Sat, 15 Nov 2008, 08:42 PM Competition Eliminator Round 2 Eliminations

By David Gerard

POMONA, Calif. - Results of round 2 eliminations in Competition Eliminator at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 44th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
 2000 Lee Sharp                            2780 Grant Lewis                  
E2   ****WINNER****  0.010  8.369 159.40                     0.051  9.059 139.10
      D/SMA Index: 8.90 (+/-): -0.531           H/SMA Index: 9.56 (+/-): -0.501
 Prior rounds:
E1    (K Rizzoli   ) 0.025  8.400 -0.600      (M DePalma   ) 0.020  9.341 -0.219
 Qualified:            #11  8.401 -0.599                       #19  9.011 -0.549

Weather conditions: air temperature 78 degrees, relative humidity 18 percent, barometer 28.89 inches, adjusted altitude 2,853 feet, track temperature 85 degrees.

It's full dark and the lights on the Christmas Tree will look huge to the drivers. Sharp is sharp on the tree with a great 0.010 light and takes the car length win, even with his dime CIC.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
 7298 Scott Hedlund                        3335 David Connolly               
E2                   0.126  7.808 171.69     ****WINNER****  0.030  8.028 160.63
       A/SM Index: 8.43 (+/-): -0.622            F/AA Index: 8.60 (+/-): -0.572
 Prior rounds:
E1    (T Brown     ) 0.071  7.935 -0.495      (P Adams     ) 0.020  8.100 -0.500
 Qualified:            #14  7.848 -0.582                        #6  7.985 -0.615

Ouch, Hedlund is late off the line and will get a permanent CIC in his losing effort. Good light for Connolly and a 0.07 CIC hit for round three.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
 7771 Ed Sigmon                            7910 Frank Cervelli               
E2   ****WINNER****  0.092  8.592 150.65                     0.109  7.043 187.31
       C/SR Index: 9.12 (+/-): -0.528            C/DA Index: 7.56 (+/-): -0.517
 Prior rounds:
E1    (R Weems     ) 0.054  8.754 -0.366      (B Darcy     ) 0.008  7.054 -0.516
 Qualified:            #31  8.666 -0.454                       #23  7.044 -0.526

Sigmon gets it all together to take the win from a late Cervelli. Just a little CIC for tomorrow. Ed Sigmon's MOV: 0.0284 seconds (approximately 8 feet).

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
 3737 Jacklyn Gebhardt                        7 Jim Cowan                    
E2   ****WINNER****  0.074  6.557 199.17                     0.043  8.245 147.12
       A/DA Index: 7.14 (+/-): -0.583            I/AA Index: 8.79 (+/-): -0.545
 Prior rounds:
E1    (B Moscini   ) 0.028  6.703 -0.437      (S Benham    ) 0.067  9.949  1.159
 Qualified:            #16  6.568 -0.572                        #8  8.176 -0.614

Cowan gets off the line first and Gebhardt runs him down for a close win. Jacklyn Gebhardt's MOV: 0.0073 seconds (approximately 19 inches).

She'll get some CIC tomorrow too.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
   74 Doug Lambeck                         5250 Todd Patterson               
E2                   0.082  8.418 158.93     ****WINNER****  0.107  7.679 166.95
      D/SMA Index: 9.00 (+/-): -0.582             D/A Index: 8.31 (+/-): -0.631
 Prior rounds:
E1    (A Martel    ) 0.071  8.997 -0.003      (A Ellis     ) 0.048  8.064 -0.246
 Qualified:            #12  8.409 -0.591                        #4  7.685 -0.625

Patterson is late and takes a permanent CIC getting the win. Todd Patterson's MOV: 0.0242 seconds (approximately 6 feet).

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
 707M John Mihovetz                         738 Jay Payne                    
E2   ****WINNER****  0.058  6.845 144.72                    -0.096  6.571 194.86
      AA/AT Index: 6.95 (+/-): -0.105           AA/PM Index: 6.85 (+/-): -0.279
 Prior rounds:
E1    (J Edwards   ) 0.086  6.448 -0.592      (B Marshall  ) 0.024  6.950  0.100
 Qualified:            #21  6.509 -0.531                       #13  6.267 -0.583

Payne is -0.096 red and "The Tunder Kitty" gets a free pass to round three.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
 7009 Ross Wilson                          730G Shane Gray                   
E2                   0.104  8.288 153.81     ****WINNER****  0.033  6.998 177.04
      C/SMA Index: 8.73 (+/-): -0.442             B/A Index: 7.57 (+/-): -0.572
 Prior rounds:
E1    (J Kaplan    ) 0.008  8.228 -0.622      (B Hass      ) 0.066  7.067 -0.553
 Qualified:            #18  8.287 -0.563                       #10  7.020 -0.600

Ross Wilson has a 0.12 CIC penalty; Shane Gray has a 0.05 CIC penalty. Wilson is way late and slows on the top end. Gray had a huge lead and still gets a big bite of the CIC apple.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
  178 Dan Fletcher                         5450 Steve Matusek                
E2   ****WINNER****  0.036  8.121 149.45                     0.040  6.790 216.38
       C/EA Index: 8.60 (+/-): -0.479           BB/AT Index: 7.16 (+/-): -0.370
 Prior rounds:
E1    (P Byron     ) 0.036  8.097 -0.563      (S Holloway  ) 0.079  6.658 -0.662
 Qualified:             #9  8.055 -0.605                        #1  6.520 -0.800

Dan Fletcher has a 0.06 CIC penalty; Steve Matusek has a 0.16 CIC penalty. Two close lights and Fletcher wins the dumping contest by a ton. The hair dryer can't run the number.

5:30 p.m. Tomorrow's Round Three Pairing: Fletcher vs. Mihovetz; Sharp vs. Sigmon; Gray vs. Connolly; and Patterson vs. Gebhardt.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink