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POMONA, Calif. - Notes from final, round 3 qualifying in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 42nd 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: Left Lane: Paul Anderson Runs 6.049/243.63, Now #24; Best prior run: 6.000/241.63, Was #24 Right Lane: Shawn Jones Runs 10.322/82.20, Now #8; Best prior run: 5.728/249.63, Was #8 5:01 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 70 degrees, relative humidity 31 percent, barometer 29.16 inches, adjusted altitude 1,989 feet, track temperature 80 degrees.
Jones came into the final session in the #8 spot and since he shook and pedaled several times it was a good thing he was. Anderson
had to pedal once in the left lane and that ended his weekend. Left Lane: Sean Bellemeur Runs 5.762/252.99, Now #13; Best prior run: 5.787/252.00, Was #15 Right Lane: John Weaver Runs 5.767/251.25, Now #10; Best prior run: 5.736/249.07, Was #10 Miner is on the bump with one of the THREE 5.877 ETs on the qualifying list. Two of those are qualified and one not. Bellemeur moves up two and Weaver remains #10. Left Lane: Ron August Jr No Time, Now #3; Best prior run: 5.660/246.84, Was #3 Right Lane: Mike Drake Runs 5.885/248.52, Now #20; Best prior run: 5.875/248.29, Was #20 August missed the session earlier today and the one thing he didn't miss in this session was the 330 marker. He set an altitude record for foam 330 blocks and darn near stuck the wall bringing it back. Drake misses the cut by about a tenth. The DQd time for August was 7.273/131.54. Left Lane: Brian Hough Runs 5.605/257.48, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.623/253.80, Was #1 Right Lane: Mert Littlefield Runs 7.558/118.32, Now #22; Best prior run: 5.893/232.43, Was #22 Hough comes into the session in the top spot by a full .04 of a second. It'll be interesting see if that holds off the hitters in this final session. Little field has some work to do here as he really hasn't been close this weekend. Hough cemented the position with an out of the groove run that I thought would end with a centerline violation. It didn't and he widened the gap between himself and the field. Littlefield was coasting early as the he spun the tires almost at the hit. Left Lane: Mark Woznichak Runs 5.901/245.81, Now #6; Best prior run: 5.705/249.26, Was #5 Right Lane: Dennis Taylor Runs 5.668/252.99, Now #5; Best prior run: 5.787/247.43, Was #17 Taylor waited until the very last moment but he uncorks a great pass and slides right into the top half of the field. That bumped Miner from the field. Left Lane: Larry Miner Runs 6.856/135.66, Now #17; Best prior run: 5.787/247.66, Was #17 Right Lane: Bret Williamson Runs 14.473/61.16, Now #21; Best prior run: 5.887/232.47, Was #21 Miner gets his last shot at bumping his way back in. His early numbers looked good with a .966 60 foot number and a 2.536 330 but it sounded like the car didn't want to shift going into high. He coasted across the line and heads for the trailer. Williamson spun the tires early and way never a factor. He's packing as well. Left Lane: Jeff Burnett Runs 5.929/195.87, Now #18; Best prior run: 5.809/233.64, Was #18 Right Lane: John Patton Runs 5.753/251.72, Now #13; Best prior run: 5.774/250.18, Was #15 Burnett was all over the left lane and he won't be racing tomorrow. Patton improves and picks up two spots. Left Lane: Hank Coolidge Runs 6.474/159.32, Now #15; Best prior run: 5.756/247.93, Was #14 Right Lane: Bernie Harrington Runs 5.734/248.89, Now #11; Best prior run: 5.777/246.80, Was #16 Coolidge wandered the right lane before clicking it very early. Harrington gets off the dreaded bump in grand style and Bellemeur replaces him. Left Lane: Vern Moats Runs 5.701/252.71, Now #6; Best prior run: 5.716/250.00, Was #8 Right Lane: Jay Payne Runs 5.601/260.46, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.660/257.87, Was #2 Payne JUST goes around Hough by .004 to take over the qualifying lead. He also increased top speed for the class to over 260 mph. Left Lane: Nancy Matter Runs 5.924/243.11, Now #24; Best prior run: 6.082/244.47, Was #25 Right Lane: Clint Thompson Runs 5.875/252.95, Now #20; Best prior run: 5.988/248.02, Was #23 Good runs by both drivers but someone has to DNQ and this IS a stout field. Both Matter and Thompson will be watching round one on Saturday. Left Lane: Roger Bateman Runs 5.631/255.00, Now #3; Best prior run: 5.662/253.42, Was #4 Right Lane: Doug Gordon Runs 5.684/253.52, Now #6; Best prior run: 5.751/249.35, Was #13 Bateman leapfrogs August and takes over the #3 spot. Gordon goes all the way into the top half of the show in the other lane. Conditions was really good out there right now. Left Lane: Steve Gasparrelli Runs 6.147/176.97, Now #11; Best prior run: 5.731/246.80, Was #11 Right Lane: Ross Stickler Runs 5.739/248.89, Now #14; Best prior run: 5.839/245.49, Was #19 Gasparrelli's woes just continue. He got to about 800 feet and then the loud bang and a flash followed by the hatch spinning through the air lead to the end of his last attempt. Lucky for him he was already in the show. Stickler pulls it together and bumps Bellemeur. Left Lane: David Ray Runs 5.638/256.26, Now #4; Best prior run: 5.710/251.81, Was #9 Ray should be the last attempt of the session. He was already in at #9 but this pass sends him into the top half where he'll pick his lane in round one. Next is round one of eliminations in Super Gas.
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