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CLERMONT, Ind. - Notes from round 4 qualifying in Pro Stock at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 53rd annual Mac Tools U.S. 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: Right Lane: Bill Glidden Runs 6.781/204.05, Now #28; Best prior run: 6.756/204.39, Was #28 As we enter the next to final round of qualifying, the big story has to be Max Naylor's Jagermeister Stratus holding the #1 spot. Indy has always had great stories about the little guy, and this may be a year to add to them. If Naylor can hold on, he will become only the 18th person to gain his first top qualifying spot here in 37 years. Even with the dreadnaughts of the Summit and Cagnazzi teams, it's certainly not impossible. We are seeing it happen in Pro Stock Motorcycle and may have a surprise leader in Funny Car after the dust settles. The conditions are pretty decent right now but the track is gaining heat by the minute. Running early in the session should be a plus. I understand that Glidden is indeed in an ex-Mark Pawuk car. The deal with Mickey Thompson will be ongoing in the R&D area, but this is the only event that was contracted for at this time. Bill is such a crowd favorite I can't imagine that it wouldn't be a worthwhile investment. Left Lane: Matt Scranton Runs 6.709/205.63, Now #19; Best prior run: 6.727/204.98, Was #22 Right Lane: Pat Herold No Time, Now #30; Best prior run: 6.779/202.97, Was #30 Good guy Pat Herold has some bad luck as his crew is pushing him back from the burnout and he will not be able to race this round. Weather conditions: air temperature 82 degrees, relative humidity 41 percent, barometer 29.24 inches, adjusted altitude 2,587 feet, track temperature 98 degrees.
Left Lane: Tom Hammonds Runs 13.702/58.01, Now #33; Best prior run: 15.455/71.48, Was #33 Right Lane: Kenny Koretsky Runs 14.746/80.13, Now #9; Best prior run: 6.678/206.29, Was #9 Hammmonds, at this point, is probably just hoping to get from point A to point B. He hasn't been past the 200 foot mark under power in his three previous tries. Hammonds runs 1.008 but it's just like the previous run. Unfortunately for Koretsky, he did almost exactly the same thing. Left Lane: Richie Stevens Runs 6.680/205.79, Now #10; Best prior run: 6.710/205.91, Was #20 Right Lane: Ben Watson Runs 16.744/46.44, Now #27; Best prior run: 6.741/203.92, Was #27 Teammate Allen Johnson is behind the Stevens car taking a close look at what the set up is going to yield. Stevens bumps WJ. Watson repeats the right lane blues just like the previous cars. The car stands up, shakes, and moves off center. Steve Schmidt is now on the bump spot at 6.705. Left Lane: Jim Cunningham Runs 6.860/200.20, Now #32; Best prior run: 6.828/200.44, Was #32 Right Lane: Bob Panella Runs 6.747/205.66, Now #26; Best prior run: 6.734/205.51, Was #26 Neither of these cars are going anywhere off the starting line. Left Lane: Tony Rizzo Runs 6.806/202.79, Now #31; Best prior run: 6.798/202.39, Was #31 Right Lane: Mike Edwards Runs 6.718/205.10, Now #15; Best prior run: 6.699/205.19, Was #15 Edwards is a former champion here, and is hoping to hold on to his qualified position. He's known for his setup skills, so let's see how he handles the right lane. Well, he does better than the others but it's not enough to make a change in the order. We're down for a short bit as the crew does some quick wiping on the starting line area in the left lane. Left Lane: Matt Hartford Runs 6.788/203.80, Now #29; Best prior run: 6.764/204.14, Was #29 Right Lane: Ron Krisher Runs 6.718/205.88, Now #23; Best prior run: 6.729/204.98, Was #24 Hmm, that was a bit more involved than it looked at first, even getting a quick sweep with the tractor. Larry Morgan was on the line offering suggestions and considering his stellar record here I hope they listened to him. Krisher steps up but doesn't quite get there. Steve Schmidt is still on the bump spot at 6.705. Left Lane: Rickie Smith Runs 6.722/204.91, Now #24; Best prior run: 6.731/204.42, Was #25 Right Lane: Kevin Lawrence Runs 6.743/203.71, Now #25; Best prior run: 6.728/204.14, Was #24 So far, only Stevens and Krisher have been below the 1 second level at 60 foot. Ron Krisher is being interviewed and doesn't like the right lane much. He's looking forward very much to taking the left lane in the final session this afternoon. Rickie gets close but only swaps positions with Lawrence. Left Lane: Bill Windham Runs 6.709/205.44, Now #21; Best prior run: 6.716/205.66, Was #22 Right Lane: V. Gaines Runs 6.707/205.63, Now #18; Best prior run: 6.708/205.91, Was #19 Indy is truly amazing. How hard was Gaines running just a couple of races ago? And here, he's not in the show. It's not happening this time. Schmidt stays on the bump and Gaines has but one more chance. Left Lane: Dave Northrop Runs 6.715/205.57, Now #22; Best prior run: 6.715/205.54, Was #22 Right Lane: Bob Benza Runs 6.753/205.16, Now #19; Best prior run: 6.707/205.32, Was #19 Benza's running Steve Schmidt power, one of 9 entries here. Left Lane: Max Naylor Runs 12.635/68.46, Now #1; Best prior run: 6.655/206.39, Was #1 Right Lane: Craig Hankinson Runs 6.698/205.66, Now #12; Best prior run: 6.688/206.07, Was #12 Here's the top guy. He's been remarkably quick and remarkably consistent so all eyes are on him now to see if he can once again card the lowest ET of the session. Hankinson is making a good showing considering he made the field early and is having no problems staying there. Naylor overpowers the track but Hankinson puts up another great ET. Left Lane: Greg Stanfield Runs 6.699/206.39, Now #11; Best prior run: 6.684/206.04, Was #11 Right Lane: Warren Johnson Runs 6.714/206.01, Now #17; Best prior run: 6.706/205.98, Was #17 Indy Weirdness: It's the next to the last session and The Professor is on the outside looking in. He's in the less-favored right lane. Warren gets way too much wheelspeed on the hit and is going to have to rely on the last session to avoid making history. Stanfield says they found something on his car that was causing their recent problems. Looks to me like he's right as the PiranaZ team is running strong just like they used to. Left Lane: Justin Humphreys Runs 6.669/206.67, Now #6; Best prior run: 6.696/206.42, Was #14 Right Lane: Steve Schmidt Runs 6.737/204.79, Now #16; Best prior run: 6.705/205.19, Was #16 Two words: Glidden's smiling. Humpreys, in a session of lesser performances, nails the setup and actually moves up in the order. Most teams are losing 3 to 5 hundredths, Justin picks up 3. Left Lane: Dave Connolly Runs 6.659/206.32, Now #3; Best prior run: 6.662/205.88, Was #4 Right Lane: Jeg Coughlin Runs 6.677/206.51, Now #8; Best prior run: 6.675/206.01, Was #8 Connolly gets close to the top but early wheelspin dooms Jeg. Left Lane: Kurt Johnson Runs 6.662/207.30, Now #5; Best prior run: 6.663/206.76, Was #5 Right Lane: Jason Line Runs 6.697/206.73, Now #14; Best prior run: 6.694/205.82, Was #14 It's going to take a 6.664 to go to the top. I'm not that impressed with the right lane, either. Line is another of many cars to really hit the tires hard on the leave. Kurt picks up a thou and runs top speed of the event. Left Lane: Allen Johnson Runs 6.670/206.86, Now #4; Best prior run: 6.661/206.57, Was #4 Right Lane: Greg Anderson Runs 6.689/207.05, Now #9; Best prior run: 6.677/206.67, Was #9 These are the pairs who can end Naylor's storybook effort. Mad Max still survives. If the positions don't change, the Summit cars will meet the Cagnazzi cars in the first round. Left Lane: Larry Morgan Runs 6.679/206.57, Now #7; Best prior run: 6.669/206.35, Was #7 Right Lane: Jim Yates Runs 6.687/206.39, Now #2; Best prior run: 6.658/206.29, Was #2 Yates stunned a lot of people with the charge he made yesterday with his Jenkins power. Morgan has the power to run with the best and is in the better lane. Jagermeister still rules. Local hero Schmidt is 16th. If you're not here, you're missing some really fun action.
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