Sun, 21 Oct 2007, 03:38 PM Nitro Funny Car Round 2 Eliminations

By David Gerard

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. - Results of round 2 eliminations in Torco 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:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  499 Todd Simpson                           13 Cory Lee                     
E2                         No Time           ****WINNER****  0.127  6.297 139.95
 Prior rounds:
E1    (J DIEHL     ) 0.131  6.283 148.05      (J WYATT     ) 0.107  4.951 306.40
 Qualified:             #8  5.075 284.99                        #2  4.931 305.22

Weather conditions: air temperature 78 degrees, relative humidity 47 percent, barometer 29.81 inches, adjusted altitude 1,613 feet, track temperature 109 degrees.

Simpson is a no show, as the top of the motor ended up in a lot more pieces than expected at the end of the last run. There wasn't enough Duct tape and SuperGlue to salvage another run from the parts.

Lee gets the single into the final. He makes a nice looking half pass to get some numbers for next round and save the parts.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  206 Bob Gilbertson                        443 Mitch King                   
E2   ****WINNER****  0.116  4.953 301.67                     0.148  5.099 286.68
 Prior rounds:
E1    (D CREASY JR ) 0.101  4.906 315.86      (T HADDOCK   ) 0.138  5.308 214.55
 Qualified:             #1  4.916 305.91                        #7  5.068 265.69

Two not so good lights. Gilbertson wire to wire. Something blew off the Dodge at mid-track, but nothing important, as he runs another four at over three hundred. King runs near his qualifying times and trails by about 75 feet at the finish line.

Gilbertson will has lane choice over Lee in the final.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink