Thu, 5 Feb 2009, 07:10 PM Top Alcohol Dragster Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By David Gerard

POMONA, Calif. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Top Alcohol Dragster at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 49th annual Kragen O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Right Lane: Bill Dunlap Runs 12.816/65.14, Now #1

1:17 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 65 degrees, relative humidity 42 percent, barometer 28.90 inches, adjusted altitude 2,081 feet, track temperature 77 degrees.. Its getting really dark now, with both high cloud cover and low broken clouds streaming past..

We start the session with a Nostalgia TF driver and a unique "Cab Forward" dragster. There are major tuning issues with only three or four cylinder burning at the hit. He gives it up after 60 feet or so.

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Left Lane: Ashley Bart Runs 6.000/242.93, Now #2
Right Lane: Dennis Swearingen Runs 5.629/252.57, Now #1

Nice clean pass for Swearingen to tune from.

No joy in the left lane, Bart's engine seemed to be puffing out the headers, as the car ran down the track.

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Left Lane: Kevin Wayman Runs 5.586/243.19, Now #1
Right Lane: Larry Miersch Runs 6.374/160.98, Now #4

Wayman was on a good pass until just before the lights, where there is a big flash from the engine and some brief fire from the top of the engine. He still will be #1 for a while. Kevin Wayman's incremental times: 60ft-0.928 sec., 330ft-2.397, 660ft-3.598/202.79 mph, 1,000ft-4.665.

Miersch has issues with keeping the pipes clean and slows.

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Left Lane: Brittany Force No Time, Now #8
Right Lane: Doug Hegge No Time, Now #7

Looks like the start of the season Yips got both drivers, as they leave before the tree and will get no time.

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Left Lane: Johnny Ahten Runs 5.703/239.87, Now #4
Right Lane: Courtney Force Runs 5.687/251.58, Now #3

Ahten gets a head start off the line and then starts to drop cylinders big time after mid track. Force keeps more candles lit and takes over the current #3 spot.

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Left Lane: Del Cox Jr. No Time, Now #4
Right Lane: Brandon Johnson No Time, Now #3

1:37 p.m. Well, we have our first time out of the weekend for sprinkles. This was expected, but not this early. The cars were starting to roll forward for their burnouts, when Rick Stewart gave them the universal "Kill It" sign with a slash across the throat.

3:50 p.m. The news just came down that today's activities are officially at an end. While the schedule calls for Time Trials and Qualifying to resume early Friday morning, the weather will likely make that an impossibility. We will start reporting again when the next pair goes down the track.

No bump and Kevin Wayman is today's #1 qualifier.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink