Sun, 8 Oct 2006, 03:01 PM Nostalgia Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Final Session |
By Dave Gerard |
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - Notes from final, round 1 qualifying in Nostalgia Funny Car at the California Hot Rod Reunion, 15th California Hotrod Reunion, presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:
Left Lane: Ron Maroney Runs 6.730/221.34, Now #2
Right Lane: Nate Bugg Runs 6.354/220.85, Now #1
11:04 a.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 78 degrees, relative humidity 48 percent, barometer 29.40 inches, adjusted altitude 2,400 feet.
We started the activities today
with the original "Funny Car", The Speed Sports Roadster, making a pass! This will be a "One Shot Qualifying" session, with
the top eight cars coming back for a Chicago Shootout. The quickest two winners will then come back
for the Championship. Maroney has problems off the line after the launch, but picks it up down
track. Things go from bad to worse, as there is a bunch of smoke out from under the car at the 1000
foot lights and he is unable to get the Corvette stopped. The car goes into the Kitty Litter and we
will have a delay to clean up the track and extract the car from the sand.
Left Lane: Lee Paul Jennings Jr Runs 6.101/218.23, Now #1
Right Lane: Chris Krabill Runs 6.304/230.00, Now #2
11:18 a.m. ...and we are back. Chris Krabill, in the Gary Turner "Pedaler" Arrow, has Donny Couch tuning this weekend.Jennings, in the Code Red Barracuda has a great 1.013 sixty foot time and thunders away to a clean low six second pass. Krabill fights his way through sever tire shake, pedals, and has to fight the car off the guard rail. He picks it back up to still card a #2 spot for now.
Left Lane: Jeff Utterback Runs 6.773/203.80, Now #6
Right Lane: Jim Holtz Runs 6.208/230.47, Now #2
Holtz makes a clean pass to take over the current #2 spot. Utterback's car disappears in a cloud of clutch dust at the hit and has a black cloud behind it down the track.
Left Lane: Bob Godfrey Runs 6.638/171.13, Now #5
Right Lane: Dennis La Charite Runs 12.320/61.58, Now #8
La Charite's team built the carbon fiber Corvette body from scratch. His car had a strong 1.013 sixty foot time and then struck the tires. He pumps it a couple of times to keep it off the wall and then gives it up. Godfrey looked to be on a grat pass until about 3/4 track where he is in and out of the throttle. The engine didn't care much for that and expired at the 1000 foot mark. We are down again for oil.
Left Lane: Ed Schwartz Runs 6.655/212.86, Now #6
Right Lane: Randy Walls Runs 8.401/97.24, Now #9
11:37 a.m. ... Dennis La Charite is on the bump spot at 12.320. Walls is in a brilliant yellow and green "new/old" 1970 Nova, as the original car wasn't able to meet current tech. requirements. Both cars leave together and Wall's engine goes sour before mid-track and he has the chute out early. Schwartz makes a clean pass that puts Utterback on the bump, but the mid-six sixty pass may not stay in the show for long.
Left Lane: Gary Reed Runs 6.375/180.43, Now #6
Right Lane: Mike Savage Runs 6.239/218.34, Now #3
We are not sure whether the car in the left lane is Gary Read or not, but we will find out. The car has the old Pettit Crazy Horse Mustang body. It leave well and slows down track to still pump into the field. Savage makes a strong pass into the current #3 spot.
Right Lane: Stephen Romanazzi Runs 5.987/232.79, Now #1
Bob Godfrey is on the bump spot at 6.638. WOW, major power for Romanazzi to wrap up qualifying. Great looking pass from start to finish. He doesn't leave as hard as others, with a 1.023 sixty foot time, but has the power down track to take both the ET and MPH poles.
11:49 a.m.
Godfrey ends up on the bump with a 6.638 ET. We will be back in about two hours for Round One of
the Chicago Style Shootout.
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