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Thu, 11 Feb 2010, 05:46 PM

Competition Eliminator Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By David Gerard

Go Fast Time!

POMONA, Calif. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Competition Eliminator at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 50th annual Kragen O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals presented by Valvoline listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, amount over/under index, and position in order following run, class and class index:

Left Lane: Gary Ross Runs 7.047/204.17/-0.103, Now #2 AA/A Index: 7.15
Right Lane: John Mihovetz Runs 6.505/218.94/-0.765, Now #1 BB/AT Index: 7.27

1:57 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 68 degrees, relative humidity 43 percent, barometer 29.01 inches, adjusted altitude 2,092 feet, track temperature 92 degrees.

The 2010 season starts with clear blue skies, great weather, and a fast track.

Ross jumps the green by a full light and just runs under his index.

Mihovetz sets the pace for the rest of the field in his turbo pony with a terrific ET and MPH!!

Left Lane: Nicole Lyons Runs 7.096/192.30/-0.054, Now #3 A/AA Index: 7.15
Right Lane: Craig Johnson Runs 8.125/172.04/1.055, Now #4 AA/AM Index: 7.07

Johnson may have left in a higher gear, as the car is way lazy off the line with a 1.471 sixty foot time.

Lyon just gets under the index on a clean pass.

Left Lane: Ron Weems Runs 6.795/206.04/-0.355, Now #3 A/AA Index: 7.15
Right Lane: Peter Adams Runs 7.476/182.80/-0.494, Now #2 C/A Index: 7.97

Weems' car moves around a bunch off the line and he collects it to finish with a reasonable pass.

No drama for Adams, with a clean straight pass.

Left Lane: Brian Fitzpatrick Runs 6.223/226.28/-0.777, Now #1 H/D Index: 7.00
Right Lane: Ed Sigmon Runs 8.530/152.59/-0.560, Now #3 C/SR Index: 9.09

A ton of shake for Fitzpatrick until past the 60 foot lights and he still has the tune up to jump into the new top spot. A little smoke in the lights, but nothing serious.

Sigmon runs a nice fifty plus under his index on a clean pass.

Brian Fitzpatrick's incremental times: 60ft-1.037 sec., 330ft-2.722, 660ft-4.074/183.12 mph, 1,000ft-5.234.

Left Lane: Tom Brown No Time, Now #10 F/ED Index: 8.79
Right Lane: Gary Tackett Runs 8.377/161.07/-0.313, Now #6 B/SMA Index: 8.69

Brown left before the tree and won't get any times, but Tackett's Sunfire had the front wheels WAY UP in the air, well down the track.

Left Lane: Tyler Hogan Runs 7.825/125.13/0.255, Now #9 C/DA Index: 7.57
Right Lane: Randy Goff No Time, Now #12 E/A Index: 7.96

Golf has problems after the burn out in backing up. He can't make it reverse, so he motors on down the track.

Hogan's dragster steps the rear end out and clicked it early.

Left Lane: Doug Lambeck Runs 8.724/128.52/-0.246, Now #8 D/SMA Index: 8.97
Right Lane: Steve Holloway Runs 7.052/196.36/-0.568, Now #3 B/AA Index: 7.62

Holloway motors hard away from the line and runs well into the new #3 spot.

Lambeck's car makes a clean pass, but no too spectacular.

Left Lane: Ross Wilson Runs 8.179/164.01/-0.581, Now #3 C/SMA Index: 8.76
Right Lane: Randy Jones Runs 8.512/158.58/-0.048, Now #12 A/SMA Index: 8.56

Wilson is now the quickest non-turbo now with a smooth pass.

Jones gets to the finish line without any problems.

Left Lane: Scott Hedlund Runs 7.779/173.58/-0.581, Now #4 A/SM Index: 8.36
Right Lane: Steve Graham Runs 17.544/49.20/9.574, Now #16 C/A Index: 7.97

Graham's car goes dead right at the green and he wisely lifts to keep the shiny.

Clean pass for Hedlund to take over the ever popular #3 spot. Nice run.

Left Lane: Dean Carter Runs 7.049/186.36/-0.481, Now #9 B/ND Index: 7.53
Right Lane: Tom Mettler Runs 7.393/183.00/-0.577, Now #5 PST Index: 7.97

Don't you just love Comp. ? A front engined dragster vs. a former Pro Stock pickup truck!

Two strong and straight passes and Mettler gets the best of it moving into the new #5 position.

Left Lane: John Edwards Runs 7.324/184.65/-0.636, Now #3 C/AA Index: 7.96
Right Lane: Mike DePalma Runs 8.280/148.51/-0.540, Now #9 C/T Index: 8.82

Great looking pass for Edwards to become the first car to run into the sixty under range.

A good pass for DePalma too.

Left Lane: J.D. Zink Runs 7.039/187.57/-0.381, Now #13 A/ND Index: 7.42
Right Lane: Clint Neff Runs 7.840/166.35/-0.650, Now #3 K/A Index: 8.49

Neff little altered has the beans to be the next car take over the #3 spot with a strong pass.

The A/ND index is tough and Zink just misses a six second pass.

Left Lane: Lou Ficco Jr. Runs 7.253/187.73/-0.627, Now #5 B/AP Index: 7.88
Right Lane: Scott McClay Runs 7.309/179.23/-0.561, Now #10 C/ED Index: 7.87

Sixties are cheap now and Ficco is the next car to join the group.

McClay makes a grat pass on the tough C/ED index.

Left Lane: Alan Ellis Runs 6.659/202.18/-0.561, Now #11 A/AP Index: 7.22
Right Lane: Adam Bowdish Runs 9.067/142.28/-0.473, Now #16 H/SM Index: 9.54

Ellis starts his season with a clean pass "Right Down Broadway".

Left Lane: Art Hodges Runs 6.467/218.62/-0.583, Now #7 A/PM Index: 7.05
Right Lane: Justin Lamb Runs 8.708/154.07/-0.622, Now #6 G/SMA Index: 9.33

815ci Dodge on nitrous! Hodges makes a terrific looking pass but it's only good for the current #7 spot.

Lamb gets all of his pass and moves well into the top half of the field.

Left Lane: Dan Fletcher Runs 7.763/160.25/-0.577, Now #11 B/EA Index: 8.34

It must be the end of Comp, as Fletcher's Cobalt comes to the line.

Clean pass and he may have clicked it a little early.

2:25 p.m. Fitzgerald stays #1. Field not filled, so no bump spot.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink