Sat, 02 Nov 2019, 21:42 PM Top Alcohol Funny Car Round 1 Eliminations

By Dave Rowe

LAS VEGAS - Results of round 1 eliminations in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 19th annual Dodge NHRA Nationals presented by Pennzoil:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    4 Chris Marshall                          3 Annie Whiteley               
E1   ****WINNER****  0.152  5.469 265.48                     0.076 13.540  76.21
 Qualified:            #12  5.595 262.95                        #5  5.479 270.81

6:06 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 75 degrees, relative humidity 12 percent, barometer 27.97 inches, adjusted altitude 3,673 feet, track temperature 91 degrees.

Whiteley gets out of the gate first, gets about 50 feet out and strikes the tires. marshall drifted a little to the left early, back to the right, and he goes on through with his quickest pass of the weekend to take the win.

Chris Marshall's incremental times: 60ft-0.934 sec., 330ft-2.437, 660ft-3.617/210.50 mph, 1,000ft-4.621.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   10 Ulf Leanders                          757 Mike Doushgounian            
E1   ****WINNER****  0.040  5.536 262.18                     0.072 12.437  95.77
 Qualified:             #4  5.450 264.23                       #13  5.646 261.93

Leanders gets the holeshot and starts to pull away. Doushgounian hits the throttle, loses traction and has to give up on the run before he gets fifty feet out. Leanders goes on through with a good pass to take the win.

Marshall will have lane choice over Leanders in the next round.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    1 Sean Bellemeur                        810 Robert Turner                
E1   ****WINNER****  0.052  5.442 269.83                     0.101  6.462 165.33
 Qualified:             #2  5.429 270.54                       #15  5.765 240.94

Bellemeur is 1 - 0 against Turner in prior events.

Bellemeur gets out of the gate first and goes down the groove with a good, clean pas. Turner leaves the line, gets loose around half track and has to back off of the throttle. Bellemeur goes on through with the win.

Sean Bellemeur's incremental times: 60ft-0.953 sec., 330ft-2.453, 660ft-3.618/213.16 mph, 1,000ft-4.608.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    9 Brian Hough                          7630 Steve Macklyn                
E1   ****WINNER****  0.046  5.506 266.53                     0.072  6.242 183.49
 Qualified:             #6  5.499 265.53                       #11  5.588 260.86

Hough is 1 - 0 against Macklyn in prior events.

Hough gets the holeshot and starts to pull away. Macklyn gets about 100 feet out and has to pedal. The car makes a move to the left, the front wheels come up in the air and he has to pedal again. The car continues toward the centerline and he has to back off of the throttle.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    8 Jay Payne                            5757 Terry Ruckman                
E1                   0.081  5.766 195.93     ****WINNER****  0.041  5.616 264.18
 Qualified:             #7  5.535 267.43                       #10  5.577 266.69

Ruckman gets the holeshot but Payne starts reeling him in quickly. Payne gets around him, stays in front past half track, then he bangs the blower and the chutes come out. Ruckman gets back around him and pulls away for the win.

Terry Ruckman's incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(0.031), 330 ft(0.000), 660ft(-0.009), 1,000ft(0.008). MOV: 0.1906 seconds (approximately 55 feet).

Bellemeur will have lane choice over Ruckman in the next round.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    2 Shane Westerfield                    6464 Russ Parker                  
E1   ****WINNER****  0.055  5.486 267.59                     0.042  9.637 102.19
 Qualified:             #3  5.431 271.35                       #14  5.757 251.95

This is the first time Westerfield and Parker have faced each other in eliminations.

Parker gets out of the gate first, loses traction and makes a hard move to the left. Westerfield gets around him quickly and pulls away for the win.

Westerfield will have lane choice over Hough in the next round.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  562 Kris Hool                            7735 Steve Gasparrelli            
E1                   0.168 No Time           ****WINNER****  9.999 No Time      
 Qualified:             #8  5.549 263.72                        #9  5.573 263.15

Gasparrelli is 5 - 1 against Hool in prior events.

Hool leaves the line and gets out of shape. The car makes a move to the left, scrapes the wall about 400 feet out, then goes on through the rest of the run. Gasparrelli doesn't move when the tree comes down, not sure hwy, but he will be the winner of the race.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  739 Hannes Wernhart                       508 Doug Schneider               
E1                   0.065  7.558 123.63     ****WINNER****  0.034  5.861 246.93
 Qualified:            #16  5.790 255.68                       #17  5.797 251.39

This is the first time Wernhart and Schneider have faced each other in eliminations.

Schneider is in as an alternate for Gordon who hit the wall pretty hard last night and was unable to return. this is the first time since the Winternationals in 1999 that the number one qualifier in TAFC was unable to make it to first round.

Schneider gets out of the gate first but Wernhart gets around him before they reach the sixty foot mark. Wernhart gets out of shape, almost crosses the centerline and has to back off of the throttle. Schneider is able to get around him and pull away for the win.

Doug Schneider's incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.037), 330 ft(0.037), 660ft(0.320), 1,000ft(0.936). MOV: 1.7284 seconds (more than 100 feet).

Schneider will have lane choice over Gasparrelli in the next round.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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