Thu, 10 Nov 2011, 18:44 PM Top Alcohol Dragster Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By David Gerard

POMONA, Calif. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Top Alcohol Dragster at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 47th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Right Lane: Brooks Brown Runs 11.592/115.47, Now #1

3:13 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 73 degrees, relative humidity 28 percent, barometer 28.96 inches, adjusted altitude 2,407 feet, track temperature 78 degrees.

Brown's fueler is in trouble right off the line and drops a bunch of cylinders. He motors on down.

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Left Lane: Johnny Ahten Runs 14.043/65.83, Now #3
Right Lane: Blake Alexander Runs 5.521/261.37, Now #1

Two more fuelers to the line.

Ahten smokes the tire hard at the green and motors on down. Alexander gets his car to the finish line under power to start the runs against the top spots.

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Left Lane: Mark Taliaferro Runs 5.348/275.22, Now #2
Right Lane: Megan McKernan Runs 5.330/269.94, Now #1

We finally get two cars together under power at the finish line and it's a great side by side pass.

Taliaferro is away first and is better to near the 330, where McKerrnan's power plant is better for the rest of the run.

That's a new career best ET and MPH for her and the current #1spot.

Mark Taliaferro's incremental times: 60ft-0.932 sec., 330ft-2.453, 660ft-3.585/222.11 mph, 1,000ft-4.537.
Megan McKernan's incremental times: 60ft-0.938 sec., 330ft-2.422, 660ft-3.544/222.33 mph, 1,000ft-4.504.

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Left Lane: Cody Perkins Runs 5.934/181.96, Now #4
Right Lane: Ray Martin Runs 20.520/50.61, Now #7

Martin's car grumbles off the line with a zillion RPM's and he clicks it off.

Perkins takes the long way down with a lot of abrupt moves going down the track. He moves into the #4 spot.

Cody Perkins' incremental times: 60ft-0.914 sec., 330ft-2.466, 660ft-3.681/204.45 mph, 1,000ft-4.785.

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Left Lane: John Finke Runs 5.534/247.43, Now #5
Right Lane: Chase Copeland Runs 5.326/278.29, Now #1

Two nice passes and both cars run close together to the finish line.

John Finke's incremental times: 60ft-0.967 sec., 330ft-2.478, 660ft-3.638/215.20 mph, 1,000ft-4.642.
Chase Copeland's incremental times: 60ft-0.964 sec., 330ft-2.466, 660ft-3.587/225.00 mph, 1,000ft-4.523.

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Left Lane: Aaron Tatum Runs 5.253/271.68, Now #1
Right Lane: Michael Manners Runs 5.534/266.64, Now #6

WOW! Tatum did his home work and flies down the track into the new top spot and a new season and near career best ET. Nice.

Manners makes a clean pass too and will move into the new #6 spot.

Aaron Tatum's incremental times: 60ft-0.932 sec., 330ft-2.402, 660ft-3.505/227.77 mph, 1,000ft-4.440.
Michael Manners' incremental times: 60ft-0.961 sec., 330ft-2.560, 660ft-3.731/217.74 mph, 1,000ft-4.700.

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Left Lane: Chris Demke Runs 5.343/267.53, Now #5
Right Lane: Jim Whiteley Runs 5.337/270.05, Now #4

...and the hits keep coming.

Two more strong passes and top half of the field performance.

Chris Demke's incremental times: 60ft-0.924 sec., 330ft-2.371, 660ft-3.518/215.62 mph, 1,000ft-4.503.
Jim Whiteley's incremental times: 60ft-0.931 sec., 330ft-2.381, 660ft-3.525/216.83 mph, 1,000ft-4.505.

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Left Lane: Joey Severance Runs 5.747/246.48, Now #11
Right Lane: Duane Shields Runs 5.367/265.01, Now #7

Severance has to win on Sunday to take the National Championship. The engine isn't happy and drops cylinders down the track.

Demke makes a clean pass into the top half of the field.

Joey Severance's incremental times: 60ft-0.956 sec., 330ft-2.523, 660ft-3.764/198.29 mph, 1,000ft-4.835.
Duane Shields' incremental times: 60ft-0.944 sec., 330ft-2.450, 660ft-3.576/224.06 mph, 1,000ft-4.531.

3:39 p.m. Aaron Tatum is number one at 5.253 and the field is not filled, no bump spot.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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