Sun, 23 Oct 2005, 04:17 PM Pro Modified Round 2 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

LAS VEGAS - Results of round 2 eliminations in Pro Modified at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, Fifth annual ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 4015 Frankie Taylor                         57 Joshua Hernandez             
E2                   0.105  6.243 224.81     ****WINNER****  0.087  6.132 228.73
 Prior rounds:
E1    (T Coughlin  ) 0.110  6.487 176.47      (D Radford   ) 0.108  6.167 230.21
 Qualified:             #9  6.247 224.25                        #1  6.096 231.44

12:42 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 71 degrees, relative humidity 37 percent, barometer 28.34 inches, adjusted altitude 2,847 feet, track temperature 99 degrees.

hernandez led this one wire to wire for a surprisingly easy win against a tough opponent.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  320 Steve Engel                          1853 Thomas Patterson             
E2   ****WINNER****  0.015  6.199 232.07                     0.039  6.546 210.28
 Prior rounds:
E1    (K Kuhns     ) 0.219  6.579 168.47      (M Bell      ) 0.077  6.676 186.43
 Qualified:             #3  6.186 231.20                       #11  6.267 225.41

Patterson chattered the tires and pedaled early in the run, allowing Engel to pull ahead for good. Engel made a nice run, with no visible problems.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  710 Jay Payne                            1010 Troy Critchley               
E2   ****WINNER****  0.075  6.127 234.25                     0.029  6.313 228.89
 Prior rounds:
E1    (B Pesz      ) 0.075  6.221 229.90      (G Kerunsky  ) 0.055  6.235 228.27
 Qualified:             #2  6.170 231.12                       #10  6.257 230.72

Critchley nailed Payne to the tree, but Payne ran low ET of the round to put the Clash winner in the trailer and earn lane choice against Engel in the semifinals.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    1 Mike Ashley                          1313 Chip King                    
E2                   0.077 20.021  35.11     ****WINNER****  0.076  6.164 230.61
 Prior rounds:
E1    (L Smith     ) 0.036  6.197 227.88      (H Laird     ) 0.172  6.242 223.39
 Qualified:             #5  6.210 228.23                        #4  6.202 230.10

King has been consistently quicker than Ashley this weekend, but Ashley is usually very good at the starting line. Ashley shook violently on the launch and shut it off. King won easily and made it an "all-teens" semifinal round, but Hernandez will pick the lanes when they face off next round.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink