Sun, 6 Jul 2008, 04:12 PM Nitro Funny Car Round 1 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

EDMONTON, Alb. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Torco Nitro Funny Car at the 2008 Knoll-Gas Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series, CARS RV & Marine & Motorsports Rocky Mountain Nationals presented by TORCO Racing Fuels:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   13 Cory Lee                                1 Dale Creasy Jr.              
E1                   0.122 10.340  92.61     ****WINNER****  0.114  5.250 284.75
 Qualified:             #5  5.785 232.99                        #1  5.319 278.17

1:48 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 67 degrees, relative humidity 68 percent, barometer 27.43 inches, adjusted altitude 4,199 feet, track temperature 88 degrees.

Another tough first-round matchup, two very good drivers facing off. Neither will frame this time slip, both were slow off the line. Lee lost traction about 200 feet out, the car very sideways before he could get it shut down, while Creasy sailed right down the groove. His car appeared to lose a cylinder or two around half track, but there were no other visible problems.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    7 Jeff Diehl                           2814 Matt Hagan                   
E1                   0.155 No Time           ****WINNER****  0.128  5.208 238.22
 Qualified:             #8  6.899 147.42                        #4  5.750 259.51

Diehl dropped a couple cylinders early and was never in the race. Hagan made a good pass, but had dropped a cylinder on the right side and the unbalanced force pushed him toward the wall. He struggled with it and avoided contact with the outer boundary, but Diehl wasn't as lucky, center-punching the finish line timing reflectors.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  121 Terry Haddock                         763 Steven Macklyn               
E1                   0.110  5.884 229.24     ****WINNER****  0.096  5.698 201.61
 Qualified:             #6  6.331 159.57                        #2  5.341 279.32

Haddock never led this one, but it was close until he started losing traction before half track. Macklyn had traction problems of his own, smoking the tires hard for the last 400 feet of the track. Even so, Haddock was unable to close the gap. Hagan will have lane choice against Macklyn in the semifinals.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  728 Grant Downing                         600 Jason Duchene                
E1   ****WINNER****  0.110  5.529 277.20                     0.191  5.836 202.36
 Qualified:             #7  6.445 148.90                        #3  5.650 230.53

This one was ugly, both cars with traction problems before half track. Downing was still able to pull away, then Duchene "blew it up" around 1,000 feet, with flames visible under the car. The fire went out quickly, but we'll be down for a few minutes for oil cleanup. Downing races Creasy in the semifinals, Creasy has lane choice.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink