Fri, 30 Apr 2010, 08:20 PM Pro Modified Qualifying Notes, Session #2

By Dan Bennett

MADISON, Ill. - Notes from round 2 qualifying in Pro Modified at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 14th annual AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time/top speed this round, position in order following run, best prior elapsed time/speed, and position in order prior to run:

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Left Lane: Troy Coughlin No Time, Now #22; Best prior run: 8.370/104.05, Was #21
Right Lane: Rick Stivers Runs 6.111/235.10, Now #13; Best prior run: 9.805/94.07, Was #22

Looking at the Top Sportsman performance just now, this could be a great Pro Mod session. We'll start the session with a pair of top quality cars that should set the pace.

Coughlin's car quit early and he slowly coasts to the first turnoff. Stivers makes another solid pass in the new car.

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Left Lane: Chip King Runs 9.497/96.32, Now #21; Best prior run: 7.526/129.54, Was #21
Right Lane: Von Smith Runs 6.711/153.14, Now #19; Best prior run: 7.163/159.16, Was #20

Wacky racers on both sides. King's car lost traction at the top of low gear while Smith made it past half track before it took a nasty move towards the centerline and he was forced to lift.

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Left Lane: Mike Castellana Runs 9.225/93.88, Now #18; Best prior run: 6.626/155.38, Was #18
Right Lane: Rickie Smith Runs 7.450/131.56, Now #20; Best prior run: 7.089/144.41, Was #20

We're down again for some very light sprinkles. 6:47 p.m. After just a couple of minutes, we're back to burnouts.

Both cars start sashaying at 400 feet.

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Left Lane: Melanie Troxel Runs 6.137/238.68, Now #16; Best prior run: 6.217/232.35, Was #17
Right Lane: Mike Knowles Runs 7.102/143.40, Now #15; Best prior run: 6.114/238.60, Was #15

Both cars were loose early, but Melanie did a great job of getting the Corvette calmed down and back under power. She squeaks into the 16th spot while Knowles stays put just one position ahead.

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Left Lane: Khalid Balooshi Runs 9.203/93.36, Now #17; Best prior run: 6.198/192.06, Was #17
Right Lane: Mike Janis Runs 5.981/241.37, Now #3; Best prior run: 6.071/236.42, Was #12

Lots of activity around Balooshi's car just before he stages. The car leads left at the hit and he finally has to lift as the Camaro is very close to the wall.

Janis clicks off a sweet pass in the other lane and moves all the way up to third.

Melanie Troxel is on the bump spot at 6.137.

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Left Lane: Raymond Commisso No Time, Now #14; Best prior run: 6.114/238.93, Was #14
Right Lane: Joe Baker No Time, Now #12; Best prior run: 6.067/237.42, Was #12

OK, so now we have a new game to play - timing block soccer. One car nails it and sets it into play and the other car picks it up and boots it further downtrack. Commisso loses the run since he was the first to get the block, and Baker loses his simply because his time didn't compute due to the shrapnel.

Neither car is seriously hurt so no great harm considering both cars are already in the show.

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Left Lane: Tim Tindle Runs 6.037/235.56, Now #10; Best prior run: 6.044/234.86, Was #10
Right Lane: Kenny Lang Runs 6.033/238.60, Now #9; Best prior run: 6.051/240.17, Was #11

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Left Lane: Scott Ray No Time, Now #11; Best prior run: 6.037/235.51, Was #11
Right Lane: Roger Burgess Runs 6.037/241.24, Now #8; Best prior run: 6.028/243.11, Was #8

Ray shuts off after the burnout and is pushed back. Burgess has his hands full as the car takes the long way to the finish line.

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Left Lane: Ed Hoover Runs 12.880/64.69, Now #7; Best prior run: 6.025/239.10, Was #7
Right Lane: Dennis Radford Runs 8.761/101.61, Now #6; Best prior run: 6.020/235.64, Was #6

Nothing doing off the line for either car.

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Left Lane: Jay Payne Runs 6.414/168.26, Now #2; Best prior run: 5.957/240.68, Was #2
Right Lane: Tony Pontieri Runs 6.003/238.64, Now #5; Best prior run: 6.008/240.04, Was #5

Payne's Camaro moves over towards the wall and after running alongside it most of the track, Jay finally has to step off the throttle. Pontieri repeats from his previous pass.

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Left Lane: Danny Rowe Runs 7.459/133.14, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.955/244.69, Was #1
Right Lane: Brad Personett No Time, Now #4; Best prior run: 5.994/250.27, Was #4

Rowe's car looked like a replay of Payne - over towards the wall and not being able to move it back away. Personett's car never moved after he staged it. I saw a red light shining so I don't know if it lost fire or if there was an oiling problem.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink