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LAS VEGAS - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, Pacific Division, Shortline Express Markets Gambler Shootout at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run: Left Lane: Bernie Harrington Runs 5.971/239.19, Now #2 Right Lane: Von Smith Runs 5.738/250.27, Now #1 Von Smith is usually terrorizing the ranks in the IHRA races, but a trip to Vegas is always fun, too We have a match of Camaros with Harrington's car in the left lane. Weather conditions: air temperature 62 degrees, relative humidity 39 percent, barometer 28.15 inches, adjusted altitude 2,503 feet, track temperature 76 degrees.
Left Lane: Dale Van Gundy Runs 5.999/239.65, Now #3 Right Lane: Mike Drake Runs 6.295/172.32, Now #4 Both drivers took the scenic route, with Drake checking out the wall and Van Gundy's car making a move to the centerline at the start. Van Gundy managed to get his car moved pretty much back to the center and laid down a decent pass to tune from. Left Lane: Paul Crifasi Runs 7.816/122.70, Now #6 Right Lane: Jeff Carroll Runs 5.905/248.98, Now #2 Crifasi's calling his car a Honda and the taillights look something like a Prelude's though I could swear the C pillar matches a Camaro. I didn't get a look at the front end as the car pulled through the arch. Then again, Carroll's Monte Carlo doesn't look much like one,either. Once again, it was a shift to the right for both cars. Crifasi's car was not at all comfortable leaving, as it went through a series of quick hops until it settled down a bit. Carroll slowly moved towards the wall and tiptoed next to it all the way across the line. He manages to card a decent ET considering being out of the groove. Left Lane: Ross Stickler Runs 5.903/244.25, Now #2 Right Lane: Mert Littlefield Runs 13.188/73.94, Now #8 I wonder how many passes Mert has made down the quarter? What a legend. Stickler's National Guard Corvette is a great looking car in appropriately patriotic red, white, and blue. Well, so much for the going right thing. Littlefield decided to shake up the status quo and the car began shaking and moving left to the centerline after the gear change. In the meantime, Stickler was drifting right just like the rest of the cars had. It's a good thing they weren't at the same spot downtrack as the timing could have caused a problem. Left Lane: Jason Rupert Runs 5.800/245.00, Now #2 Right Lane: Ken Kraus Runs 5.912/219.97, Now #5 Rupert shoots to the #2 spot while Kraus's car began laying smoke down at 1100 feet with a flash and a muffled bang as it crossed the line. The track's fine and we light the next pair. Left Lane: Larry Miner Runs 6.660/151.00, Now #9 Right Lane: Don Hudson Runs 8.477/106.60, Now #11 A noticeable difference in the burnouts, as Hudson was turning considerably more RPM than Miner. Hudson's car starts moving around pretty hard and he clicks it off. After some shake at the leave, Miner looks to be on a good pass until about 800 feet or so. There was a BIG flash underneath the car and we could see flames. The fire continued to burn all the way through the shutdown area. It went out by itself well into the shutdown area and pretty much all the way up the hill. From the large cloud of smoke, I'd say we have a problem on the track. I thought I saw flashed of parts flying around also. Though he got very close, we are told that Miner did not contact the wall and is fine though the same can't be said for his engine. 8:20 p.m. We're down for a cleanup. Left Lane: Ron August Jr Runs 5.989/239.10, Now #8 Right Lane: Hank Coolidge Runs 5.917/247.61, Now #6 8:30 p.m. and the next two pull into the water. That was a lot better than we all expected. The left lane bites again as August moves almost immediately to the centerline, and I wouldn't be surprised if he crossed it. Coolidge was loose in the right lane but kept the beast more or less in the center. Evidently August didn't touch the line. Left Lane: John Patton Runs 5.967/244.29, Now #7 Right Lane: Mark Woznichak Runs 6.255/180.98, Now #11 Patton moves to the centerline just like the rest. Woz has problems. Left Lane: Dennis Taylor Runs 6.969/142.66, Now #14 Right Lane: Clint Thompson Runs 10.988/96.66, Now #17 One of the nicest guys in racing stages in the left lane. Both cars are loose and heading for the centerline. Taylor gets a bit farther than Thompson but finally calls it off. Left Lane: David Ray Runs 10.965/78.72, Now #18 Right Lane: Roger Bateman Runs 8.153/123.71, Now #16 We can clean your teeth in the right lane and stick your dentures in with the left. It's NobileSmile vs Permatex. Neither car gets much done. It's shakyville in both lanes. Bateman gets his car settles down and tries to drive across the line under power. Bernie Harrington is on the bump spot at 5.971. Left Lane: John Weaver Runs 8.192/150.41, Now #17 Right Lane: Steve Gasparrelli Runs 9.943/110.15, Now #19 Two long time Southern California hitters line up against each other. Gasparelli absolutely blows the tires off, so bad that they began smoking. It made a scary swerve to the wall but Steve did a nice job getting the car straightened out. Not as much drama with Weaver, but the same thing was happening with the rear wheel speed out of control. Left Lane: Doug Gordon Runs 6.062/245.72, Now #12 Right Lane: Steve Harker Runs 5.811/249.58, Now #3 A great driving job in both lanes. Harker's car was moving around big time, but he managed to finesse back to the center and clicks off a great pass in these conditions. Gordon's run was smooth and straight. Left Lane: Brian Hough Runs 10.543/103.71, Now #23 Right Lane: Jay Payne Runs 5.860/249.16, Now #4 It's the last pair and we have a couple of hitters here. Let's see what they can do with a rapidly cooling racetrack. Hough makes a nasty move to the centerline, at almost a 45 degree angle. He manages to get it straightened out. I expected big numbers from Payne since the pass looked super straight and quick. I'm not sure why it looked so fast but doubt that Jay will be too disappointed with the #4 spot after just one round.
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