Thu, 15 Oct 2026, 18:44 PM Top Alcohol Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Dave Rowe

ENNIS, Texas - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, 41st annual Texas NHRA FallNationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Left Lane: Max Yaremko Runs 5.660/251.88, Now #1
Right Lane: Chase Copeland Runs 5.829/241.66, Now #2

5:15 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 88 degrees, relative humidity 50 percent, barometer 29.93 inches, adjusted altitude 3,149 feet.

This is Yaremko and Copeland's first national event.

Yaremko goes down the groove with a clean pass. Copeland makes a clean pass but is well off of yaremko's pace.

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Left Lane: Bryan Brown Runs 5.598/249.94, Now #1
Right Lane: Robert Kanenwisher Runs 5.765/247.80, Now #3

Brown goes down the groove with a good pass to take the early pole.

Bryan Brown's incremental times: 60ft-0.994 sec., 330ft-2.541, 660ft-3.702/214.81 mph, 1,000ft-4.711.

Kanenwisher makes a full pass but was falling behind all the way through the run.

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Left Lane: Mark Billington Runs 5.655/258.99, Now #3
Right Lane: Kyle Smith Runs 5.545/258.61, Now #1

Billington makes a decent pass and gets in the third spot for now. Smith makes the quickest pass of the round so far to take the pole.

Mark Billington's incremental times: 60ft-1.002 sec., 330ft-2.552, 660ft-3.756/205.81 mph, 1,000ft-4.785.

Kyle Smith's incremental times: 60ft-0.959 sec., 330ft-2.470, 660ft-3.653/209.49 mph, 1,000ft-4.674.

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Left Lane: Tobin Gasparrelli Runs 5.639/261.01, Now #4
Right Lane: Christopher Menapace Runs 5.624/263.79, Now #3

A good side-by-side, both down the groove with decent runs.

Tobin Gasparrelli's incremental times: 60ft-0.986 sec., 330ft-2.545, 660ft-3.747/206.30 mph, 1,000ft-4.773.

Christopher Menapace's incremental times: 60ft-1.008 sec., 330ft-2.565, 660ft-3.755/208.47 mph, 1,000ft-4.769.

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Left Lane: Christine Foster Runs 7.828/136.35, Now #10
Right Lane: Mick Steele Runs 5.543/251.79, Now #1

Foster rattled the tires early and backed off of the throttle. Steele made a good pass to take the top spot for now.

Mick Steele's incremental times: 60ft-1.002 sec., 330ft-2.545, 660ft-3.690/217.14 mph, 1,000ft-4.674.

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Left Lane: Chris Foster Runs 5.559/262.91, Now #3
Right Lane: Phil Esz Runs 5.561/259.41, Now #4

Another good side-by-side, both down the groove with good passes.

Chris Foster's incremental times: 60ft-0.951 sec., 330ft-2.495, 660ft-3.686/208.53 mph, 1,000ft-4.701.

Phil Esz's incremental times: 60ft-0.942 sec., 330ft-2.468, 660ft-3.668/206.37 mph, 1,000ft-4.692.

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Right Lane: Shane Westerfield Runs 5.551/264.24, Now #3

Westerfield makes a decent pass and gets in the third spot for now.

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Left Lane: Doug Gordon Runs 5.522/264.01, Now #1
Right Lane: Sean Bellemeur Runs 5.572/261.51, Now #7

Gordon goes down the groove with the quickest pass of the round to take the top spot. Bellemeur got out of the groove but still made a decent pass.

Doug Gordon's incremental times: 60ft-0.946 sec., 330ft-2.473, 660ft-3.657/209.59 mph, 1,000ft-4.667.

Sean Bellemeur's incremental times: 60ft-0.961 sec., 330ft-2.489, 660ft-3.686/207.16 mph, 1,000ft-4.708.




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