Sun, 11 Nov 2012, 16:57 PM Top Alcohol Dragster Round 2 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

POMONA, Calif. - Results of round 2 eliminations in Top Alcohol Dragster at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 48th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  611 Garrett Bateman                       596 Randy Meyer                  
E2                   0.049  5.250 271.35     ****WINNER****  0.064  5.225 266.64
 Prior rounds:
E1    (J Fricke    ) 0.051  5.450 264.96      (J Severance ) 0.030  5.282 265.80
 Qualified:             #4  5.326 264.34                        #5  5.335 259.16

1:21 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 66 degrees, relative humidity 24 percent, barometer 29.12 inches, adjusted altitude 1,693 feet, track temperature 86 degrees.

This is the first time Bateman and Meyer have faced each other in eliminations.

Bateman had the better light and ran a 5.25...and lost. Meyer made his best run of the season and ran him down.

Randy Meyer's incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.039), 330 ft(-0.020), 660ft(0.005), 1,000ft(0.017). MOV: 0.0107 seconds (approximately 4 feet).

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    2 Bill Reichert                          10 Chase Copeland               
E2   ****WINNER****  0.032  5.254 267.75                     0.068  5.365 272.94
 Prior rounds:
E1    (R Martin    ) 0.079  5.343 254.81      (A Olivarez  ) 0.073  5.326 267.69
 Qualified:             #3  5.265 267.85                        #6  5.351 263.10

Reichert is 2 - 1 against Copeland in prior events.

Reichert was first off the line and was never headed, pulling away to win by a big margin.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    1 Duane Shields                           5 Chris Demke                  
E2                   0.069  9.208 104.72     ****WINNER****  0.046  5.246 273.22
 Prior rounds:
E1    (D St.Arnaud ) 0.083  5.311 266.37      (R Eakins    ) 0.048  5.279 270.27
 Qualified:            #10  5.382 261.88                        #2  5.259 271.52

Shields is 6 - 2 against Demke in prior events.

Shields launched into tire smoke. He pedaled, smoked 'em again. Meanwhile, Demke made his best run of the event, matching his career-best ET with a season-best speed.

Demke will have lane choice against reichert in the semifinals.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   15 John Finke                              3 Jim Whiteley                 
E2                   0.029  5.836 254.76     ****WINNER****  0.080  5.232 273.72
 Prior rounds:
E1    (M Taliaferro) 0.051  5.487 260.31      (L Miersch   ) 0.019  5.205 274.50
 Qualified:             #8  5.357 266.37                        #1  5.227 274.27

So far, we have seen event (and career) best runs from the first three pairs of cars, so expectations f0or another jaw-dropping run by Whiteley were high, "maybe even a 'teen."

This is the first time Finke and Whiteley have faced each other in eliminations.

Aww, shucks. Finke lost traction and pedaled, while Whiteley went right down the groove again. He made another strong run, but by comparison with his prior two runs, a 5.23 seemed slow, even though it's the third-quickest by a blown car. It's also not quick enough to give him lane choice against Meyer.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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