Fri, 20 Jun 2008, 12:28 PM Top Alcohol Dragster Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Jim Samuel

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Top Alcohol Dragster at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 39th annual Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Right Lane: Bruce Insinger Runs 6.722/216.90, Now #1

11:46 a.m. - Weather conditions: air temperature 77 degrees, relative humidity 42 percent, barometer 29.94 inches, adjusted altitude 1,747 feet, track temperature 111 degrees.

Insinger hit the throttle but not a lot happened. The car made its way down the track but never really got up to speed. Insinger clicked it off at about 1,000 feet.

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Left Lane: Tom Pickett Runs 6.614/143.63, Now #2
Right Lane: Rich McPhillips Runs 5.433/263.87, Now #1

McPhillips took his dragster down the groove. Picket had some tire shake and got off the throttle early.

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Left Lane: Bruce Horner Runs 5.545/248.75, Now #2
Right Lane: Ken Winward Runs 5.714/243.46, Now #3

Horner had his quickest run of the season with a nice pass down the groove. Winward drifted a bit to the right and the rear end got a little bit loose.

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Left Lane: Gene Arrigoni No Time, Now #8
Right Lane: Jackie Fricke Runs 5.925/175.46, Now #4

Fricke is driving the car that Karen Stalba drove last year, while Stalba takes the season off. Arrigoni did his burnout and backed up to stage. When he did, the car shut down and he was not able stage. Fricke had a nice run going but the car shut down at 1,000 feet. Her 660-foot time of 3.588 seconds was the quickest of the session so far.

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Left Lane: Travis Nicholson Runs 5.317/263.36, Now #1
Right Lane: Richard Bourke Runs 5.389/266.42, Now #2

Nicholson had his career best ET to move into the top spot for now. Bourke ran side-by-side with Nicholson most of the way and took the second spot in the order for now.

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Left Lane: Bill Evans Runs 5.475/263.15, Now #4
Right Lane: Dave DeAngelis Runs 5.557/258.96, Now #6

DeAngelis's car trailed smoke most of the way down the track. Evans had some tire shake at the start but drove through it. We're going to have a short break while the track crews clean up after DeAngelis.

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Left Lane: Dan Mercier Runs 6.365/180.02, Now #9
Right Lane: Diana Harker Runs 11.111/98.47, Now #12

Mercier shook the rear tires when he launched. He drove through it and then clicked it off at about 1,000 feet. Harker smoked the rear tires out of the gate and gave up on this run by the time she reached 330 feet.

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Left Lane: Arthur Gallant Runs 5.797/232.99, Now #8
Right Lane: John Finke Runs 10.075/128.33, Now #13

Finke smoked the tires out of the gate. He shut it down right away. Gallant shook the tires but pedaled his way to a 5.79 second ET.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink