Fri, 01 Nov 2019, 21:38 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, 19th annual Dodge NHRA Nationals presented by Pennzoil 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: Terry Ruckman Runs 5.643/262.59, Now #7; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Mike Doushgounian Runs 5.985/246.80, Now #13; No Prior Run

5:42 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 71 degrees, relative humidity 7 percent, barometer 28.02 inches, adjusted altitude 3,237 feet, track temperature 84 degrees.

Ruckman goes down the groove with a clean pass and he gets in the field in the seventh spot for now. Doushgounian rattled the tires early and had to pedal. he gets in the show in the 13th spot for now.

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Left Lane: Jay Payne Runs 6.209/173.65, Now #14; Best prior run: 11.081/75.12, Was #18
Right Lane: Kris Hool Runs 10.518/110.03, Now #12; Best prior run: 5.906/258.52, Was #12

Payne gets out of the groove around half track, gets about 500 feet out and makes a move toward the centerline. He has to back off of the throttle but he still improves and moves up to the 14th spot. Hool rattles the tires at the hit and gives up on the run.

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Left Lane: Nick Januik Runs 5.841/251.49, Now #12; Best prior run: 10.114/91.73, Was #18
Right Lane: Doug Schneider Runs 5.797/251.39, Now #11; Best prior run: 5.835/252.47, Was #11

Januik shakes the tires off the line and has to pedal. He moves around in the middle of the run but is able to improve and move up to the 12th spot. Schneider improves but not enough to move up in the order.

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Left Lane: Annie Whiteley Runs 8.750/109.86, Now #18; Best prior run: 9.121/119.63, Was #18
Right Lane: Hannes Wernhart Runs 6.007/247.07, Now #10; Best prior run: 5.790/255.68, Was #10

Whiteley loses traction early and gives up on the run about 200 feet out. Wernhart rattles the tires, pedals once, then goes on through with a decent pass.

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Left Lane: Chris Marshall Runs 5.595/262.95, Now #7; Best prior run: 7.779/145.33, Was #17
Right Lane: Steve Gasparrelli Runs 5.584/262.44, Now #6; Best prior run: 5.573/263.15, Was #6

Marshall gets out of the groove, makes a move to the left, then back to the right. He improves and moves up to the seventh spot. Gasparrelli makes a decent pass but doesn't improve.

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Left Lane: Robert Turner No Time, Now #17; Best prior run: 6.454/169.59, Was #17
Right Lane: Brian Hough Runs 8.823/90.73, Now #5; Best prior run: 5.506/266.42, Was #5

Turner went for a wild ride on this one. He gets out of shape and makes a hard move to the right. he takes out the 594 foot timing block, tries to correct and swings wildly back to the left. He heads for the wall, turns it back to the right and gets up on two wheels. The rear of the car continues to move around, coming up on two wheels a couple of times before he gets it under control in the shutdown area. Hough sees Turner coming toward him and backs off of the throttle.

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Left Lane: Russ Parker Runs 6.097/193.16, Now #10; Best prior run: 5.757/251.95, Was #10
Right Lane: Ulf Leanders Runs 10.415/80.77, Now #4; Best prior run: 5.450/264.23, Was #4

Parker was on a decent pass but bangs the blower about 1000 feet out. The engine erupts flames, he crosses the finish line, then the flames die down. Leanders had traction problems and was off of the throttle early.

Parker left some oil on the lane and we are down for a few minutes.

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Left Lane: Steve Macklyn Runs 5.588/260.86, Now #7; Best prior run: 5.667/262.13, Was #9
Right Lane: Shane Westerfield Runs 5.440/269.08, Now #3; Best prior run: 5.431/271.35, Was #3

Macklyn goes down the groove with a good run and he moves up to the seventh spot. Westerfield makes another good run but he doesn't improve.

Steve Macklyn's incremental times: 60ft-0.955 sec., 330ft-2.510, 660ft-3.711/207.08 mph, 1,000ft-4.727.

Shane Westerfield's incremental times: 60ft-0.939 sec., 330ft-2.447, 660ft-3.613/212.79 mph, 1,000ft-4.604.

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Left Lane: Sean Bellemeur No Time, Now #2; Best prior run: 5.429/270.54, Was #2
Right Lane: Doug Gordon No Time, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.426/271.02, Was #1

Gordon's gets out of the groove and makes a move toward the wall. The car scrapes the right wall, veers back to the left and the car becomes airborne and flips over. He hits the left wall while the car is upside down, rides along the top of the wall through the finish line, and the body comes off of the chassis. The car lands back on the wheels and comes to a stop in the shutdown area. Gordon exits the vehicle under his own power.

Bellemeur backs off of the throttle early and does not receive a time after Gordon trips the beams when he went through the lights.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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