Sun, 21 Oct 2007, 11:30 AM Pro Modified Round 1 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. - Results of round 1 eliminations 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:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    8 Jim Halsey                             51 Tommy Gray                   
E1   ****WINNER****  0.067  6.071 231.28                     0.056  7.442 139.43
 Qualified:             #8  6.081 231.28                       #16  6.174 233.72

11:07 a.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 69 degrees, relative humidity 60 percent, barometer 29.84 inches, adjusted altitude 971 feet, track temperature 89 degrees.

Gray shook the tires hard, pedaled, shook again, and could only watch as Halsey drove away for the win on a smooth, straight run, his best of the weekend and a career-best ET.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   77 Shannon Jenkins                       470 Jason Hamstra                
E1   ****WINNER****  0.087  6.806 158.76                     0.107  7.049 211.59
 Qualified:             #7  6.077 231.16                       #15  6.162 229.20

Both shook and pedaled. Jenkins hooked up immediately, Hamstra had to try twice. Jenkins lifted early - the reason not clear - and Hamstra almost ran him down, closing at over 50 mph on the top end.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    1 Quain Stott                          1237 Burton Auxier                
E1   ****WINNER****  0.098  6.040 236.96                     0.053  6.265 191.00
 Qualified:             #6  6.056 235.93                       #14  6.143 216.00

Auxier led to half track, but Stott steadily closed the gap, then took the lead when Auxier's engine hiccuped around the 1,000-foot mark. Stott posted his best time of the weekend and got the win light handily.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 1313 Chip King                             112 Pat Stoken                   
E1                   0.085 11.443  76.12     ****WINNER****  0.068  6.135 227.50
 Qualified:             #5  6.017 229.35                       #13  6.122 229.78

King lost traction early, stayed with it for about a second, then lifted. Stoken made a clean, straight run for the win.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   10 Kenny Lang                           3127 Mark Nielsen                 
E1   ****WINNER****  0.040  6.049 235.76                     0.100  6.163 234.66
 Qualified:             #4  6.016 236.42                       #12  6.104 234.17

Lang left first and won going away. He will have lane choice against halsey next round.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    3 Mike Janis                           2814 Matt Hagan                   
E1   ****WINNER****  0.099  6.103 237.05                     0.094  6.380 214.93
 Qualified:             #3  6.008 210.41                       #11  6.095 233.80

Janis still has a slim chance of winning the championship, but he must win the event and set a new ET record to take it away from Scott Cannon. Hagan kept him honest, but Janis steadily pulled away for the win and lane choice against Jenkins in round two.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 1512 Mike Stawicki                        1471 Chris Russo                  
E1   ****WINNER****  0.077  6.272 195.08                     0.104 14.210  58.31
 Qualified:             #2  5.979 233.16                       #10  6.084 229.90

Russo got the front wheels up and shook hard, Stawicki made a clean run, but he lost lane choice to Stott in round two.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    6 Scott Cannon                         1152 Tony Pontieri                
E1   ****WINNER****  0.166  7.897 148.23                           No Time      
 Qualified:             #1  5.969 239.27                        #9  6.082 234.53

Cannon debated about not making this run in order to avoid the possibility of oiling the track and losing points, but decided to make the round. Pontieri left before the tree was activated and that was a break for Cannon, who chattered the tires hard on the launch and had to backpedal to stay in his own lane. He got the win and closed the door on Janis' title hopes.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink