Sat, 10 Apr 2010, 09:28 PM Top Alcohol Dragster Round 1 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

BAYTOWN, Texas - Results of round 1 eliminations in Top Alcohol Dragster at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 23rd annual O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Pennzoil:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    3 Duane Shields                         489 Chase Copeland               
E1                   0.033  5.332 274.16     ****WINNER****  0.008  5.352 263.10
 Qualified:             #4  5.305 271.95                       #11  5.592 251.81

8:03 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 68 degrees, relative humidity 60 percent, barometer 30.14 inches, adjusted altitude 956 feet, track temperature 82 degrees.

This is Shield's 10th race here and he has qualified in the top half of the field eight times.

Copeland took a shot at the tree and got away with it to put the Lucas Oil points leader in the trailer on a holeshot, both cars making apparently flawless runs. Chase Copeland's incremental margins: 60ft(0.014), 330 ft(0.071), 660ft(0.058), 1,000ft(0.033). MOV: 0.0053 seconds (approximately 2 feet).

Duane Shields' incremental times: 60ft-0.913 sec., 330ft-2.459, 660ft-3.582/226.39 mph, 1,000ft-4.521.
Chase Copeland's incremental times: 60ft-0.924 sec., 330ft-2.413, 660ft-3.549/221.74 mph, 1,000ft-4.513.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    5 John Finke                              9 Michael Manners              
E1   ****WINNER****  0.062  5.393 265.74                     0.074  9.298  89.57
 Qualified:            #13  5.710 253.85                        #2  5.293 271.30

Manners led early, but started shaking the tires and pedaling while Finke had no obvious problems.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  412 David Brounkowski                     487 Mark Taliaferro III          
E1                   0.081  5.577 248.57     ****WINNER****  0.076  5.377 274.72
 Qualified:            #12  5.659 251.11                        #3  5.304 274.22

Taliaferro returns after a long absence - This is his first race since Dallas in 1998. He was the Division 4 champ in '96 and '97, so he's not to be taken lightly.

This started out as a close race, but Taliaferro steadily pulled away and Brounkowski could not stay with him on the top end.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    1 Bill Reichert                         498 Kristen Wootton              
E1   ****WINNER****  0.092  5.359 265.27                     0.080  5.486 266.85
 Qualified:             #5  5.331 267.80                       #10  5.513 253.99

Wootton is in her first national event and she is Reichert's 147th different opponent. Reichert won here in '06 and '07.

This was no easy win for Reichert, Wootton got a small holeshot and made her best run ever (okay, best of three) to stay with Reichert most of the way. Bill Reichert's MOV: 0.1151 seconds (approximately 45 feet). He faces Copeland next round and Copeland has lane choice.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  596 Randy Meyer                           464 Buddy Domingue               
E1                   0.120  5.469 230.72     ****WINNER****  0.188  5.320 247.47
 Qualified:             #6  5.332 263.05                        #9  5.497 232.75

Domingue was late, but Meyer didn't take full advantage of it and Domingue ran him down to win by about a car length, Meyer unable to match his qualifying pace. Domingue will have lane choice against Taliaferro in round two.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 4843 Monroe Guest                           33 Marty Thacker                
E1   ****WINNER****  0.031  5.360 271.13                     0.041  5.357 267.37
 Qualified:             #8  5.388 274.50                        #7  5.344 266.69

This is Thacker's 70th national event.

This was a very close race, but Guest had to come from behind with a strong top-end run to get the win, Thacker leading by as much as a tenth of a second early in the race.

Monroe Guest's incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.013), 330 ft(-0.101), 660ft(-0.079), 1,000ft(-0.021). MOV: 0.0073 seconds (approximately 3 feet).Guest will have lane choice against Finke in round two.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  405 Carl Magee                              7 Chris Demke                  
E1                   0.197  7.122 173.27     ****WINNER****  0.102  5.347 267.48
 Qualified:            #14  7.842 137.04                        #1  5.269 270.48

This is Demke's first #1 qualifier. He was runner-up here in 2008.

Magee was up in smoke, dropping cylinders immediately, while Demke made a strong, clean run. He gets a bye to the semifinals.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink