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Thu, 2 Sep 2010, 04:42 PM

Competition Eliminator Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Dan Bennett

CLERMONT, Ind. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Competition Eliminator at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 56th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, amount over/under index, and position in order following run, class and class index:

Left Lane: Charlie Greco Runs 8.976/141.55/-0.574, Now #1 L/AA Index: 9.55
Right Lane: Chris Ray No Time, Now #2 A/PM Index: 7.01

3:39 p.m. Welcome to the the first session of Comp here at the 2010 US Nationals. Usually, things are fairly laid back this early in the week but we've already seen lots of good racing and even higher interest in the Stock and Super Stock classes because of the new Challengers and Cobra Jets. While we don't expect any such major factors to bear on Comp, it still remains that there are some very fast cars here and all the teams want to be holding the Wally on Monday. The count I have at this moment is that 68 cars are here so we'll see how many make a pass in this session.

The weather is pretty darn good considering it's September in the Midwest. A strong front has been running just to our west but so far has only dropped some very light sprinkles. However, the weather moving by has changed the conditions considerably; we're totally overcast, the temperature has dropped 10 degrees or so from yesterday, and there's a definite muggy feel. Good news on the temps, but bad news for the humidity. That can be a real factor on the smaller engines that have been running so strong lately so we might see some new names at the top of the qualifying order by the time we're done.

Weather conditions: air temperature 81 degrees, relative humidity 29 percent, barometer 29.01 inches, adjusted altitude 3,387 feet, track temperature 99 degrees.

Two very different approaches pull up to the line - big cubic inches and small.

Ray's car rolls forward about 6 feet when he goes on the chip and he won't get a time.

Left Lane: Brad Klein Runs 7.537/183.12/-0.303, Now #3 B/AP Index: 7.84
Right Lane: John Caliendo Jr Runs 7.831/173.52/-0.349, Now #2 D/AA Index: 8.18

There are many years of experience sitting on the line. We've got a bit of confusion as the cars stage and Klein is backed up to wait for Caliendo. Once things get going over in the right lane, Brad bumps in again.

Straight runs on both sides, but listening to the engines sing neither of them seemed to want to accelerate on the front half - they didn't seem to gain all that much rpm.

Left Lane: Jerry Arnold Runs 7.916/167.16/-0.544, Now #2 G/ED Index: 8.46
Right Lane: Terry Smith Runs 7.458/176.26/-0.482, Now #3 D/ED Index: 7.94

Arnie lays down a good pass and goes into the second spot. Trust me, even with the weather there's still a whole lot to come.

Left Lane: Jody Holland Runs 9.291/135.82/-0.259, Now #7 L/AA Index: 9.55
Right Lane: Duane Robison Runs 7.491/182.01/-0.459, Now #4 C/A Index: 7.95

A Corvette against a mini-Corvette

Left Lane: Doug Warren Runs 6.540/207.18/-0.590, Now #1 A/DA Index: 7.13
Right Lane: Matt Harris Runs 7.806/173.05/-0.554, Now #3 E/A Index: 8.36

Nice hits on both sides. There's plenty of track so we should see some stout times.

Doug Warren's incremental times: 60ft-1.015 sec., 330ft-2.735, 660ft-4.199/167.91 mph, 1,000ft-5.463.
Matt Harris' incremental times: 60ft-1.107 sec., 330ft-3.199, 660ft-4.972/138.33 mph, 1,000ft-6.507.

Left Lane: David Billingsley Runs 9.081/147.75/-0.469, Now #6 A/EA Index: 9.55
Right Lane: Jay Billingsley Runs 8.333/158.30/-0.457, Now #8 F/ED Index: 8.79

It's a family affair. Dad shows the Kid how you're supposed to react to the christmas tree with a .001 light. Jay snoozes to an .035.

Left Lane: Buddy Perkinson Runs 34.542/22.98/26.982, Now #13 B/AA Index: 7.56
Right Lane: Jenny Treadwell Runs 8.383/156.34/-0.467, Now #7 E/ED Index: 8.85

Perkinson leaves and the car just shuts off part way through first gear. Strong pass for Treadwell but she won't finish the session in the 7th spot

Left Lane: Gary Agan Runs 7.037/193.60/-0.353, Now #10 B/DA Index: 7.39
Right Lane: Bert Dawson Runs 8.120/166.31/-0.220, Now #14 B/EA Index: 8.34

Left Lane: Glen Treadwell Runs 8.081/154.00/-0.449, Now #11 F/EA Index: 8.53
Right Lane: Dave Hughes Runs 6.654/210.64/-0.456, Now #10 A/A Index: 7.11

I haven't seen Hughes' Cobalt before. From here, it looks like it's still in natural Carbon Fiber grey. It's sporting a big HRE logo on the doors. He runs big MPH.

Left Lane: Steve Ambrose Runs 7.786/168.09/-0.604, Now #1 J/AA Index: 8.39
Right Lane: Todd Hoerner Runs 6.703/208.84/-0.447, Now #13 A/AA Index: 7.15

Hoerner's Sonny's Automotive car heads toward the wall on the leave but Todd does a nice job of moving it back into the groove by 250 feet. Meanwhile, Ambrose is showing us that HIS little engine doesn't mind the humidity.

Left Lane: Shaun Vincent Runs 8.666/153.98/-0.464, Now #9 C/TA Index: 9.13
Right Lane: Rick Hord Runs 8.522/152.52/0.562, Now #20 BB/A Index: 7.96

Hord's in a red Corvette with that distinctive slow lope of the blower. Something goes wrong on the starting line since it didn't look like he got the rpms up before he left.

Shaun Vincent's incremental times: 60ft-1.181 sec., 330ft-3.503, 660ft-5.485/123.59 mph, 1,000ft-7.206.
Rick Hord's incremental times: 60ft-1.252 sec., 330ft-3.548, 660ft-5.459/128.07 mph, 1,000ft-7.099.

Left Lane: Frank Cervelli Runs 7.303/183.99/-0.087, Now #21 B/DA Index: 7.39
Right Lane: Kevin Self Runs 7.973/164.77/-0.557, Now #4 F/EA Index: 8.53

Another small engine struts its stuff.

Left Lane: John Edwards Runs 7.526/181.40/-0.434, Now #17 C/AA Index: 7.96
Right Lane: Fred Allen Runs 8.652/148.31/-0.438, Now #16 C/SR Index: 9.09

Good passes in both lanes. Edwards gets style points because I was surprised at the numbers he put up - the car looked much quicker than it was.

John Edwards' incremental times: 60ft-1.067 sec., 330ft-3.112, 660ft-4.819/144.03 mph, 1,000ft-6.287.
Fred Allen's incremental times: 60ft-1.218 sec., 330ft-3.509, 660ft-5.473/124.93 mph, 1,000ft-7.175.

Left Lane: Arnie Martel Runs 7.735/174.75/-0.445, Now #17 D/AA Index: 8.18
Right Lane: David Rampy Runs 7.303/181.37/-0.537, Now #7 A/EA Index: 7.84

Rampy just drove away from the GTO on the top end of the track.

Left Lane: Joey Tanksley Runs 6.913/193.49/-0.497, Now #8 C/D Index: 7.41
Right Lane: Mike Farrell Runs 7.902/123.33/0.062, Now #27 A/EA Index: 7.84

Both cars left hard but Farrell's Bantam did a bit of a pogo in the first 100 feet and it hurt him.

Tanksley, as always, is fast.

Left Lane: Steven Kent Runs 7.870/171.69/-0.490, Now #9 G/SMA Index: 8.36
Right Lane: Bill Morse Runs 8.517/160.90/-0.143, Now #27 B/SMA Index: 8.66

Kent's Corvette is carrying the full Pistonator wrap. He gets deep into the top half.

Left Lane: Scott Chamness Runs 6.784/198.88/-0.246, Now #27 A/D Index: 7.03
Right Lane: Brian Browell Runs 7.293/180.91/-0.497, Now #9 D/D Index: 7.79

Two dragsters, both with clutches.

Browell's leave didn't look all that great but he puts up a good number.

Left Lane: Dave Yediny Runs 8.906/143.19/-0.534, Now #8 L/A Index: 9.44
Right Lane: Tom Schmidt Runs 8.263/161.75/-0.507, Now #9 C/T Index: 8.77

Big wheelstand for the truck and he carries it pretty far out on the way to 330. Both cars get into the top ten.

Dave Yediny's incremental times: 60ft-1.190 sec., 330ft-3.569, 660ft-5.607/120.33 mph, 1,000ft-7.380.
Tom Schmidt's incremental times: 60ft-1.152 sec., 330ft-3.362, 660ft-5.244/130.07 mph, 1,000ft-6.876.

Left Lane: Dennis Smiley No Time, Now #37 A/DA Index: 7.13
Right Lane: Scott Parks Runs 6.838/194.10/-0.582, Now #3 A/ND Index: 7.42

Smiley doesn't get to the water due to problems and is pushed off on the short chute.

Parks is smooth and strong all the way down the 1320.

Left Lane: James Caro Runs 8.250/162.24/-0.410, Now #27 B/SMA Index: 8.66
Right Lane: Clark Smiley Runs 7.496/181.18/-0.454, Now #21 C/A Index: 7.95

Decent passes for the door cars but right now .4 under puts you midpack.

