Sun, 1 Jun 2008, 03:06 PM Top Alcohol Funny Car Round 3 Eliminations

By Rick Green

TOPEKA, Kan. - Results of round 3 eliminations in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 20th annual O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals presented by Castrol GTX:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 7384 Sean O'Bannon                           2 Jay Payne                    
E3   ****WINNER****  0.051  5.712 254.57                     0.058  5.757 253.71
 Prior rounds:
E2    (J Jones     ) 0.052  5.687 252.76      (D Wilkerson ) 0.041  5.686 253.75
E1    (N Matter    ) 0.070  5.713 255.10      (C Foster    ) 0.056  5.722 254.42
 Qualified:             #2  5.683 253.95                        #3  5.698 250.83

Weather conditions: air temperature 85 degrees, relative humidity 54 percent, barometer 28.81 inches, adjusted altitude 3,848 feet, track temperature 118 degrees.

Payne with a lot of tire shake around 300 feet and drives through it, but can't chase down O'Bannon. Sean O'Bannon's MOV: 0.0522 seconds (approximately 19 feet).

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    5 Steve Harker                           53 Roger Bateman                
E3   ****WINNER****  0.090  5.625 256.16                     0.016  5.863 243.68
 Prior rounds:
E2    (S Gasparrell) 0.076  5.652 253.95      (V Smith     ) 0.037  5.694 249.81
E1    (A DeJoria   ) 0.119  5.664 255.00      (S McVey     ) 0.061  5.692 251.06
 Qualified:             #1  5.659 254.81                        #4  5.704 249.35

Bateman with a big starting line advantage, but then got real loose and out of the groove. Harker chased him down by 300 feet and then drove away for the win. He will have lane choice in the final.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink