anderson Runs 6.655/207.80, Now #1; Best prior run: 6.633/208.23, Was #1 Right Lane: Jason Line Runs 6.673/207.23, Now #6; Best prior run: 6.672/206.56, Was #6 Final pair, the KB Racing teammates back to form and qualified 1-2 for the first time this year. They had virtually identical reaction times and both posted 0.99 60-foot times, but Anderson slowly pulled away from Line as they went down the track. That's it, the quickest
field in history features Anderson atop the ladder at 6.633 and Rickie Smith on the bottom rung
at 6.709.
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