Fri, 21 Jul 2006, 09:11 PM Top Alcohol Dragster Qualifying Notes, Session #2

By Michael L. Jex

KENT, Wash. - Notes from round 2 qualifying in Top Alcohol Dragster at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 19th annual Schuck's Auto Supply 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:

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Left Lane: Mark Hentges Runs 6.206/197.05, Now #12; Best prior run: 9.404/83.30, Was #14
Right Lane: Ed Verenka Runs 6.554/233.84, Now #13; Best prior run: 6.436/227.77, Was #12

Hentges run was exciting, he smoked the tires off the line till the 200 foot mark, then lost the blower belt at the top end of the track. Verenka lost a couple of clyinders and labored most of the way.

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Left Lane: Bill Edwards Jr. Runs 5.792/247.97, Now #8; Best prior run: 5.784/211.53, Was #8
Right Lane: Dennis Swearingen Runs 6.931/197.05, Now #14; Best prior run: 9.468/94.03, Was #15

There was some "stuff" on the left lane to clean up before Edwards and Swearingen ran, the cleanup took just a few minutes.

Nice pass for Edwards, Swearingen lifted early.

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Left Lane: Brandon Johnson Runs 5.532/260.11, Now #2; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Joey Severance No Time, Now #17; Best prior run: 12.851/75.28, Was #16

Brandon showed FastNews the broken blower belt from round one - it was a rather strange looking break! This time it's Joey that has starting line issues, Johnson simply thundered the whole 1320 and just missed the top spot. Brandon Johnson's incremental times: 60ft-0.942 sec., 330ft-2.456, 660ft-3.648/207.50mph, 1,000ft-4.667

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Left Lane: Morgan Lucas Runs 6.108/238.30, Now #8; Best prior run: 5.778/245.00, Was #8
Right Lane: Gregg Lawrence Runs 6.038/242.67, Now #11; Best prior run: 5.994/239.02, Was #11

Gregg just won some nitro bragging rights - "yeah I beat Morgan Lucas to the finish line stripe during qualifying!"

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Left Lane: Mike Austin Runs 9.809/81.67, Now #6; Best prior run: 5.642/230.29, Was #6
Right Lane: Steve Federlin Runs 5.505/257.83, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.505/258.12, Was #1

Austin broke something just before the halfway point. Federlin can't be more consistent - he just ran the identical same ET, the mph varied by .71 mph... Wow. Steve Federlin's incremental times: 60ft-0.942 sec., 330ft-2.437, 660ft-3.620/208.75mph, 1,000ft-4.636

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Left Lane: Garrett Bateman Runs 6.198/251.06, Now #12; Best prior run: 6.053/251.16, Was #12
Right Lane: Duane Shields Runs 5.949/252.95, Now #7; Best prior run: 5.762/257.92, Was #7

The heat may have been a factor for these two...

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Left Lane: Ashley Force Runs 6.354/240.64, Now #10; Best prior run: 5.864/250.78, Was #10
Right Lane: Sean O'Bannon Runs 5.474/261.52, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.601/255.24, Was #5

O'Bannon's .946 60-foot time was our first sign of a great lap - he was going a booming 211.53 mph at the halfway point.

Ashley's motor labored, she may have lifted a little early. 6:06 p.m.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink