Sat, 13 Feb 2010, 03:26 PM Competition Eliminator Round 1 Eliminations

By David Gerard

POMONA, Calif. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Competition Eliminator at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 50th annual Kragen O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals presented by Valvoline:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
 7522 Brian Fitzpatrick                          Bye
E1   ****WINNER****  0.539  7.796 121.85     
        H/D Index: 7.00 (+/-):  0.796     
 Qualified:             #1  6.223 -0.777                     Bye

11:35 a.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 71 degrees, relative humidity 36 percent, barometer 28.95 inches, adjusted altitude 2,347 feet, track temperature 91 degrees. Great weather and CIC's will be a big risk for the racers.

Fitzgerald gets the first round bye as #1 qualifier. How about 226MPH in a six cylinder 193ci Toyota dragster. The dual turbos help!

He waits a while at the green, leaves hard with a 1.108 sixty foot time, and then clicks it early to save any CIC.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
 7235 Scott McClay                         707M John Mihovetz                
E1   ****WINNER****  0.053  7.937 124.04                           No Time      
       C/ED Index: 7.87 (+/-):  0.067           BB/AT Index: 7.27 (+/-): 92.729
 Qualified:            #17  7.309 -0.561                        #2  6.505 -0.765

McClay gets the single, as Mihovetz hurt the Mustang's turbo motor too bad to make the call.

McClay leaves with the wheels up and dumps before mid-track.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
 7023 Tyler Hogan                            75 Ross Wilson                  
E1   ****WINNER****  0.074  7.146 185.49                     0.104  8.586 143.37
       C/DA Index: 7.57 (+/-): -0.424           C/SMA Index: 8.76 (+/-): -0.174
 Qualified:            #24  7.136 -0.434                        #9  8.155 -0.605

We get a side by side race this time. Wilson is a little late and can't run the number.

Hogan makes the most of it with the win. That may be the young Hogan's first round win.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
    3 Mike DePalma                         7411 Gary Tackett                 
E1   ****WINNER****  0.035  8.386 141.65                     0.012  8.436 163.04
        C/T Index: 8.82 (+/-): -0.434           B/SMA Index: 8.69 (+/-): -0.254
 Qualified:            #12  8.229 -0.591                       #27  8.377 -0.313

Tackett gives the light a try and cards a nice 0.012 RT, but is no match for the stronger S-10 of DePalma.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
  610 John Edwards                          775 Peter Adams                  
E1                   0.167  7.396 184.55     ****WINNER****  0.075  7.480 182.38
       C/AA Index: 7.96 (+/-): -0.564             C/A Index: 7.97 (+/-): -0.490
 Qualified:             #7  7.324 -0.636                       #22  7.476 -0.494

Edwards car steps the rear end out at the green and it costs him. He's late too and Adams takes the upset win.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
 7098 Tom Mettler                           720 J.D. Zink                    
E1   ****WINNER****  0.068  7.905 126.18                    -0.439  6.972 172.98
        PST Index: 7.97 (+/-): -0.065            A/ND Index: 7.42 (+/-): -0.448
 Qualified:            #10  7.369 -0.601                       #25  7.039 -0.381

Zink misses the green by almost a full bulb. Mettler saves the engine and goes to round two without a CIC.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
 7298 Scott Hedlund                        711N Nicole Lyons                 
E1   ****WINNER****  0.111  8.474 117.89                    -0.089  7.479 146.50
       A/SM Index: 8.36 (+/-):  0.114            A/AA Index: 7.15 (+/-):  0.329
 Qualified:            #14  7.779 -0.581                       #29  7.096 -0.054

Over a full second difference in indexes and Lyons tries to leave first and fails. Easy win for Hedlund.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
   76 Dean Carter                            74 Steve Graham                 
E1   ****WINNER****  0.006  7.082 180.52                     0.034  7.511 181.94
       B/ND Index: 7.53 (+/-): -0.448             C/A Index: 7.97 (+/-): -0.459
 Qualified:            #16  6.961 -0.569                       #31 16.556  8.586

Carter gets a great 0.006 light and wheel races Graham to a five foot victory!

