Fri, 19 Oct 2007, 06:36 PM Pro Modified Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Larry Sullivan

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Torco Pro Modified at the 2007 Knoll-Gas Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series, IHRA World Finals Presented by The U.S. Air Force featuring UTI CHampionship Sunday listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Left Lane: Steve Engel Runs 10.860/105.18, Now #2
Right Lane: Barney Squiers Runs 6.277/223.06, Now #1

5:59 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 78 degrees, relative humidity 77 percent, barometer 29.29 inches, adjusted altitude 2,368 feet, track temperature 94 degrees.

Engel lost traction immediately. Squiers, debuting a '68 Camaro in IHRA competition, went right down the groove, a good-looking opening effort.

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Right Lane: Jeff Lamantia Runs 6.726/222.99, Now #2

Lamantia made his IHRA debut in a JanCen Engines sponsored '68 Camaro with a pedaling effort, in and out of the throttle at least twice before completing the run.

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Left Lane: Tommy Gray Runs 6.248/228.50, Now #1
Right Lane: Mike Stawicki Runs 6.317/220.30, Now #3

Stawicki's car wagged its tail on the launch, then came back to the groove. Gray had a lot of tire spin on the launch, but made a relatively straight pass. He takes over as "Last Man Standing."

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Left Lane: Steve Carrier Runs 14.331/57.54, Now #6

Carrier is another "new face," listing Cody McManama as one of his crew chiefs. His right rear was chattering and the right was spinning. The spinning tire had more traction and the car started turning right, so he lifted.

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Left Lane: Steve Vick Runs 11.472/98.27, Now #7
Right Lane: Mark Nielsen Runs 6.414/227.80, Now #4

Same thing for Vick, but in the opposite direction. Nielsen had a lot of early tire shake, but the car stayed pointed straight down the track and he was able to recover.

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Right Lane: Michael Faucher Runs 6.291/227.08, Now #3

Faucher's car made a darting move to the left, then a hard move to the right and he took a good look at the wall for much of the run, but never did lift. Tommy Gray stays on the "Last Man Standing" bubble.

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Left Lane: Tony Pontieri Runs 9.799/96.25, Now #8
Right Lane: Chip King Runs 6.081/230.06, Now #1

Pontieri had severe shake immediately and lifted. King, who has made some awesome runs in the past few events, made another, right down the groove and right up to the top of the list.

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Left Lane: Harold Martin Runs 6.244/205.41, Now #2
Right Lane: Shannon Jenkins Runs 12.800/69.23, Now #12

Jenkins shook hard and lifted. Martin legged it all the way to the line, then his car gave off a huge cloud of smoke as he slowed.

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Left Lane: Burton Auxier Runs 6.207/221.71, Now #3
Right Lane: Jim Halsey Runs 6.121/228.42, Now #2

Two good-looking runs - not spectacular, but neither car had any visible problems.

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Left Lane: John Russo Runs 6.475/227.57, Now #11
Right Lane: Jason Hamstra Runs 6.213/225.41, Now #4

Russo shook, danced, and pedaled right off the starting line, killing his ET. Hamstra went right down the groove on a solid opening pass.

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Left Lane: Matt Hagan Runs 6.166/229.63, Now #3
Right Lane: Danny Rowe Runs 13.514/80.72, Now #18

Hagan switched from the '63 Corvette to the '68 Camaro for this event.

Rowe shook hard on the launch and threw in the towel. Nice run by Hagan, clean and straight after driving through some early shake.

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Left Lane: Kenny Lang Runs 6.188/229.59, Now #5
Right Lane: Quain Stott Runs 6.169/232.63, Now #4

Both cars were a bit loose at the start, both straightened out and made smooth passes after that.

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Left Lane: Ed Hoover Runs 6.250/224.40, Now #10
Right Lane: Pat Stoken Runs 11.490/76.78, Now #20

Stoken's car shook and headed for the centerline, forcing him to lift. Nice pass by Hoover to open his weekend.

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Left Lane: Mike Janis Runs 6.127/235.64, Now #3
Right Lane: Scott Cannon Runs 6.443/215.55, Now #16

Cannon just earned 41 bonus and put Janis 75 points in arrears in the championship chase since Cannon has competed in all eleven national events and Janis skipped the event in Edmonton. It ain't over, but the large lady is warming up.

But Cannon won't get the "Last Man Standing" points tonight - and neither will Janis. Cannon shook and got out of the groove, toward the line, and he had to pedal it. Janis made a nice-looking run, but could not better King's earlier time and King gets both the "provisional pole" and the five bonus points. Cannon finds himself on a precarious perch, on the bump spot, for tomorrow's afternoon qualifying session.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink