Sun, 7 Oct 2007, 02:00 PM Pro Modified Round 2 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

DINWIDDIE, Va. - Results of round 2 eliminations in Pro Modified at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, Second annual Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 1090 Raymond Commisso                        3 Josh Hernandez               
E2   ****WINNER****  0.096  6.075 237.05                    -0.031  9.829  89.96
 Prior rounds:
E1    (T Pontieri  ) 0.076  6.098 236.96      (S Engel     ) 0.042  5.994 240.68
 Qualified:             #9  6.110 236.75                        #1  5.990 241.67

1:34 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 88 degrees, relative humidity 42 percent, barometer 29.82 inches, adjusted altitude 2,296 feet, track temperature 114 degrees.

Hernandez has the field covered by a tenth of a second and goes red. Commisso gets a surprisingly easy win on his best run of the weekend.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  217 Tim Tindle                              4 Shelly Payne                 
E2   ****WINNER****  0.122  7.406  99.28                     0.014 No Time      
 Prior rounds:
E1    (S Ray       ) 0.091  7.663 186.87      (G Landis    ) 0.154  6.722 212.39
 Qualified:            #11  6.171 231.95                        #3  6.038 237.67

Tindle started shaking the tires, getting very sideways about 100 feet out, and Payne looked like an easy winner, but her car suddenly started spinning the tires around half track. The rear of the car "stepped out," taking out the 660-foot timing reflector in the center of the track, then the car went head-on into the right-hand wall in a big flash of flame. The car bounced off the right wall, went across the centerline with the chutes out, hitting the left-hand wall very hard on the driver's side of the car. The car continued down the track in the left lane, rubbing against the wall several times before stopping a few hundred feet past the finish line.

After an anxious few minutes, the TV came alive again to show us shots of Shelly out and walking around, apparently uninjured, and she apologized on the PS system to her dad and the crew for wrecking the car.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   30 Mike Janis                             38 Tommy Mauney                 
E2   ****WINNER****  0.066  7.045 228.73                     0.143  7.027 186.43
 Prior rounds:
E1    (H Laird     ) 0.045  6.284 235.39      (M Hagan     ) 0.169  6.105 236.17
 Qualified:             #4  6.046 239.95                        #5  6.052 237.13

Janis shook and danced right off the starting line and got completely out of the throttle, then saw Mauney doing the same thing a couple hundred feet further down the track, Both drivers pedaled and steered, janis eventually getting a better bite of the track for the win in a close finish. Mike Janis' incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.150), 330 ft(-0.456), 660ft(-0.217), 1,000ft(-0.087). MOV: 0.0591 seconds (approximately 16 feet). Janis is in the semifinals against Commisso, Commisso has lane choice.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 1512 Mike Stawicki                           7 Rick Stivers                 
E2                   0.112  6.418 229.20     ****WINNER****  0.052  6.086 236.75
 Prior rounds:
E1    (J Russo     ) 0.127  8.003 183.42      (J Payne     ) 0.036  6.099 237.00
 Qualified:            #15  6.618 223.32                        #7  6.103 234.57

Stawicki shook early and had to pedal to regain traction, Stivers made a clean pass. He will have lane choice against Tindle in the semifinals.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink