Sat, 21 Oct 2006, 03:33 PM Modified Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Michael L. Jex

POMONA, Calif. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Modified at the NHRA Xplod Sport Compact Drag Racing Series, Sixth Annual Nitto Tire NHRA Sport Compact World Finals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Left Lane: Jorge Lazcano Runs 7.441/187.03, Now #1
Right Lane: Justin Humphreys Runs 7.617/187.73, Now #2

Lazcano had his hands full when he let the chutes out, the cars twitched around until it slowed down a little. He also smashed the track record on this pass.

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Left Lane: Not on File Runs 8.049/158.32, Now #3
Right Lane: Tom Shambaugh Runs 8.822/162.59, Now #4

Nice run for the yellow Mazda in the left lane, Shambaugh's Cavalier was on a string the whole way. Not on File's incremental times: 60ft-1.145 sec., 330ft-3.296, 660ft-5.072/137.12mph, 1,000ft-6.655

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Left Lane: Rene Franco Runs 8.926/156.64, Now #6
Right Lane: Steve Topletz Runs 7.896/134.34, Now #3

Something came off Topletz's car at the top end, it ended up on the track, so we're down for a minute to clean things up. Franco's old-school Mazda RX3 also left a lot of smoke when Rene clicked off the loud pedal. 12:07 p.m.

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Left Lane: Dee Karagiannis Runs 7.997/162.12, Now #5
Right Lane: Paul Efantis Runs 7.432/183.34, Now #1

Dee had a ton of smoke out the exhaust at the top end, Efantis smashed the track records again in Modified.

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Left Lane: Ali Afshar Runs 8.986/115.01, Now #9

Afshar lifted about 700-feet out, he missed the field by .05. 12:10 p.m.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink