Sun, 6 Nov 2005, 04:13 PM Competition Eliminator Round 3 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

POMONA, Calif. - Results of round 3 eliminations in Competition Eliminator at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 41st annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
    2 Tony Stephenson                      6744 Chuck Smithfield             
E3                   0.102  8.268 144.01     ****WINNER****  0.022  7.691 155.04
       C/EA Index: 8.68 (+/-): -0.412            BB/A Index: 8.17 (+/-): -0.479
 Prior rounds:
E2    (D Barcelon  ) 0.037  8.454 -0.226      (S Wilmoth   ) 0.034  7.751 -0.419
E1    (D Lambeck   ) 0.018  8.179 -0.571      (K Justice   ) 0.013  7.664 -0.506
 Qualified:            #23  8.180 -0.570                        #3  7.518 -0.652

1:03 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 76 degrees, relative humidity 26 percent, barometer 29.29 inches, adjusted altitude 2,033 feet, track temperature 92 degrees.

Tony Stephenson has a 0.07 CIC penalty; Chuck Smithfield has no CIC penalty. Stephenson spotted Smithfield an extra tenth of a second on the tree and made it easy for Smithfield to save his index.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
 7098 Tom Mettler                          7771 Ed Sigmon                    
E3                   0.021  7.558 178.97     ****WINNER****  0.018  8.701 147.89
        PST Index: 8.02 (+/-): -0.462            C/SR Index: 9.20 (+/-): -0.499
 Prior rounds:
E2    (J Crimmins  ) 0.078  7.897 -0.123      (M Smith     ) 0.042  8.692 -0.538
E1    (B Butner    ) 0.001  7.520 -0.550      (T Huggins   ) 0.026  8.905 -0.325
 Qualified:            #18  7.482 -0.588                       #22  8.656 -0.574

Tom Mettler has a 0.05 CIC penalty; Ed Sigmon has a 0.03 CIC penalty. This was a good drag race, Ed Sigmon's MOV: 0.0405 seconds (approximately 11 feet).

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
 6180 Jirka Kaplan                           11 Al Ackerman                  
E3   ****WINNER****  0.051  7.800 116.14                    -0.005 11.131  79.15
      BB/AM Index: 7.62 (+/-):  0.180             F/D Index: 8.69 (+/-):  2.441
 Prior rounds:
E2    (J Taylor    ) 0.064  7.117 -0.633      (A Ellis     ) 0.007  8.287 -0.403
E1    (A Freese    ) 0.026  7.825  0.075      (D Sumek     ) 0.095  8.190 -0.530
 Qualified:            #12  7.144 -0.606                       #16  8.129 -0.591

Jirka Kaplan has a 0.13 CIC penalty; Al Ackerman has a 0.03 CIC penalty.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
   13 Sal Biondo                           1937 Lee Zane                     
E3   ****WINNER****  0.010  7.829 171.27                     0.003  9.201 138.66
       E/AA Index: 8.41 (+/-): -0.581            L/AA Index: 9.77 (+/-): -0.569
 Prior rounds:
E2    (S Hedlund   ) 0.028  7.953 -0.457      (R Wilson    ) 0.096  9.333 -0.437
E1    (J Lion      ) 0.026  8.024 -0.386      (J Gebhardt  ) 0.110  9.419 -0.351
 Qualified:             #9  7.787 -0.623                        #5  9.123 -0.647

Neither driver has a CIC penalty. Two pretty good drivers, two pretty good lights, pretty close drag race. Sal Biondo's MOV: 0.0052 seconds (approximately 13 inches). He had to take a 0.06 CIC penalty to get the win light.

In the semifinals it's Biondo against Smithfield and Sigmon against Kaplan.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink