Sat, 01 Nov 2025, 21:58 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 Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, 25th annual Dodge NHRA Nevada Nationals powered by Direct Connection:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  744 Shane Westerfield                    7238 Bret Williamson              
E1   ****WINNER****  0.085  5.530 263.77                     0.089 10.008  92.92
 Qualified:             #3  5.459 265.12                       #14  5.699 253.52

6:22 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 75 degrees, relative humidity 25 percent, barometer 29.99 inches, adjusted altitude 3,578 feet.

Westerfield is 1 - 0 against Williamson in prior events.

Shane Westerfield is 14 - 1 in Rd. 1 when qualified #3. The last time the #14 TAFC qualifier won a round here was 2014.

A coin flip off of the line, Westerfield gets out in front early and pulls away for the win. Williamson was off of the throttle early.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    2 Madison Gordon                        573 Robert Kanenwisher           
E1   ****WINNER****  0.015  5.483 263.98                     0.072  5.843 211.03
 Qualified:             #2  5.450 265.27                       #15  5.729 246.26

This is the first time Gordon and Kanenwisher have faced each other in eliminations.

Gordon gets out of the gate first and starts pulling away. Kanenwisher gets about 1000 feet out and a small fire comes from under the vehicle, possibly pushing out a head gasket.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    1 Sean Bellemeur                        750 Kirk Kuhns                   
E1   ****WINNER****  0.049  5.463 265.22                     0.131  5.775 251.91
 Qualified:             #1  5.435 267.11                       #16  5.777 241.58

This is Sean Bellemeur's 5th #1 spot this year and 44th of his career (Ties T. Bartone for 4th most in TAFC).

This is the first time Bellemeur and Kuhns have faced each other in eliminations.

Bellemeur gets the holeshot and pulls away for the win with the quickest pass of the round so far.

Sean Bellemeur's incremental times: 60ft-0.932 sec., 330ft-2.434, 660ft-3.611/210.64 mph, 1,000ft-4.614.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    3 Brian Hough                          7735 Steve Gasparrelli            
E1                   0.101  6.566 162.18     ****WINNER****  0.064  5.632 258.12
 Qualified:             #4  5.478 265.17                       #13  5.609 256.21

Gasparrelli gets out of the gate first and starts pulling away. He extends his lead all the way through the run and takes the win.

With Hough's loss, Sean Bellemeur is the Top Alcohol Funny Car Champion for 2025.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    6 Annie Whiteley                          7 Ray Martin                   
E1                   0.113 13.598  81.52     ****WINNER****  0.001  5.500 260.41
 Qualified:             #6  5.483 266.58                       #11  5.546 258.12

Whiteley and Martin have each won 3 times against the other in prior events.

Annie Whiteley is 74 - 43 in Rd. 1 in her career (4 - 1 this year).

Martin is almost perfect off of the line and pulls away for the win with his quickest pass of the weekend.

Whiteley had problems and was off of the throttle early.

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

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 5087 Jim Whiteley                         7630 Steve Macklyn                
E1   ****WINNER****  0.028  5.516 261.02                     0.058 No Time      
 Qualified:             #5  5.481 262.33                       #12  5.556 255.00

Jim Whiteley wins 79% of his Rd. 1 races.

This is the first time Whiteley and Macklyn have faced each other in eliminations.

Whiteley gets the advantage off of the line and goes down the groove with a good pass to take the win.

Macklyn banged the blower as soon as he hit the throttle.

Jim Whiteley will have lane choice over Gasparrelli in the next round.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  404 Stan Sipos                              8 Chris Foster                 
E1   ****WINNER****  0.042  5.517 263.87                     0.143  5.536 264.70
 Qualified:             #7  5.492 267.27                       #10  5.517 263.56

Stan Sipos 's 1st race was the Winternationals in 1990.

Chris Foster is 29 - 50 in Rd. 1.

This is the first time Sipos and Foster have faced each other in eliminations.

Sipos gets out of shape early in the run but stays with it and pulls away for the win.

Gordon will have lane choice over Sipos in the next round.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   10 Christine Foster                        4 Bob McCosh                   
E1                   0.072  5.536 263.56     ****WINNER****  0.027  5.497 260.41
 Qualified:             #8  5.502 265.01                        #9  5.504 263.72

McCosh is 2 - 0 against Foster in prior events.

McCosh gets out of the gate first and extends his lead all the way through the run.

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

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink

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