Sat, 29 Jul 2006, 02:41 PM Top Alcohol Dragster Qualifying Notes, Final Session

By Darryl Jackman

SONOMA, Calif. - Notes from final, round 3 qualifying in Top Alcohol Dragster at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 19th annual FRAM-Autolite 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:

---

Left Lane: Gregg Lawrence No Time, Now #11; Best prior run: 5.428/256.55, Was #11
Right Lane: Larry Miersch Runs 5.762/246.98, Now #15; No Prior Run

11:00 a.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 69 degrees, relative humidity 62 percent, barometer 30.13 inches, adjusted altitude 612 feet, track temperature 84 degrees.

Final session for the Alky cars. Swearingen is on the bump and Massey leads the pack. Lawrence is pushed away after the burnout so it's Miersch on the single. That puts him in the field and bumps Swearingen. Dischbein would be the next to be bumped.

---

Left Lane: Frank Dischbein Runs 6.625/144.21, Now #16; Best prior run: 5.877/216.58, Was #16
Right Lane: Garrett Bateman Runs 5.243/269.73, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.423/259.06, Was #9

Huge move for Bateman! He bumps Massey down a spot and also sets top speed of the event for the class. Dischbein remains on the bump.

---

Left Lane: Duane Shields Runs 20.758/28.54, Now #3; Best prior run: 5.321/266.11, Was #3
Right Lane: Brandon Johnson Runs 5.395/260.76, Now #7; Best prior run: 5.427/261.52, Was #10

Shields strikes the tires at the hit and winds up rolling slowly down track. Johnson is not in the top half of the field.

---

Left Lane: Dennis Swearingen Runs 6.057/190.73, Now #17; Best prior run: 6.373/164.25, Was #17
Right Lane: Jim Whiteley Runs 5.454/257.43, Now #12; Best prior run: 5.451/253.95, Was #12

Swearingen gets his chance to bump back into the show and falls about two tenths short. Whitely has his car on rails. He's within .004 of last evening pass.

---

Left Lane: Mark Niver Runs 5.252/273.11, Now #2; Best prior run: 5.368/267.32, Was #6
Right Lane: Sean O'Bannon Runs 9.431/83.25, Now #5; Best prior run: 5.359/268.71, Was #4

Niver with a big move. He just misses passing Batemen but does set Top Speed of the event for the class. O'Bannon fell a spot as he had problems and Niver went around him on the list.

---

Left Lane: Mike Austin Runs 5.582/247.88, Now #15; Best prior run: 12.206/64.10, Was #19
Right Lane: Ashley Force Runs 5.345/268.33, Now #5; Best prior run: 5.401/266.58, Was #8

Austin bumps Dischbein is now 15th. Force moves up a few spots and is now safely in the top half of the show.

---

Left Lane: Chris Demke Runs 5.365/265.27, Now #8; Best prior run: 5.421/264.39, Was #10
Right Lane: Johnny Ahten Runs 14.748/72.41, Now #13; Best prior run: 5.478/259.11, Was #13

Ahten blows the tires off in the first 10 feet and coasts on through. Demke tightens the field and goes top half. Morgan Lucas also ran 5.365 but has delf an mph on Ahten for the spot.

---

Left Lane: Darren Nicholson Runs 5.443/254.14, Now #12; Best prior run: 5.580/259.46, Was #14
Right Lane: Steve Federlin Runs 5.383/263.20, Now #9; Best prior run: 5.412/263.36, Was #10

This is a tough field. Nicholson picks up a tenth and a half but only two spots on the field. His 5.443 is only good for 12th. Federlin can't crack the top half with his 5.383.

---

Left Lane: Morgan Lucas Runs 5.650/241.89, Now #7; Best prior run: 5.365/265.74, Was #7
Right Lane: Danny Valadez No Time, Now #19; Best prior run: 6.614/234.57, Was #19

Valadez is pushed away from the starting line after the burnout and watches Lucas make his run. Lucas doesn't improve but remains in the top half.

---

Right Lane: Mark Foster Runs 6.275/220.58, Now #19; No Prior Run

Foster closes qualifying with his only run of the weekend. The run was straight and clean and would have been a great baseline in the first round. This was the final so it's into the box with his odd looking racer.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink