Sat, 20 Oct 2007, 10:26 PM Nostalgia Nitro Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Final Session

By David Gerard

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. - Notes from final, round 2 qualifying in Nostalgia Nitro Funny Car 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 this round, position in order following run, best prior elapsed time/speed, and position in order prior to run:

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Left Lane: Ray Murphy Runs 7.005/159.76, Now #2; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Rhonda Hartman-Smtih Runs 8.995/92.44, Now #4; No Prior Run

10:03 p.m. Neither car was able to make a pass last night. That was ugly! Both cars are in and out of the throttle with Hartman driving towards the guard rail after sixty feet. She pumps it several times and then coasts on down. Murphy gets the car hooked back up sooner and lugs the engine on down through the lights.

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Left Lane: Richard Hartman Runs 6.174/225.07, Now #2; Best prior run: 7.385/135.00, Was #3
Right Lane: John Smith No Time, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.962/216.24, Was #1

Lots of confusion and running around on the starting line before Hartman finally gets the engine started and does his burnout. He stages and makes a single just as Smith's team finally gets their engine started.. There is an animated argument with the crew chief and the starting line crew about killing the engine on Smith's car. It's finally decided that he could run and he does his burnout.

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Right Lane: John Smith Runs 5.956/252.85, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.962/216.24, Was #1

Smith gets his own single pass and makes the most of it. He hammers the throttle at the green and makes a straight and true run into the fives. He improves a little on last night's ET and a big improvement in MPH.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink