Thu, 10 Nov 2016, 18:39 PM Top Alcohol Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By David Gerard

POMONA, Calif. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 52nd annual Auto Club NHRA Finals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Left Lane: Mike Drake Runs 10.991/109.11, Now #1
Right Lane: Stefan Kontos Runs 19.383/55.42, Now #2

2:52 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 84 degrees, relative humidity 19 percent, barometer 28.96 inches, adjusted altitude 3,242 feet, track temperature 109 degrees.

Kontos loses fire before the burnout and the crew scrambles to get the engine restarted. Drake is almost back to the starting line before the engine starts. He does a quick, short burnout and stops before the starting line. Great job by all!

Kontos roles the through the beams and then strikes the tires. Drake is right behind him, pedals, and motors on down to put a number on the boards.

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Left Lane: Robert Turner Runs 20.110/40.62, Now #4
Right Lane: Chip Beverett Runs 9.986/105.96, Now #1

Two more broken runs. Both up in smoke at the green.

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Left Lane: Johan Lindberg No Time, Now #6
Right Lane: Hannes Wernhart Runs 5.783/251.06, Now #1

Wernhart takes the long way down, but gets a number for the rest to shoot at.

Lindberg was up in smoke at the green and doesn't get a time.

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Left Lane: Greg Hunter Runs 5.585/261.78, Now #1
Right Lane: Mike Doushgounian Runs 5.598/261.88, Now #2

We finally get two cars to the finish line under power and It's a great pass. They leave close together and finish just 0.013 a part in ET and just 0.10 in speed.

Nice!

Greg Hunter's incremental times: 60ft-0.955 sec., 330ft-2.511, 660ft-3.709/206.95 mph, 1,000ft-4.725.
Mike Doushgounian's incremental times: 60ft-1.004 sec., 330ft-2.528, 660ft-3.720/208.42 mph, 1,000ft-4.739.

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Left Lane: Bryan Brown Runs 6.713/150.88, Now #4
Right Lane: Chris Marshall Runs 11.336/76.54, Now #7

Marshall is loose at the green, pumps the pedal a couple of times, and gives it up.

Brown gets to near the 330 lights and strikes the tires too.

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Left Lane: Sean Bellemeur Runs 5.802/255.92, Now #5
Right Lane: Ulf Leanders Runs 5.550/264.44, Now #1

Leanders is taking no prisoners and thunder right on down the track with low ET and top speed, so far. Number one of course.

Bellemeur was on a good pass and looked to have lifted early.

Sean Bellemeur's incremental times: 60ft-0.982 sec., 330ft-2.634, 660ft-3.875/200.56 mph, 1,000ft-4.921.
Ulf Leanders' incremental times: 60ft-0.966 sec., 330ft-2.502, 660ft-3.690/209.65 mph, 1,000ft-4.701.

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Left Lane: Nick Januik Runs 5.608/255.68, Now #4
Right Lane: Clint Thompson Runs 5.631/248.11, Now #5

Two strong leaves and two almost full passes.

Januik is away first and both cars put close numbers going down the track. Thompson's engine start to spew smoke right at the 1000 foot lights. Januik's engine has a little smoke too, right after that.

Good enough for the new #4 and #5 spots.

Nick Januik's incremental times: 60ft-0.965 sec., 330ft-2.506, 660ft-3.705/206.64 mph, 1,000ft-4.732.
Clint Thompson's incremental times: 60ft-0.987 sec., 330ft-2.512, 660ft-3.705/206.70 mph, 1,000ft-4.737.

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Left Lane: Steve Gasparrelli Runs 8.502/154.56, Now #10
Right Lane: Jay Payne Runs 5.598/256.80, Now #4

Clean pass for Payne to start the session. He move into the new #4.

Gasparrelli car lurches off the line and spins the tires right after that,

Jay Payne's incremental times: 60ft-0.972 sec., 330ft-2.517, 660ft-3.716/206.61 mph, 1,000ft-4.735.

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Left Lane: Brian Hough Runs 11.262/78.70, Now #14
Right Lane: Annie Whiteley Runs 5.522/270.92, Now #1

Hough gets a big lead at the green, but is up in smoke before the tree.

Great pass for Whiteley and the new number one spot.

Annie Whiteley's incremental times: 60ft-0.963 sec., 330ft-2.520, 660ft-3.700/211.53 mph, 1,000ft-4.689.

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Left Lane: Shane Westerfield Runs 5.500/253.37, Now #1
Right Lane: DJ Cox Jr. Runs 9.946/75.63, Now #13

Stefan Kontos is on the bump spot at 19.383.

Terrific pass for Westerfield, but the engine isn't happy and slows in the lights. He still gets the new #1 for now.

Cox is strong off the line and then has the tires start to spin.

Shane Westerfield's incremental times: 60ft-0.945 sec., 330ft-2.480, 660ft-3.654/212.49 mph, 1,000ft-4.647.

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Left Lane: Terry Ruckman Runs 5.578/265.43, Now #4
Right Lane: Doug Gordon Runs 10.167/86.09, Now #16

Brian Hough is on the bump spot at 11.262.

Gordon rattles the tires and lifts early.

Ruckman uses a lot of track getting to the finish line and moves into the field in the latest #4 spot.

Terry Ruckman's incremental times: 60ft-0.979 sec., 330ft-2.526, 660ft-3.719/208.30 mph, 1,000ft-4.728.

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Left Lane: John Lombardo Jr. Runs 5.540/264.34, Now #3
Right Lane: Jonnie Lindberg Runs 5.660/257.43, Now #11

Doug Gordon is on the bump spot at 10.167.

Lombardo gets a big lead at the green and makes a strong pass into the final #3 spot of the session.

Lindberg was way late and then had to do a quick pedal slap off the line. He finishes the run under power and takes the #11 spot for now.

John Lombardo Jr.'s incremental times: 60ft-0.958 sec., 330ft-2.526, 660ft-3.705/211.33 mph, 1,000ft-4.700.
Jonnie Lindberg's incremental times: 60ft-0.989 sec., 330ft-2.597, 660ft-3.803/207.53 mph, 1,000ft-4.808.

3:28 p.m. Shaun Westerfield is number one at 5.500 and DJ Cox Jr. is on the bump spot at 9.946.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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