Fri, 28 Sep 2012, 14:51 PM Pro Nitrous Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Larry Sullivan

NORWALK, Ohio - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Pro Nitrous at the American Drag Racing League, ADRL Summit Racing Equipment Ohio Drags VI presented by Mickey Thompson listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Left Lane: Keith Jackson Runs 5.727/112.98, Now #2
Right Lane: Tommy Franklin Runs 4.083/183.22, Now #1

Jackson spun the tires hard on the launch and had to backpedal. Franklin had no visible problems.

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Left Lane: Robert Mathis Runs 7.553/58.88, Now #3

Mathis had a strong launch, but his car had the wheels up and was headed for the wall, so he lifted.

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Left Lane: John Vergotz Runs 8.961/59.37, Now #5
Right Lane: Pat Stoken Runs 6.282/73.52, Now #3

Two more teams find out what the track won't hold, both car shaking and spinning the tires.

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Left Lane: Burton Auxier Runs 7.605/93.87, Now #5
Right Lane: John Camp Runs 9.114/73.85, Now #7

So far, one car (Franklin) has gotten down the track. These two did not, with hard, immediate tire shake.

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Left Lane: Stan Allen Runs 7.540/59.68, Now #5
Right Lane: Rickie Jones Runs 4.142/181.13, Now #2

Both shook early, Jones the only one to aggressively pedal the car after shaking and he made a strong finish after a bad start.

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Left Lane: Ray Schuler Runs 10.579/96.47, Now #11
Right Lane: Steve Vick Runs 7.899/74.80, Now #8

Schuler had a small nitrous fire when he first started the engine and a shot from a fire extinguisher put it out. Then, amazingly, he started the engine again and it appeared to okay.

Vick left hard and shook, then coasted. Schuler's car slowly idled away when the light went green, so maybe it wasn't okay after all.

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Left Lane: Randy Weatherford Runs 4.102/183.19, Now #3
Right Lane: Bob Rahaim Runs 3.844/195.56, Now #1

No visible problems for Weatherford, though the numbers were nothing to brag about, and a nice run by Rahaim. Weatherford's crew may have set the carb up soft on purpose, planning to get more aggressive in later sessions.

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Left Lane: Jim Laurita Runs 5.174/90.64, Now #6
Right Lane: Jason Harris Runs 3.876/191.13, Now #2

Laurita is back in the '90 Camaro he crashed at US-131. He just made an easy run, no obvious problems. Harris made a strong run and he's now #2.

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Left Lane: Doug Riesterer No Time, Now #16
Right Lane: Robert Patrick Jr No Time, Now #17

Riesterer trails Rahaim in a tight points race, just 156 points back.

Riesterer was up on two wheels before the 330-foot mark and did a good job of saving it without hitting the wall.

While everyone was watching Riesterer, Patrick's car suddenly went from what looked like a very good run to a major crash, his car abruptly turning left, crossing the finish line in Riesterer's lane, stopping the clocks at 3.92 seconds. The car hit the left wall hard, briefly went airborne, then went back across the track, hitting the right wall before sliding way down in the quarter-mile shutdown area.

After a too-long wait while the safety crew checked Patrick out, still in the car, he got out and the word from the top end is that he is "okay."

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Left Lane: John Hall Runs 5.766/154.21, Now #8

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink