Sat, 12 Jun 2010, 02:14 PM Top Alcohol Dragster Qualifying Notes, Final Session

By Jim Samuel

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. - Notes from final, round 2 qualifying in Top Alcohol Dragster at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 41st annual NHRA SuperNationals 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:

---

Left Lane: Arthur Gallant Runs 5.430/266.85, Now #2; Best prior run: 17.399/47.76, Was #14
Right Lane: Dave DeAngelis Runs 5.606/257.14, Now #9; No Prior Run

1:46 p.m. - Weather conditions: air temperature 85 degrees, relative humidity 49 percent, barometer 29.95 inches, adjusted altitude 2,439 feet, track temperature 106 degrees.

DeAgelis broke after doing a burnout in the first session yesterday. Gallant shook the tires and clicked it off in that session. This time, both drivers took their cars down the groove to move up in the order.

---

Left Lane: Monroe Guest Runs 5.454/256.21, Now #4; Best prior run: 11.306/99.03, Was #15
Right Lane: Ken Winward Runs 8.601/60.58, Now #15; Best prior run: 6.767/142.10, Was #14

Winward's car got loose at about 800 feet and the chute's came out shortly afterward. Guest had a good looking run that moved him up 11 spots in the order.

---

Left Lane: Tom Pickett Runs 5.579/252.38, Now #10; Best prior run: 5.668/232.35, Was #12
Right Lane: Brandon Greco Runs 5.533/244.92, Now #9; Best prior run: 6.738/97.52, Was #14

Pickett and Greco each had nice passes down the quarter mile. As they crossed the finish line, Greco's car started trailing smoked and popped the blower. He moved up five spots in the order while Pickett moved up two spots.

---

Left Lane: Rich McPhillips Runs 5.685/244.96, Now #8; Best prior run: 5.495/246.39, Was #7
Right Lane: Mike Kosky Runs 5.372/262.95, Now #2; Best prior run: 6.590/141.89, Was #14

Kosky had a good launch and was wrong the rest of the way down the track to move up 12 spots in the order and into the number two spot for now. McPhillips spun the tires as he came out of the gate but got it hooked up right away to finish this run.

---

Left Lane: Darvin Martinets Runs 5.517/256.26, Now #6; Best prior run: 5.475/255.92, Was #6
Right Lane: John Finke Runs 5.505/250.13, Now #9; Best prior run: 5.627/252.10, Was #14

Martinets' car made a little move at about 60 feet, then dropped some cylinders at the end of the track. Finke was quicker than in his first attempt and moved up five spots in the qualifying order.

---

Left Lane: Richard Bourke Runs 5.564/243.06, Now #4; Best prior run: 5.440/259.46, Was #4
Right Lane: Dan Mercier Runs 5.631/257.63, Now #10; Best prior run: 5.532/263.26, Was #10

Both drivers made runs that looked good but did nothing to improve their qualifying positions.

---

Left Lane: Darren Nicholson No Time, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.328/264.18, Was #1
Right Lane: Karen Stalba Runs 5.574/254.90, Now #7; Best prior run: 5.490/261.52, Was #7

Nicholson was in the staging lanes but when it was his time to do a burnout, his crew pushed the car out of the way instead. He was number one after the first session and will stay with that ET. Stalba took some time off from the Top Alcohol Dragster class to have children and this is her first national event since getting back behind the wheel.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink