Sun, 4 May 2008, 03:06 PM Pro Stock Round 2 Eliminations

By Dan Bennett

MADISON, Ill. - Results of round 2 eliminations in Pro Stock at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 12th annual O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals presented by Castrol:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   10 V. Gaines                            1525 John Nobile                  
E2   ****WINNER****  0.023  6.626 207.91                     0.070 10.602  94.83
 Prior rounds:
E1    (G Stanfield ) 0.044  9.327 127.01      (J Line      ) 0.013  9.679 158.91
 Qualified:             #9  6.619 207.50                       #16  6.641 208.39

1:50 p.m.

This is the toughest round by far for the crew chiefs. Most of the time, this is the hottest track and warmest temperatures the cars will experience all day. It's up to the head wrench to decide how much to back off the clutch and what tuning is needed on the engine.

Weather is 67 degrees, 22%, and 30.13 barometer. The track temp is 107, which is actually a bit less than the previous round.

Nobile's win puts him into the second round for the first time since Topeka 2001. That's been 38 races for him. He was in the semis at Virginia in 1999.

Gaines has lane choice and takes the left side. He kills the tree.

Nobile blows the tires off at the start and the race is all about V, going into the semis from the 9th position.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    4 Allen Johnson                           3 Dave Connolly                
E2                   0.062 14.206  59.17     ****WINNER****  0.034  6.661 207.43
 Prior rounds:
E1    (M Naylor    ) 0.040  6.624 208.94      (R Krisher   ) 0.039  6.668 208.10
 Qualified:             #6  6.608 208.81                        #3  6.595 208.36

This should be a very good race between two of the best leavers in the class. Connolly has to be chomping at the bit to gain points and make up for his late entry into competition.

After a mini-burndown, Connolly goes in first. AJ slaughters the slicks and Dave picks up the points goes another round in that fast Cagnazzi Cobalt.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  317 Rickie Jones                            2 Greg Anderson                
E2                   0.037  6.648 208.36     ****WINNER****  0.045  6.623 208.62
 Prior rounds:
E1    (M Edwards   ) 0.030  6.812 205.85      (M Hartford  ) 0.052  6.616 208.49
 Qualified:            #10  6.627 208.23                        #2  6.590 208.49

Rickie's getting a good introduction to the class, ya think?

Anderson makes a lane swap after watching the previous pair.

This is a sweet race as the cars are side by side. Rickie managed a slight edge over Anderson at the tree, but couldn't hold off the big Ken Black power at the finish line.

Greg Anderson's incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.008), 330 ft(0.006), 660ft(0.011), 1,000ft(0.014). MOV: 0.0175 seconds (approximately 5 feet).

Rickie Jones' incremental times: 60ft-1.002 sec., 330ft-2.797, 660ft-4.284/165.52mph, 1,000ft-5.566
Greg Anderson's incremental times: 60ft-1.002 sec., 330ft-2.783, 660ft-4.265/166.42mph, 1,000ft-5.544

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    6 Kurt Johnson                            1 Jeg Coughlin                 
E2   ****WINNER****  0.014  6.620 209.33                     0.011  6.623 208.01
 Prior rounds:
E1    (T Hoerner   ) 0.056  6.581 209.36      (J Yates     ) 0.032  6.619 208.01
 Qualified:             #5  6.598 209.39                        #4  6.597 207.40

Both teams spending a bunch of time on the wheelie bar settings before either car begins to bump in.

This one is a photo finish, assuming your camera can take a photo quickly enough. KJ flashes a .014 light and follows Jeggie off the line.

It didn't get much different on the other end as the AC Delco car hands the loss to the Jegs car by the very slimmest of margins.

Kurt Johnson's incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.012), 330 ft(-0.008), 660ft(-0.005), 1,000ft(-0.003). MOV: 0.0001 seconds (approximately 0 inches).

Kurt Johnson's incremental times: 60ft-1.002 sec., 330ft-2.784, 660ft-4.265/166.46mph, 1,000ft-5.543
Jeg Coughlin's incremental times: 60ft-0.993 sec., 330ft-2.779, 660ft-4.263/165.86mph, 1,000ft-5.543

In the semis, Johnson has lane choice over Gaines by six thousandths of a second and Anderson picks over Connolly in a battle that should be huge.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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