Sat, 28 Oct 2017, 13:48 PM Top Alcohol Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #2

By Dave Rowe

LAS VEGAS - Notes from round 2 qualifying in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 17th annual NHRA Toyota Nationals 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: Jay Payne Runs 9.288/94.08, Now #20; Best prior run: 14.273/54.38, Was #20
Right Lane: Steve Gasparrelli Runs 5.651/259.66, Now #10; Best prior run: 9.913/144.10, Was #19

10:17 a.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 82 degrees, relative humidity 20 percent, barometer 27.90 inches, adjusted altitude 4,253 feet, track temperature 91 degrees.

Payne leaves the lines and starts rattling the tires. he pedals once, can't recover, then gives up on the run. Gasparrelli goes right down the groove with a clean pass and gets in the show in the tenth spot for now.

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Left Lane: Kris Hool Runs 5.597/259.81, Now #6; Best prior run: 9.068/143.35, Was #19
Right Lane: Chip Beverett Runs 5.831/255.92, Now #13; Best prior run: 6.381/250.00, Was #17

Beverett shakes the tires early, pedals and recovers, then goes on through with a decent pass.He improves and moves up to the 13th spot for now. Hool goes right down the groove with a good pass to move up to the sixth spot for now.

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Left Lane: Charles McLaws Runs 6.162/245.72, Now #19; Best prior run: 6.914/142.07, Was #19
Right Lane: Steve Macklyn Runs 5.927/247.97, Now #17; Best prior run: 6.009/247.79, Was #18

Macklyn leaves the line and starts moving around. he makes a move toward the centerline, steers it back to the right, then goes on through and moves up one spot in the order. McLaws improves but stays in the 19th spot.

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Left Lane: Jirka Kaplan Runs 5.605/260.46, Now #9; Best prior run: 5.988/221.74, Was #18
Right Lane: Cody Perkins Runs 6.151/180.04, Now #15; Best prior run: 5.867/220.08, Was #14

Perkins rattles the tires early and has to pedal. He is able to recover but can't improve from his earlier run. Kaplan goes right down the groove with a good pass and he moves up to the ninth spot for now.

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Left Lane: Robert Turner Runs 20.076/36.40, Now #17; Best prior run: 5.925/223.06, Was #17
Right Lane: Sean Bellemeur Runs 5.695/256.99, Now #13; Best prior run: 5.668/258.52, Was #13

Turner has traction problems early and is off the throttle quickly. Bellemeur makes a decent pass but doesn't improve.

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Left Lane: Nick Januik Runs 10.820/100.25, Now #16; Best prior run: 5.878/253.33, Was #16
Right Lane: Brian Hough Runs 5.549/264.29, Now #4; Best prior run: 5.638/262.39, Was #11

Januik goes up in smoke at the hit, makes a hard move to the left, then he backs off the throttle. Hough goes right down the groove with a good pass and he moves up to the fourth spot for now.

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Left Lane: John Lombardo Jr. Runs 5.525/266.16, Now #4; Best prior run: 5.601/263.77, Was #8
Right Lane: Ray Martin Runs 5.657/255.43, Now #11; Best prior run: 5.626/258.71, Was #11

A pair of good looking runs, both right down the groove. Lombardo improves on his earlier attempt from yesterday and moves up to the fourth spot. Martin makes a clean pass but doesn't improve.

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Left Lane: Ulf Leanders Runs 5.497/262.95, Now #3; Best prior run: 5.562/262.54, Was #6
Right Lane: Shane Westerfield Runs 5.556/265.27, Now #7; Best prior run: 5.605/263.67, Was #9

Another good side-by-side, both right down the groove. Leanders makes a clean pass and improves to the third spot for now. Westerfield makes a clean pass and moves up to the seventh spot.

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Left Lane: Larry Dixon Runs 11.872/70.63, Now #4; Best prior run: 5.508/263.41, Was #4
Right Lane: Chris Marshall Runs 5.523/263.10, Now #5; Best prior run: 5.581/260.56, Was #8

Dixon hits the throttle, rattles the tires and backs off the throttle. Marshall goes right down the groove with a good pass and moves up to the fifth spot.

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Left Lane: Annie Whiteley Runs 5.527/267.80, Now #2; Best prior run: 5.491/268.71, Was #2
Right Lane: Doug Gordon Runs 5.629/211.86, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.488/267.75, Was #1

Gordon was on a good pass for the first 100 feet. He was out in front of Whiteley at that point by about .06 seconds, then the engine pops and the car noses over. Gordon was going 211.49 at half track, almost the same MPH at the end of the run.

Whiteley goes right down the groove with a decent pass but doesn't improve.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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