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JOLIET, Ill. - Notes from final, round 2 qualifying in Top Alcohol Dragster at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 13th annual United Association Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by Miller Welders 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: Dave Hill Runs 5.906/248.98, Now #16; No Prior Run 9:37 a.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 74 degrees, relative humidity 83 percent, barometer 29.05 inches, adjusted altitude 2,895 feet, track temperature 81 degrees. John Finke is on the bump spot at 6.184. This session is for the non-Allstars, the Allstars drivers will count their first round of Allstars eliminations as a qualifying round. Hill skipped last night's
qualifying session, so this is his only shot at making the field...and he made a full pass to replace Finke on the bump
spot. Left Lane: Dave Hirata Runs 5.687/255.82, Now #16; Best prior run: 14.941/71.46, Was #19 Hirata went up in tire smoke as soon as he launched last night. This time was "mo' better," but he is now on the bump spot and Hill is on the outside. Left Lane: Robin Samsel Runs 5.542/252.99, Now #14; Best prior run: 5.575/238.76, Was #14 Right Lane: Brian Mans Runs 5.654/250.32, Now #15; No Prior Run Mans is a 5.4-second player and broke in the water last night, so he figured to be an easy qualifier. He hurt his chances by rolling in deep, turning off the pre-stage bulb, then his car was slow off the starting line with a 1.050 60-foot time, and he still had the muscle to easily get into the field. Meanwhile, Samsel improved over his previous run, stayed 14th. Now Mark Taliaferro is on the bump spot at 5.676. Left Lane: Darren Nicholson Runs 5.452/256.70, Now #11; Best prior run: 5.459/260.11, Was #10 Right Lane: Mark Taliaferro Runs 5.431/262.74, Now #8; Best prior run: 5.676/262.08, Was #16 There is one car still in the lanes with a shot at bumping Taliaferro, so he certainly wanted to move up the ladder on this run. He did what he needed to do with a nice run, right down the groove, and Nicholson made a nice side-by-side show of it, the two cars locked together all the way down the track. Left Lane: Marty Thacker Runs 5.450/262.90, Now #10; Best prior run: 5.444/264.44, Was #10 Right Lane: Dave Heitzman Runs 7.044/234.70, Now #20; Best prior run: 6.974/216.72, Was #20 Heitzman was the last not-qualified car in the lanes, with a shot at bumping Brian Mans from the field, but he would have to beat Mans' 5.654 to do so. Heitzman's career-best is a 5.270, so he was capable of doing so, but this was his last chance to do so. Heitzman's chances went up in tire smoke as soon as he hit the throttle, boiling the hides. Meanwhile, Thacker made a run
that looked about like his run last night, no improvement, and he stays 10th. Left Lane: Monroe Guest Runs 8.643/97.86, Now #3; Best prior run: 5.363/255.48, Was #3 Right Lane: Jared Dreher Runs 5.515/251.44, Now #14; Best prior run: 5.540/245.76, Was #14 Guest's car came off the line and squared off the rear tires, getting a bit sideways. He pedaled, then gave it up as a bad idea. Dreher made a clean, straight run, improved slightly, stayed 14th. Left Lane: Michael Manners Runs 11.018/81.90, Now #2; Best prior run: 5.351/271.73, Was #2 Right Lane: Brandon Booher Runs 5.452/256.99, Now #11; Best prior run: 5.466/257.09, Was #12 Last pair...Manners shook the tires and lifted. Booher made a good run, matching Nicholson's ET and taking over the 11th spot on speed.
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