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
 6660 Adam Bowdish                         7780 Craig Johnson                
E1   ****WINNER****  0.022  9.263 121.25                    -0.199  7.732 176.26
       H/SM Index: 9.54 (+/-): -0.277           AA/AM Index: 7.07 (+/-):  0.662
 Qualified:            #15  8.970 -0.570                       #30  8.125  1.055

Two and a half second difference in indexes this time. Bowdish was there for the taking, as the Trans Am moves hard towards the center line and he has to drag it back into the center of the lane. Johnson throws the advantage away with a big Red Light!

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
  500 Lou Ficco Jr.                        7771 Ed Sigmon                    
E1   ****WINNER****  0.029  7.344 159.51                     0.012  8.619 143.98
       B/AP Index: 7.88 (+/-): -0.536            C/SR Index: 9.09 (+/-): -0.471
 Qualified:             #3  7.151 -0.729                       #18  8.530 -0.560

That may have been an expensive win. Sigmon cards a great 0.012 RT, can't match his prior best times.

Ficco gets the 10 foot win, but with the first CIC hit of the round. Things got pricey at this point, as there is a lot of smoke from the GXP in the lights.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
 7273 Gary Ross                            7004 Art Hodges                   
E1   ****WINNER****  0.267  6.645 210.97                           No Time      
       A/AA Index: 7.15 (+/-): -0.505            A/PM Index: 7.05 (+/-): 92.949
 Qualified:            #28  7.047 -0.103                       #13  6.467 -0.583

Hodges car doesn't stop on the burn out and coast down to mid-track and stops. Ross is shut off and waits for the track to clear.

After some fiddling, Hodges gets the Stratus engine to restart and drives to the first turn out.

It's start your engine time. Another expensive run!

Ross just dips into the CIC pool on his single and then has the car make a hard move, bouncing off the guard rail after the finish line. He straightens it out and drives it off at the top end. There are spare parts to clean up on the track, but he is OK!

12:03 p.m. Sweepers to the top end!

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
   77 Alan Ellis                           7230 Randy Jones                  
E1   ****WINNER****  0.090  8.457  92.04                    -0.017  8.084 168.53
       A/AP Index: 7.22 (+/-):  1.237           A/SMA Index: 8.56 (+/-): -0.476
 Qualified:             #8  6.594 -0.626                       #23  8.088 -0.472

500ci vs. 400ci, but 1.3 seconds difference in the indexes.

Jones is red by -0.017 and Ellis dumps after a strong 1.036 sixty foot time.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
    7 Doug Lambeck                          590 Clint Neff                   
E1   ****WINNER****  0.004  8.535 137.57                     0.032  8.346 159.32
      D/SMA Index: 8.97 (+/-): -0.435             K/A Index: 8.49 (+/-): -0.144
 Qualified:            #19  8.415 -0.555                        #4  7.840 -0.650

Terrific 0.004 light for Lambeck and he dumps to take the almost fifty foot win. Neff has problems and slows.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
   73 Justin Lamb                          7265 Tom Brown                    
E1   ****WINNER****  0.000  8.781 147.47                     0.058  8.301 158.13
      G/SMA Index: 9.33 (+/-): -0.549            F/ED Index: 8.79 (+/-): -0.489
 Qualified:             #6  8.693 -0.637                       #21  8.279 -0.511

Nice wheels up leave for Lamb with a 0.000 RT. He takes the easy win, but will take a little CIC into round two this afternoon.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
    2 Dan Fletcher                           78 Brian Moscini                
E1   ****WINNER****  0.024  8.251 122.32                    -0.018  8.677 172.45
       B/EA Index: 8.34 (+/-): -0.089            C/AA Index: 7.96 (+/-):  0.717
 Qualified:             #5  7.694 -0.646                       #20  7.417 -0.543

Red light start for Moscini and Fletcher lifts with the free pass to round tow.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
 529Y Steve Holloway                       765A Ron Weems                    
E1   ****WINNER****  0.041  7.743 132.96                           No Time      
       B/AA Index: 7.62 (+/-):  0.123            A/AA Index: 7.15 (+/-): 92.849
 Qualified:            #11  7.028 -0.592                       #26  6.795 -0.355

Weems crashed hard in qualifying and can't make the call for round one. Holloway leave hard with a 1.010 sixty foot time and clicks it early.

12:17 p.m. In round two: Fitzpatrick vs. Hogan; Fletcher vs. Ross; Ficco vs. Holloway; Adams vs. Bowdish; McClay vs. Mettler; Lamb vs. Hedlund; Lambeck vs. DePalma; and Ellis vs. Carter.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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