Left Lane: Greg Kamplain Runs 7.137/187.83/-0.423, Now #27 C/DA Index: 7.56
Right Lane: Jim Greenheck Runs 7.640/178.52/-0.320, Now #31 C/AA Index: 7.96

Ambrose still leads the pack at -.604

Looks like the conditions might be hurting the big engines more than the smaller ones.

Left Lane: Alan Ellis Runs 6.643/202.48/-0.507, Now #11 A/AA Index: 7.15
Right Lane: Justin Jenkins Runs 32.383/323.50/22.713, Now #41 I/SMA Index: 9.67

Ellis runs WJ horsepower (yes, that WJ). He gets a nice leave with just a touch of shake and gets deep into the 6 second zone.

Jenkins may have had ignition problems. Right off the line the Cobalt sounded like a turbo car on the chip with some sharp backfires. Just a few feet later it nosed over and he coasts through.

Left Lane: Chuck Haubiel No Time, Now #44 B/SMA Index: 8.52
Right Lane: Sal Biondo Runs 8.247/163.06/-0.513, Now #10 I/AA Index: 8.76

OK, now this was WAY different. Haubiel left hard but when the wheels touched down we went into the wacky racer mode. The right side wheel was flopping in and out of the wheelwell at about a 30 degree angle. Obviously, I couldn't see what the left front was doing. Chuck gets the car shut down and slowly wobbles his way to the turnoff.

Left Lane: Scott Benham Runs 9.211/146.77/-0.459, Now #22 I/SM Index: 9.67
Right Lane: Todd Patterson Runs 8.036/169.44/-0.484, Now #16 A/SMA Index: 8.52

Left Lane: Brian Stufflebeam Runs 7.424/179.56/-0.416, Now #32 A/EA Index: 7.84
Right Lane: Mike Trumble Runs 17.410/65.12/8.890, Now #45 A/SMA Index: 8.52

I swear Trumble's car was slightly swaying from side to side when he went on the chip. Maybe I was hallucinating but something was wrong as he shut off by 150 feet.

Left Lane: Larry Pritchett Runs 8.132/167.07/-0.548, Now #7 B/SM Index: 8.68
Right Lane: Lee Zane No Time, Now #49 L/AA Index: 9.55

More weirdness. The tree goes down and Zane doesn't move. I can see him in the car and it looks like he's still trying to get something to happen. He shuts the car off and it's pushed back.

Pritchett seems like he always does well here at Indy, and move right into the 7th spot.

Left Lane: Rick Brown Runs 8.084/167.30/-0.406, Now #36 F/AA Index: 8.49
Right Lane: Al Ackerman Runs 8.083/165.64/-0.517, Now #11 F/D Index: 8.60

That's a good hit for Ackerman but not what I was expecting. He's usually right on the top of the order.

Rick Brown's incremental times: 60ft-1.165 sec., 330ft-3.322, 660ft-5.152/133.75 mph, 1,000ft-6.740.
Al Ackerman's incremental times: 60ft-1.207 sec., 330ft-3.318, 660ft-5.134/134.22 mph, 1,000ft-6.726.

Left Lane: Jason Coan Runs 8.327/155.47/-0.473, Now #21 G/EA Index: 8.80
Right Lane: Bruno Massel Runs 7.206/182.03/-0.584, Now #3 DD/AT Index: 7.79

I originally thought something was wrong with Bruno's car because when he went on the chip I never heard the popping and banging that turbos like to do. Looking at his numbers it looks like nothing much was wrong, lack of popping or not.

Left Lane: Randy Jones Runs 8.171/168.70/-0.349, Now #42 A/SMA Index: 8.52
Right Lane: Brian Darcy Runs 7.035/192.77/-0.385, Now #39 A/ND Index: 7.42

Left Lane: Mike Hazlett Runs 7.196/189.90/-0.364, Now #41 B/A Index: 7.56
Right Lane: Vinny Barone Runs 7.810/170.86/-0.570, Now #6 A/SR Index: 8.38

Barone goes into the top ten, Hazlett is looking for more.

Left Lane: Anthony Bertozzi Runs 7.462/177.67/-0.478, Now #22 D/ED Index: 7.94
Right Lane: Travis Gusso Runs 8.734/155.94/-0.336, Now #46 E/SM Index: 9.07

Gusso's car is pure white. From here, I can't see a single decal. At the hit, the car lofted the front wheels and then the front end moved even higher as the car went through first gear. It was two distinct motions.

Left Lane: Robert Bailey Runs 6.636/204.76/-0.554, Now #9 A/ED Index: 7.19
Right Lane: Frank Aragona Jr. Runs 8.252/159.82/-0.538, Now #12 F/ED Index: 8.79

Right Lane: John Frech Runs 8.300/157.32/-0.300, Now #51 F/D Index: 8.60

Here's the final car in the session. It sounded like Frech blew the tires off in first gear.

Ambrose holds on to the top spot. Comp will have one more shot today.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink