Results of round 1 eliminations in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing
Series, 16th annual FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals:
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
703 Mark Woznichak 75 Ed Marx
E1 0.124 6.068 232.83 ****WINNER**** 0.113 5.718 250.46
Qualified: #9 5.765 236.96 #8 5.736 251.16
5:04 PM Current weather conditions: 76 degrees, 50 percent relative humidity, the
barometer 30.00 inches. The first round was delayed to allow TV to be on time for the
Pro's and it may help these guys, as the temperature has started to drop. The wind has
slowed, but is now a slight head wind. We start with the middle of the field. The
Woz has a small head start, but Marx blows on by to take the win. Woznichak slowed near
the top end, but we could not tell why.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
77 John Weaver 777 John Patton
E1 ****WINNER**** 0.527 7.515 119.06 No Time
Qualified: #6 5.692 248.84 #11 5.791 244.92
Patton is a no show, so Weaver gets the single. It's a good thing too, as he has
problems before mid-track with a sizable BANG. The sweepers are out checking the lane for
"stuff". 5:12 PM
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
762 Bill Gallio 5 Bucky Austin
E1 0.107 6.139 238.81 ****WINNER**** 0.124 5.659 253.37
Qualified: #16 6.268 225.41 #1 5.632 257.92
5:20 PM Gallio won to 60 feet, but Austin won the rest of the track in
spades.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
2 Steve Gasparrelli 7704 Dale VanGundy
E1 ****WINNER**** 0.197 5.722 250.64 0.242 6.029 235.43
Qualified: #2 5.641 256.26 #15 6.012 238.05
Gasparrelli has a stuck throttle on the burn out and the engine is on high C until a
crewman jumped on the hood and held the injector blades closed all the way back to the
starting line. Looks like Steve played it cool, left first, and took the race wire to
wire.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
3 Jay Payne 72 Mert Littlefield
E1 ****WINNER**** 0.059 5.665 255.24 0.075 6.034 216.20
Qualified: #3 5.673 254.42 #14 5.961 228.34
Payne takes the win, wire to wire with a clean pass. Littlefield had better numbers
down low and then Payne took over from there.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
74 Bret Williamson 62 Jason Rupert
E1 ****WINNER**** 0.086 5.783 244.60 0.085 5.869 240.12
Qualified: #4 5.689 250.27 #13 5.849 244.21
Both cars leave together and Williamson moves smartly ahead to dominate the pass.
Rupert has a lot of smoke from underneath the car near the top end and down to the turn
off area. The Safety Safari is out for a quick dusting and cleaning.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
76 Doug Gordon 714 Dennis Taylor
E1 0.031 14.138 54.64 ****WINNER**** 0.121 6.114 201.37
Qualified: #5 5.691 251.91 #12 5.793 246.84
That didn't take long! Gordon is out first and gets way loose and has to shut off.
Taylor gets much further down the track and he too starts to use up a lot of race track.
He finally has to give it up and coasts on through for the win.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
727 Ron August Jr 6345 Clint Thompson
E1 ****WINNER**** 0.061 5.649 249.16 0.030 5.725 249.16
Qualified: #7 5.712 249.72 #10 5.766 250.18
August jumps up and runs the quickest pass of the round! Thompson was away first, but
was no match for August's horse power. Tomorrow August will have lane choice over
Gasparrelli; Payne over Weaver; Williamson over Taylor; and Austin over Marx.
Timing data courtesy of
CompuLink
