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Sat, 3 May 2008, 05:18 PM

Pro Stock Qualifying Notes, Final Session

By Dan Bennett

MADISON, Ill. - Notes from final, round 4 qualifying in Pro Stock at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 12th annual O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals presented by Castrol 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:

Left Lane: Larry Morgan Runs 6.656/207.18, Now #16; Best prior run: 6.689/206.57, Was #22
Right Lane: Max Naylor Runs 6.627/206.07, Now #7; Best prior run: 12.176/71.05, Was #26

Weather conditions: air temperature 65 degrees, relative humidity 40 percent, barometer 29.48 inches, adjusted altitude 1,305 feet, track temperature 89 degrees.

Let me start by apologizing for stating that Line's pass was the quickest ever in Pro Stock. I have no rational explanation for my brain fade other than old age and limited intelligence.

Even with the slightly worse conditions, Naylor and Morgan still make it in the show.

Morgan probably won't stay, while Naylor probably will.

Left Lane: Kenny Koretsky Runs 6.662/206.23, Now #18; Best prior run: 6.684/205.98, Was #23
Right Lane: Jim Cunningham Runs 15.051/77.06, Now #26; Best prior run: 6.790/202.18, Was #26

Larry Morgan is on the bump spot at 6.656.

The Cunningham Mustang's first move was directly toward the wall, and he was quick enough to save the car.

Kenny grabs a couple of thou but it's not enough.

Left Lane: Steve Spiess Runs 6.755/206.20, Now #24; Best prior run: 6.673/205.88, Was #23
Right Lane: Johnny Gray Runs 6.648/207.21, Now #15; Best prior run: 6.713/203.61, Was #25

Two nice looking runs, but style points don't count right now.

Gray does the deed and lands in the 15th spot.

Left Lane: Justin Humphreys Runs 26.243/47.15, Now #24; Best prior run: 6.668/207.24, Was #23
Right Lane: Warren Johnson Runs 6.661/208.62, Now #18; Best prior run: 6.692/207.30, Was #25

Who woulda thought? The Professor is on a last-ditch, hail mary pass here.

Humphreys is sitting with the first bulb lit and WJ's crew are setting the wheelie bar.

Humphrey shakes his brains out at the hit. WJ moves out of the groove once, but way less than we've seen Warren do from time to time. Whatever happened, it was enough to take him out of the show. Amazing.

Justin Humphreys' incremental times: 60ft-1.306 sec., 330ft-6.404, 660ft-13.421/030.26mph, 1,000ft-21.697
Warren Johnson's incremental times: 60ft-0.989 sec., 330ft-2.806, 660ft-4.300/165.29mph, 1,000ft-5.581

Left Lane: Lamar Swindoll Jr Runs 6.692/205.35, Now #23; Best prior run: 6.665/205.72, Was #23
Right Lane: Steve Schmidt Runs 6.646/207.69, Now #14; Best prior run: 6.665/206.64, Was #22

Schmidt is straight as a string and it shows in his ET. He's in the 14th spot.

Johnny Gray is now on the bump spot at 6.648. It takes a 6.62 to get into the top half and that's pretty stout.

Left Lane: Rickie Jones Runs 6.627/208.23, Now #7; Best prior run: 6.650/207.27, Was #17
Right Lane: Tom Hammonds Runs 6.641/206.10, Now #14; Best prior run: 6.663/206.95, Was #22

Jones continues to impress and goes deep into the field, top half even.

Hammonds gets back in and in a session like this, it's tought to feel confident he'll stay in. He did a really nice job of finessing the car back into the groove after it led left after the launch.

Left Lane: V. Gaines Runs 6.619/207.50, Now #7; Best prior run: 6.647/206.07, Was #17
Right Lane: Matt Hartford Runs 6.640/206.86, Now #14; Best prior run: 6.661/207.56, Was #21

Even with the lesser weather conditions, we are doing some serious shuffling in this session.

Tom Hammonds is on the bump spot at 6.641.

Left Lane: Ron Krisher Runs 6.639/207.75, Now #14; Best prior run: 6.643/207.75, Was #17
Right Lane: John Nobile Runs 6.886/173.43, Now #16; Best prior run: 6.641/208.39, Was #15

Krisher helps his cause just a touch and Nobile drives 1400 feet to take over the bump.

Left Lane: Jim Yates Runs 6.636/206.23, Now #13; Best prior run: 6.634/206.13, Was #12
Right Lane: Greg Stanfield Runs 6.615/207.50, Now #7; Best prior run: 6.638/208.01, Was #13

It's been a long time since I've seen the crews take such a long time with the wheelie bar settings.

Stanfield shows he can make power with the best of them and goes to the top half. We're shuffling positions on every pair.

Left Lane: Todd Hoerner Runs 6.688/207.24, Now #12; Best prior run: 6.634/207.75, Was #12
Right Lane: Mike Edwards Runs 6.615/207.85, Now #6; Best prior run: 6.614/208.30, Was #6

Both cars stays put.

Left Lane: Allen Johnson Runs 6.608/208.81, Now #6; Best prior run: 6.629/208.75, Was #11
Right Lane: Dave Connolly Runs 6.595/208.36, Now #2; Best prior run: 6.610/208.49, Was #5

John Nobile is on the bump spot at 6.641.

Big moves for both cars with Connolly getting the run they've been looking for.

Allen Johnson's incremental times: 60ft-0.979 sec., 330ft-2.764, 660ft-4.250/166.01mph, 1,000ft-5.529
Dave Connolly's incremental times: 60ft-0.976 sec., 330ft-2.751, 660ft-4.235/165.90mph, 1,000ft-5.515

Left Lane: Greg Anderson Runs 6.590/208.49, Now #2; Best prior run: 6.602/208.52, Was #4
Right Lane: Jeg Coughlin Runs 6.597/207.40, Now #4; Best prior run: 6.606/207.56, Was #5

I don't think you're ever going to see a better pair than these two. The cars were side by side from start to finish.

Anderson jumps 2 spots, Jeggie gains 1.

Left Lane: Jason Line Runs 6.598/208.33, Now #1; Best prior run: 6.571/209.23, Was #1
Right Lane: Kurt Johnson Runs 6.602/208.94, Now #5; Best prior run: 6.598/209.39, Was #5

Regardless of what you read last session, Line's pass was obviously not the quickest ever. It was a great session, and somehow my fingers actually typed that. I apologize for all the confusion.

Both cars go straight down the track and get some good info for race day.

That concludes some exceptional qualifying performances.

John Nobile stays on the bump.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink