Sat, 22 Aug 2009, 06:10 PM Top Alcohol Dragster Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Jim Samuel

MOHNTON, Pa. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Top Alcohol Dragster at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 25th annual Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Left Lane: Mike Lewis Runs 5.474/263.00, Now #1
Right Lane: Al Moeser Runs 7.149/222.40, Now #2

5:40 p.m. - Weather conditions: air temperature 82 degrees, relative humidity 71 percent, barometer 29.20 inches, adjusted altitude 3,367 feet, track temperature 94 degrees.

Lewis was runner up here last year. Lewis' chutes got tangled around his wheelie bars and did not deploy. He got on the brakes hard and managed to get the car stopped without going off the extended shutdown area here. Moeser came out of the gate slowly and never really picked up any speed.

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Left Lane: Richard Bourke Runs 5.655/245.76, Now #2
Right Lane: Tom Pickett Runs 6.179/219.29, Now #3

Pickett got out of the groove and ran close to the center line. Bourke kept his car in the groove.

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Left Lane: Ken Winward Runs 6.492/169.36, Now #4
Right Lane: Darvin Martinets No Time, Now #6

Martinets launched, spun the rear tires and then popped the blower.

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Left Lane: Bruce Horner Runs 6.034/206.64, Now #4
Right Lane: Rich McPhillips Runs 5.462/253.14, Now #1

This is the 20th time that McPhillip has competed at this event. Horner has been at all 25 national events here at Maple Groove. McPhillips' car has a new paint scheme and whether that helped or not, he took over the top spot in the order with a nice trip down the track. Horner's car never really got up to speed, but was still quick enough to go to the number four.

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Left Lane: Arthur Gallant Runs 5.513/243.72, Now #4
Right Lane: Darren Nicholson Runs 5.422/259.91, Now #1

Gallant is here for the 10th time. In his last eight starts at this race, he has qualified no lower than third. He was only quick enough to make it to the fourth spot, for now. Nicholson had a strong run to move into the top spot in the order for now.

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Left Lane: Mike Kosky Runs 5.490/226.77, Now #4
Right Lane: Ken Perry Runs 5.532/238.43, Now #6

Kosky had a great run going until he blew the blower just before the finish line. Perry's run looked okay but was only quick enough for number six in the order, for now.

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Left Lane: Marty Thacker Runs 5.438/262.85, Now #2
Right Lane: Duane Shields Runs 5.486/258.17, Now #5

This is the second time Shields has competed at this event. The other time was 2002. It's Thacker's fifth time here and he has never qualified lower than number five. He's in the number two spot for now, after a great looking trip down the quarter mile. Shields had a good run and is in the number five spot for now.

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Left Lane: Bill Evans Runs 5.793/250.88, Now #11
Right Lane: John Finke Runs 5.322/265.69, Now #1

Finke took over the number one spot in the order. It's the fourth number one start in his career.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink