Sat, 14 Oct 2017, 13:59 PM Top Alcohol Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #2

By Dave Rowe

ENNIS, Texas - Notes from round 2 qualifying in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 32nd annual AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals 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:

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Left Lane: Nick Januik Runs 5.538/261.83, Now #4; Best prior run: 11.388/43.90, Was #15
Right Lane: Ray Martin Runs 6.556/244.34, Now #16; Best prior run: 11.398/72.23, Was #16

12:27 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 86 degrees, relative humidity 58 percent, barometer 29.48 inches, adjusted altitude 3,214 feet, track temperature 111 degrees.

Martin leaves the line and goes up in smoke. He rolls for about ten feet, gets back on the throttle and goes on through and improves on his busted run yesterday.

Januik goes right down the groove with a good pass and moves all the way to the fourth spot for now.

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Left Lane: Ulf Leanders Runs 5.497/265.43, Now #2; Best prior run: 5.770/252.33, Was #15
Right Lane: Mark Billington Runs 14.046/97.90, Now #15; Best prior run: 5.755/252.71, Was #14

Billington goes up in smoke at the hit and gives up on the run. Leanders makes a good pass and moves all the way to the second spot.

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Left Lane: Jeff Jones Runs 5.922/190.19, Now #14; Best prior run: 5.647/259.06, Was #13
Right Lane: Bryan Brown Runs 5.602/262.85, Now #11; Best prior run: 5.705/246.48, Was #14

Brown rattled the tires at the hit, drove through it and improves on his run from yesterday. Jones gets to half track, puts out a couple of cylinders, then the engine pops and the car noses over.

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Left Lane: Andy Bohl Runs 14.524/65.66, Now #11; Best prior run: 5.598/266.48, Was #10
Right Lane: Steve Gasparrelli Runs 5.579/263.98, Now #9; Best prior run: 5.624/261.93, Was #13

Bohl goes up in smoke at the hit, gets about 60 feet out and gives up on the run. Gasparrelli goes right down the groove with a good pass to move up to the ninth spot for now.

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Left Lane: Kris Hool Runs 5.589/261.83, Now #11; Best prior run: 5.596/261.32, Was #10
Right Lane: Annie Whiteley Runs 5.536/269.40, Now #5; Best prior run: 5.610/266.48, Was #13

A good side-by-side, both right down the groove with clean passes. Whiteley improves and moves up to the fifth spot, Hool drops a spot as Whiteley goes around him.

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Left Lane: Jay Payne Runs 9.319/93.65, Now #9; Best prior run: 5.574/262.33, Was #8
Right Lane: Sean Bellemeur Runs 5.515/264.18, Now #3; Best prior run: 5.576/263.62, Was #9

Payne hits the throttle, rattles the tires, gets out of shape and gives up on the run. Bellemeur goes right down the groove and improves, moving up to the third spot in the order.

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Left Lane: John Lombardo Jr. Runs 12.122/68.08, Now #5; Best prior run: 5.529/269.08, Was #5
Right Lane: Terry Ruckman Runs 8.901/108.07, Now #8; Best prior run: 5.558/265.59, Was #8

0-for-2 on this pair. Lombardo rattles the tires at the hit and was off the throttle before he got 100 feet out. Ruckman makes it a little further and has to give up on the run.

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Left Lane: Doug Gordon Runs 5.472/268.76, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.486/268.76, Was #1
Right Lane: Shane Westerfield Runs 5.549/267.00, Now #4; Best prior run: 5.524/267.37, Was #4

Gordon goes right down the groove with another great pass and improves on his top qualifying time. Westerfield makes a decent pass but doesn't improve.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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