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Top Alcohol Dragster Qualifying Notes, Final Session
Sat, 26 Jul 2003, 02:37 PM
Notes from final, round 3 qualifying in Top Alcohol Dragster at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 16th annual
CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA 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:
Left Lane: Steve Federlin Runs 6.833/134.59, Now #8; Best prior run: 5.555/253.47, Was #7
Right Lane: Don Hudson Runs 5.515/249.49, Now #7; Best prior run: 5.612/213.16, Was #11
Last session here, with round one scheduled for later this afternoon. Hudson picks up a tenth, while
Federlin clicks it before half track.
Left Lane: Mike Cofini Runs 5.432/261.42, Now #2; Best prior run: 5.505/258.42, Was #6
Right Lane: Chris Demke Runs 9.556/96.14, Now #9; Best prior run: 5.567/255.77, Was #9
The bump is Paul Julien at 5.775. Both of these drivers are in, but would probably like to run in the
5.40s here.
Demke's car shook and went right, and Cofini zooms to the second spot with a picture-perfect
run.
Left Lane: Gary Anderson Runs 5.686/254.86, Now #14; Best prior run: 6.268/239.53, Was #20
Right Lane: Duane Shields Runs 5.556/208.59, Now #3; Best prior run: 5.453/258.12, Was #3
Anderson was runner-up here at the LODRS event in June, but is on the verge of not
qualifying.
Well, Anderson sneaks in for now. He was only 1.028 at 60 feet. Shields, on the other hand, was
.914, but we heard a bang at the big end, and he slows to a 5.55.
Left Lane: Joey Severance Runs 5.483/256.84, Now #6; Best prior run: 5.477/257.43, Was #5
Right Lane: Mark Niver Runs 5.418/259.06, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.618/247.66, Was #12
Niver goes to the pole, as the injected-nitro machine makes a near-perfect run. Severance backs up his
5.47 with a 5.48, and he will be a tough out this weekend.
Left Lane: Mark Hentges Runs 5.444/252.10, Now #2; Best prior run: 5.420/259.21, Was #2
Right Lane: Greg Tacke No Time, Now #20; Best prior run: 5.928/235.89, Was #20
Tacke will not get in, as he bangs the blower on the burnout. So Hentges will be on a single as he tries
to take back the top spot.
Nice run, but there was a puff of smoke at the finish line, and that cost him some
e.t. He was quicker than Niver to every incremental except 1000 foot and the finish line.
Left Lane: Alan Bradshaw Runs 5.470/200.35, Now #6; Best prior run: 5.571/240.55, Was #11
Right Lane: Larry Miersch Runs 5.476/255.00, Now #7; Best prior run: 5.653/243.33, Was #13
Pair of A/Fuel machines here. If Bradshaw can hit on all eight here, he could easily take over the
pole.
Bradshaw was on a rocket-ship ride. He was a tenth quicker than Niver at the 1000 foot mark, but
something went away and he had the chutes out early. Check out the mph for Bradshaw. Miersch with a very nice run to
get into the top half of the field.
Left Lane: Randy Eakins Runs 5.658/250.27, Now #15; Best prior run: 5.869/227.19, Was #19
Right Lane: Paul Julien Runs 5.638/245.32, Now #14; Best prior run: 5.775/248.25, Was #17
Last chance for both of these drivers. Mitch Myers is on the bump at 5.756.
Both drivers get in,
but they are not safe as there are three drivers yet to run who are not in. Anderson is on the bump at
5.686.
Left Lane: Kim Parker No Time, Now #13; Best prior run: 5.599/250.46, Was #13
Right Lane: Morgan Lucas Runs 5.310/269.73, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.457/263.98, Was #5
Parker is forced to shut off after backing up from the burnout. The good news is that she is assured of a
spot in the field.
Lucas with a blistering run. He was .905 at 60 feet. However, Bradshaw was seven
hundredths quicker and three mph faster at half-track on his run, so if he could have made a full pass, Bradshaw would
no doubt be on the pole. But credit where credit is due: Lucas kept 'em lit from start to finish. We're down for a
small clean-up of the left lane. 11:22 a.m.
Left Lane: Bill Edwards Jr Runs 5.682/243.72, Now #16; Best prior run: 5.796/231.12, Was #19
Right Lane: Brandon Johnson Runs 5.480/257.24, Now #9; Best prior run: 5.478/259.11, Was #9
11:30 a.m. Edwards is down to his last chance. Johnson would like to get into the top half
here.
Edwards gets in, but now he's on the bump. Johnson's car moved around, but he did a nice job getting
down the track and running another 5.4-second e.t.
Left Lane: Mitch Myers Runs 17.458/63.84, Now #19; Best prior run: 5.756/242.63, Was #19
Right Lane: Bruce Bowler Runs 5.434/254.66, Now #5; Best prior run: 5.715/223.69, Was #18
Lots of drama here. Last two cars of the session, and they are both not in. Myers is your defending
event champ.
Myers goes up in smoke at the hit. Bowler goes right down Broadway and into the field. Randy
Eakins ends up on the bump at 5.658. There are 6 A/Fuel Dragsters in the top 16.
11:35 a.m.
Timing data courtesy of
CompuLink
By Jonathan Adams
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