Fri, 3 Oct 2003, 04:49 PM Top Alcohol Dragster Qualifying Notes, Final Session

By Jim Samuel

MOHNTON, Pa. - Notes from final, round 3 qualifying in Top Alcohol Dragster at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 19th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals 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:

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Left Lane: Steven Cantrell Runs 5.429/253.47, Now #4; Best prior run: 7.713/110.81, Was #20
Right Lane: David De Angelis Runs 5.500/257.33, Now #8; Best prior run: 5.483/251.81, Was #7

4:19 PM - At the start of the session, the air temperature was 57 degrees at 39 percent humidity. The sky had just a few clouds in it and the barometer read 30.05 and falling.

This was Cantrell's last chance to make the field and he had to beat the bump time of 5.625 seconds to do it. He carried the front wheels two feet in the air for the first 300 feet of the race track. He got the front wheels back down and stayed with the run to move well into the top half of the field, bumping Mike Kosky in the process. Jeff Bohr's on the bubble now with a bump time of 5.582 seconds. DeAngelis had a clean run but it did not change his spot in the order. He moves down one spot thanks to Cantrell.

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Left Lane: Mark Albert Runs 5.606/246.84, Now #10; Best prior run: 5.520/252.14, Was #9
Right Lane: Arthur Gallant Runs 5.404/252.85, Now #4; Best prior run: 5.558/247.57, Was #11

Both Albert and Gallant were in the bottom half of the field when they staged and would have liked to move into the top half so they could have lane choice in the first round. Gallant got the run he wants and moved up seven spots in the order, sitting in the fourth spot for now. Albert was not as quick as he was earlier this afternoon.

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Left Lane: Cliff Bozzelli Runs 5.423/258.12, Now #5; Best prior run: 5.996/247.75, Was #19
Right Lane: Ken Winward Runs 5.603/241.11, Now #16; Best prior run: 5.580/240.42, Was #15

Bozelli was not in the field and needed to beat Jeff Bohr's 5.582 second ET to make the field. He went right down the middle of his lane and not only made the field, he put himself into the number five spot for now. Winward had a clean run but was not as quick as he was this afternoon. He's sitting in the bump spot now with a time of 5.580 seconds.

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Left Lane: Mike Kosky Runs 13.065/55.11, Now #18; Best prior run: 5.625/210.67, Was #18
Right Lane: Michael Gunderson Runs 5.491/274.83, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.232/280.54, Was #1

Kosky started this session in the field but then got bumped out. He needed to run better than 5.580 seconds to bump Winward and get into eliminations. Kosky launched and when he got to about 100 feet, his car popped and took a quick hop, then the engine quit. Gunderson had a clean run but did not improve his ET.

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Left Lane: Daniel Mercier Runs 5.533/258.91, Now #9; Best prior run: 5.477/260.97, Was #9
Right Lane: Bruce Insinger Runs 6.264/214.72, Now #19; Best prior run: 5.749/238.64, Was #19

Mercier was running to improve his spot in the order, Insinger was running to make the field. Mercier shook the tires as he launched. He drove through it, then rode the center line all the way down the track. Insinger had a clean run but never got quick enough to make the field.

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Left Lane: Richard Bourke Runs 5.429/265.90, Now #6; Best prior run: 5.430/266.90, Was #7
Right Lane: Sheila Tafur Runs 5.582/257.63, Now #14; Best prior run: 5.571/232.59, Was #14

Bourke moved up one spot in the qualifying order with a clean run. Tafur ran off another clean run in the 5.5s.

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Left Lane: Douglas Foley Runs 6.260/149.98, Now #13; Best prior run: 5.561/254.28, Was #13
Right Lane: Rich McPhillips Runs 8.274/99.37, Now #2; Best prior run: 5.345/256.50, Was #2

McPhillips shook and smoked the tires halfway down the track, then shut it down. Foley was running well, then at mid track his engine popped and flames shot out from under the engine.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink