Sun, 01 Sep 2013, 10:38 AM Top Alcohol Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Final Session

By Larry Sullivan

BROWNSBURG, Ind. - Notes from final, round 4 qualifying in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 59th annual Chevrolet Performance 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:

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Left Lane: Rick Cortino Runs 6.167/239.19, Now #18; Best prior run: 6.125/220.91, Was #18

10:07 a.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 72 degrees, relative humidity 80 percent, barometer 28.87 inches, adjusted altitude 2,931 feet, track temperature 85 degrees.

Dan Pomponio is on the bump spot at 5.852.

Cortino shook and pedaled right off the starting line.

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Left Lane: Dave Allison Runs 5.931/250.13, Now #17; Best prior run: 5.984/240.51, Was #17

Allison also shook and pedaled, a little farther down track than Cortino.

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Left Lane: Dan Pomponio Runs 5.808/253.42, Now #15; Best prior run: 5.852/251.77, Was #16

Pomponio improved slightly, move off the bump spot.

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Left Lane: Wayne Butler Runs 7.568/123.89, Now #16; Best prior run: 5.845/244.78, Was #16
Right Lane: Fred Tigges Runs 5.688/251.86, Now #4; Best prior run: 5.773/251.81, Was #12

Butler slowed as he passed the 330-foot marker. Tigges made his best pass of the weekend to move way up the ladder.

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Left Lane: Todd Robertson Runs 5.649/255.24, Now #3; Best prior run: 5.780/232.39, Was #13
Right Lane: Steve Burck Runs 6.295/192.33, Now #13; Best prior run: 5.740/250.46, Was #12

Nice pass by Robertson, with career best ET and speed, to move way up in the field. Burck banged the blower past 1,000 feet, may have also damaged the body.

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Left Lane: Fred Hagen Runs 5.588/259.66, Now #2; Best prior run: 5.710/254.57, Was #10
Right Lane: Todd Veney Runs 13.592/75.03, Now #12; Best prior run: 5.713/254.57, Was #12

Hagen also picked up the pace to move way up to #2 on the ladder with only the second "fifty" of the event. Veney shook immediately.

Fred Hagen's incremental times: 60ft-0.970 sec., 330ft-2.495, 660ft-3.696/206.48 mph, 1,000ft-4.721.

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Left Lane: Andy Bohl Runs 5.701/257.53, Now #11; Best prior run: 5.704/255.73, Was #10
Right Lane: Tony Bartone Runs 5.648/257.19, Now #4; Best prior run: 5.712/257.68, Was #11

Bartone and Boggs are getting the "new" car sorted out and he moved well up the ladder on this run. Bohl improved slightly, but Bartone leapfrogged over him on the order.

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Left Lane: Chris Foster Runs 5.582/258.12, Now #2; Best prior run: 5.699/252.61, Was #10
Right Lane: Cassie Simonton Runs 11.047/74.29, Now #9; Best prior run: 5.691/253.75, Was #8

These cars obviously like conditions today better than they did the first two qualifying days because there have been a lot of major moves in the order. Foster joined the growing list with the third "fifty" we've had - but he came up a couple thousandths short of the #1 spot. Simonton shook and slowed.

Chris Foster's incremental times: 60ft-0.947 sec., 330ft-2.479, 660ft-3.686/205.04 mph, 1,000ft-4.713.

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Left Lane: John Lombardo Jr. Runs 5.606/259.36, Now #5; Best prior run: 5.693/256.89, Was #10
Right Lane: Frank Manzo Runs 5.532/263.67, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.621/259.11, Was #4

Talk about spectacular moves! Manzo eclipsed everything we've seen so far by light years! Lombardo made a good run in the other lane, wasn't even in the picture at the stripe.

John Lombardo Jr.'s incremental times: 60ft-0.964 sec., 330ft-2.511, 660ft-3.716/205.66 mph, 1,000ft-4.740.
Frank Manzo's incremental times: 60ft-0.952 sec., 330ft-2.474, 660ft-3.664/208.65 mph, 1,000ft-4.677.

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Left Lane: Jay Payne Runs 5.616/258.02, Now #6; Best prior run: 5.656/256.84, Was #8
Right Lane: Annie Whiteley Runs 5.558/260.06, Now #2; Best prior run: 5.580/258.81, Was #2

Up until now, Whiteley has been the car to beat, but Manzo laid down a tough challenge. Meanwhile, a little drama - Payne's car did not fire until Whiteley had alrady made her burnout and backed up. He did a quick burnout and staged promptly, then theyw ere side-by-side all the way down the track. Whiteley improved once again, but did not catch Manzo.

Jay Payne's incremental times: 60ft-0.974 sec., 330ft-2.508, 660ft-3.716/204.08 mph, 1,000ft-4.745.
Annie Whiteley's incremental times: 60ft-0.969 sec., 330ft-2.484, 660ft-3.675/207.34 mph, 1,000ft-4.693.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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