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POMONA, Calif. - Notes from round 2 qualifying in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 45th 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: Mark Woznichak Runs 5.779/250.78, Now #12; Best prior run: 10.491/79.92, Was #23 12:54 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 68 degrees, relative humidity 51 percent, barometer 28.70 inches, adjusted altitude 2,518 feet, track temperature 81 degrees. "The Woz" had a busted round yesterday, made a solid pass today to
reset the field. That puts Alexis De Joria on the bump spot at 5.851. Left Lane: Keeter Ray Runs 5.654/253.99, Now #4; Best prior run: 9.048/96.99, Was #21 Right Lane: Dennis Taylor Runs 15.220/57.60, Now #23; Best prior run: 10.258/72.33, Was #23 These two ran side-by-side yesterday, both had a bad case of the shakes. Today it was just Taylor who had problems,
one rear tire losing traction on the launch. The car got sideways immediately and he quickly pulled the plug. Meanwhile, Ray made a
very nice run to jump way up into the top half of the field. That bumped DeJoria, putting Sean Bellemeur on the bump spot at
5.846. Left Lane: Steve Gasparrelli Runs 5.735/257.24, Now #9; Best prior run: 6.097/243.85, Was #19 Right Lane: Ken Webster Runs 6.052/238.51, Now #20; Best prior run: 9.302/90.54, Was #22 Gasparrelli did a good job of driving yesterday to salvage the run after a shakey start, but it wasn't quick enough to make the field. Today he avoided the shakes and just missed the top half. Meanwhile, Webster's run today looked like Gasparrelli's yesterday, the car shaking and dancing early in the run. Webster managed to salvage the run, but did not make the field. Left Lane: Sean Bellemeur Runs 6.259/186.59, Now #17; Best prior run: 5.846/251.16, Was #17 Right Lane: Ron August Jr Runs 5.854/251.81, Now #19; Best prior run: 7.736/120.56, Was #22 August also battled tire shake yesterday, but Bellemeur made a good run - but was just bumped from the field. He was on a good pace to get back in on this run, but only to about half track, where the supercharger went BANG and the burst panel in the hood sailed high in the air. Meanwhile, August made a full pass, but was not quick enough to make the field. Then the Safety Safari went to work on Bellemeur's lane, from half track on. Left Lane: Jason Rupert Runs 5.831/247.84, Now #15; Best prior run: 5.784/251.20, Was #15 Right Lane: Thomas Carter Runs 8.784/101.66, Now #22; Best prior run: 7.728/120.01, Was #22 With the scattered shrapnel all cleaned up, Vegas-winner Daniel Oliver was on the bump spot at 5.806. Rupert's car
made a big move about 200 feet out and he recovered nicely, but failed to improve. Carter shook and lifted at about the same
spot. Left Lane: Brian Thiel Runs 5.644/252.52, Now #3; Best prior run: 5.769/247.70, Was #13 Right Lane: Paul Gill Runs 6.019/241.97, Now #20; Best prior run: 5.881/252.57, Was #20 Thiel made a nice run, tying his career-best ET. Gill's car shook about 200 feet out and he had to get way out of the throttle to tame it down. Left Lane: Doug Gordon Runs 5.670/256.06, Now #8; Best prior run: 5.761/255.15, Was #13 Right Lane: Alexis De Joria Runs 5.772/253.23, Now #14; Best prior run: 5.851/252.99, Was #18 Two strong runs, DeJoris actually quicker early in the run, Gordon quicker from 330 feet on. That bumped Oliver, putting Jason Rupert on the bump spot at 5.784. Left Lane: Bret Williamson Runs 9.026/84.51, Now #14; Best prior run: 5.756/249.67, Was #13 Right Lane: Daniel Oliver Runs 5.588/257.04, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.806/252.76, Was #17 Oliver made a great run here, with a career-best ET, to move from "first alternate" to "first." Williamson was also on a good pace but his car slowed before half track, the reason not evident from here. Daniel Oliver's incremental times: 60ft-0.942 sec., 330ft-2.469, 660ft-3.677/204.85 mph, 1,000ft-4.712. Left Lane: Brian Hough Runs 5.642/255.29, Now #5; Best prior run: 5.745/252.24, Was #13 Right Lane: Mickey Ferro Runs 5.570/258.62, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.734/255.82, Was #11 Two more strong runs and we have yet another new #1 qualifier. Brian Hough's incremental times: 60ft-0.959 sec.,
330ft-2.503, 660ft-3.722/203.34 mph, 1,000ft-4.761. Left Lane: Steve Burck Runs 5.831/229.78, Now #10; Best prior run: 5.665/249.21, Was #10 Right Lane: Vern Moats Runs 14.583/56.58, Now #12; Best prior run: 5.697/253.09, Was #12 Moats' car shook almost immediately and he clicked it off. Burck had some early shake, driving through it to complete the run. Left Lane: Sean O'Bannon Runs 9.258/96.78, Now #5; Best prior run: 5.635/256.99, Was #4 Right Lane: John Lombardo Jr. Runs 5.619/256.60, Now #4; Best prior run: 5.661/254.62, Was #9 O'Bannon shook hard almost immediately and lifted. Lombardo made a very nice run to move into the fourth spot, with a career-best speed. Left Lane: Steve Harker Runs 5.710/217.14, Now #3; Best prior run: 5.596/257.09, Was #3 Right Lane: Tony Bartone Runs 5.632/255.82, Now #5; Best prior run: 5.651/253.80, Was #8 Last pair. Harker went right down the groove, on a very quick pace, but "blowed it up" between the 1,000-foot marker and the finish line. Bartone's car took the long route for the first half of the run, right, then left of the groove. But he managed to improve enough to move up a few spots.
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