A long day for drivers competing in the AMS Staff Leasing Pro Mod =
Challenge presented by TLR
finally ended after 9 p.m. Friday with Quain Stott on top of the Mac =
Tools NHRA Gatornationals
qualifying order and most everyone else looking to regroup on Saturday.
A number of delays and schedule changes at Gainesville Raceway limited =
the Pro Mods to just one of
their two scheduled qualifying passes and kept them off the track =
altogether until nearly 8:30 p.m.
Running in totally unexpected and unplanned-for conditions, most of the =
20 drivers who attempted a
run either shook the tires or lifted.
Stott=92s 6.135 came in the first pair and easily held up as the =
session=92s top effort. Only two other
drivers were able to stay in the six-second zone, with Doug Palmer=92s =
6.54 holding up as the
second-best e.t. and Troy Critchley running a 6.66 for the No. 3 spot. =
Glen Kerunsky ran a 6.89 but
was moved to the back of the order for a centerline violation.
Friday=92s session featured three notable debuts. Cody Barklage, younger =
brother of AMS/TLR series
standout Zach Barklage, made his first run in a sanctioned Pro Mod =
event; Shelly Payne, wife of
NHRA alcohol-class and Pro Mod racer Jay Payne, made her first-ever =
competitive pass in a car with
doors; and former NHRA Pro Stock racer Troy Coughlin made his first Pro =
Mod run at a quarter-mile
distance.
A second and final Pro Mod qualifying session is scheduled for 11 a.m. =
Saturday, followed later in
the afternoon by the first round of eliminations. The 2005 =
Gatornationals will be the second event
in series history to feature a 16-car qualified field and eliminations =
run on both Saturday and
Sunday.
Results
Mac Tools NHRA Gatornationals=20
First-round qualifying order
Driver E.T./Speed
1. Quain Stott 6.135, 231.54=20
2. Doug Palmer 6.548, 157.59=20
3. Troy Critchley 6.662, 222.77=20
4. Cody Barklage 7.063, 157.34=20
5. Rick Stivers 7.207, 146.86=20
6. Kirk Kuhns 7.334, 136.01=20
7. Mike Ashley 7.825, 167.53=20
8. Eddie Ware 8.138, 154.95=20
9. Shelly Payne 8.856, 102.12=20
10. Mike Janis 9.980, 149.05=20
11. Thomas Patterson 10.080, 113.25=20
12. Joshua Hernandez 10.277, 84.19=20
13. Chip King 12.177, 68.55=20
14. Jay Payne 12.794, 75.30=20
15. Mike Castellana 12.875, 75.64=20
16. Zach Barklage 12.889, 60.95
(not qualified)=20
17. Troy Coughlin 16.051, 70.29=20
18. Ed Hoover 23.247, 29.55=20
19. Scott Ray DQ
20. Glen Kerunsky DQ
