Sun, 13 Nov 2011, 18:41 PM Top Alcohol Funny Car Round 3 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

POMONA, Calif. - Results of round 3 eliminations in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 47th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  799 Sean Bellemeur                         72 John Lombardo Jr.            
E3   ****WINNER****  0.028  5.681 255.43                     0.082  7.863 118.79
 Prior rounds:
E2    (B Harrington) 0.022  5.688 255.34      (T Bartone   ) 0.051  5.599 260.26
E1    (D Gordon    ) 0.040  5.708 254.23      (C Thompson  ) 0.050  5.681 259.06
 Qualified:            #11  5.688 254.86                        #7  5.628 258.76

3:02 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 71 degrees, relative humidity 44 percent, barometer 28.76 inches, adjusted altitude 2,685 feet, track temperature 84 degrees.

This is the first time Bellemeur and Lombardo Jr. have faced each other in national event eliminations.

Lombardo got out about 100 feet, then started shaking and smoking the tires, getting very sideways. Then something went POP and he slowed. Meanwhile, Bellemeur was going straight down the groove for a surprisingly easy win.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    3 Jay Payne                            7976 Keeter Ray                   
E3   ****WINNER****  0.109  5.606 260.21                     0.100  5.712 252.28
 Prior rounds:
E2    (S O`Bannon  ) 0.042  5.564 260.51      (P Gill      ) 0.152  5.639 255.05
E1    (J Ashwell   ) 0.072  5.617 259.96      (S Westerfiel) 0.075  5.695 249.03
 Qualified:             #5  5.590 261.22                        #8  5.635 255.48

Payne is 2 - 0 against Ray in prior events. Ray was looking for his first national event final round, Payne has been there many times, with two wins apiece in TAD and TAFC at this event alone.

Ray got a small edge at the green and held it past the 330-foot marker. Then Payne took over and pulled away to win by over a car length. He will have lane choice against Bellemeur in the final round.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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