Thu, 6 Nov 2003, 05:49 PM Top Alcohol Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Rick Green

POMONA, Calif. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 39th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Left Lane: Bob Gallio Runs 6.181/233.36, Now #1
Right Lane: Bill Gallio Runs 6.412/210.08, Now #2

A couple good pass to start the session for the father son team here.

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Left Lane: Fran Monaghan Runs 5.982/224.06, Now #1
Right Lane: Forrest Le Blanc Runs 9.529/104.03, Now #4

LeBlanc gor real loose and made a quick move toward the centerline and had to lift.

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Left Lane: Tate Branch Runs 5.651/252.00, Now #1
Right Lane: Ron August Jr Runs 7.451/128.55, Now #5

August got loose and lifts. Branch was straight down the groove with a nice pass.

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Left Lane: Henry Coolidge Runs 8.061/148.85, Now #7
Right Lane: Clint Thompson Runs 5.775/246.30, Now #2

Coolidge made a quick move toward the centerline and clicked it off.

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Left Lane: Bernie Harrington Runs 5.946/241.41, Now #3
Right Lane: Dale VanGundy No Time, Now #10

VanGundy got loose on the top end and collected the 1000-foot mark cones.

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Left Lane: Mark Woznichak Runs 5.726/247.34, Now #2
Right Lane: Mert Littlefield Runs 5.926/216.48, Now #4

Woznichak with a good looking pass, straight down the groove.

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Left Lane: Dennis Taylor Runs 5.727/247.25, Now #3
Right Lane: Shawn Jones Runs 7.828/115.72, Now #11

Jones with problems early in the run and clicked it off. Taylor launched hard and keep it stuck to go into the number three spot.

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Left Lane: Bret Williamson Runs 5.704/247.07, Now #2
Right Lane: John Weaver Runs 5.735/249.86, Now #5

This was a good drag race.

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Left Lane: Vern Moats Runs 5.769/247.57, Now #6
Right Lane: Ed Marx Runs 5.925/251.25, Now #8

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Left Lane: Robert Lee No Time, Now #20
Right Lane: Bucky Austin Runs 5.652/255.63, Now #2

Austin with a great looking pass, goes into the number two spot.

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Left Lane: Cy Chesterman Runs 11.445/74.31, Now #20
Right Lane: Marc White Runs 6.015/196.85, Now #13

Chesterman shook hard right off the starting line.

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Left Lane: Doug Gordon Runs 5.798/247.34, Now #9
Right Lane: Steve Gasparrelli Runs 16.251/49.50, Now #22

Gasparrelli shook and then got real loose and close to the centerline before he clicked it off.

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Left Lane: John Knox Runs 5.973/238.30, Now #14
Right Lane: Jay Payne Runs 5.641/253.66, Now #1

Payne launched hard and was straight down the groove into the number one spot to wrap up the session.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink