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Fri, 3 Sep 2010, 06:42 PM

Pro Stock Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Dan Bennett

CLERMONT, Ind. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Pro Stock 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, and position in order following run:

Right Lane: Bob Glidden Runs 6.782/204.94, Now #1

5:50 p.m.

Lots of things are special about Indy, just one of them being that we have 5 Pro Stock sessions instead of 4. But this one is in a class all by itself just due to the car that's just pulled into the water. Bob Glidden is in Indy, he's racing, and he's in a Ford. I'll wait a moment until the cheering stops.

This is Bob's 324th race and his 26th U.S. Nationals. He hasn't been in NHRA competition since the Pomona Finals in 2003.

OK, so it wasn't a thing of beauty but I'm not sure anybody but BG could have pulled it off anyhow. The car jumped off to the right and was moving hard to the wall. Bob yanked it back right in the middle of some nasty shake. He managed to get the car settled down and runs his career best ET.

Like I say every year, wish you were here.

Left Lane: Kevin Lawrence Runs 6.812/196.73, Now #2
Right Lane: Mark Martino Runs 16.362/100.07, Now #3

Martino does almost exactly the same as Glidden but doesn't have 40 years of experience and has to lift. Lawrence lays down a nice baseline.

Weather conditions: air temperature 78 degrees, relative humidity 34 percent, barometer 28.94 inches, adjusted altitude 2,870 feet, track temperature 107 degrees.

Left Lane: Vincent Nobile Runs 7.013/205.57, Now #3
Right Lane: Steve Schmidt No Time, Now #5

Schmidt not only didn't move an inch, I never heard him go on the chip. He's pushed back.

Nobile's shifting was easy to hear since he was on a single. I didn't hear much wrong but he needs a to pick up a bunch.

Left Lane: Mark Hogan Runs 6.890/201.85, Now #3
Right Lane: Dave River Runs 6.929/199.64, Now #4

Left Lane: Bob Benza Runs 6.751/204.85, Now #1
Right Lane: Richie Stevens Runs 13.138/64.34, Now #7

Stevens' car heads for the wall and he's off the throttle by 100 feet. Benza puts down an efficient-looking pass.

Left Lane: John Gaydosh Jr Runs 6.887/199.85, Now #5
Right Lane: Erica Enders Runs 6.713/206.39, Now #1

I don't know what to think about the weather. The low temps and humidity are great things, but I can't remember the last time I saw such a low barometer here in the Midwest.

Erica's car also wanted to go right, but she was able to keep it from getting too far out of the groove and saves the run. That puts her on top for a few minutes.

Left Lane: Steve Spiess No Time, Now #12
Right Lane: Justin Humphreys Runs 6.655/207.15, Now #1

Bad luck for Spiess as something blows through the lights and a really bogus (3 second?) ET comes up with no speed recorded.

Humphrey is giving us a hint of what's out there for the taking. It's critical for a Pro Stock team to get good data tonight since tomorrow morning promises to be the best session by far.

Left Lane: Ronnie Humphrey Runs 6.637/207.78, Now #1
Right Lane: Vinnie Deceglie Runs 6.702/206.76, Now #3

6:11 p.m. and we're back from a short delay to double check the timing system.

Humprhey puts the Pontiac on top.

Left Lane: Larry Morgan Runs 6.653/206.89, Now #2
Right Lane: Rickie Jones Runs 11.869/72.89, Now #13

Rickie has the same problems as the others in the lane, but will make the highlight reels. The car headed to the rightand Rickie brought it back but possibly overcorrected a bit as the car then moved from the centerline back towards the wall, rocking up on one rear tire in the process. He somehow managed to get it settled down without hitting anything.

Left Lane: Warren Johnson Runs 6.630/207.69, Now #1
Right Lane: V. Gaines Runs 6.647/207.27, Now #3

Wow, deja vu is wonderful. Bob Glidden's racing his Mustang here and WJ is low qualifier.

Just kidding. Of course there's a bunch of fast cars still in staging.

Left Lane: Bob Yonke Runs 6.656/206.61, Now #7
Right Lane: Kurt Johnson Runs 6.650/207.46, Now #4

That was a great side by side. And classic Pro Stock at that, since in this case .006 seconds is worth 3 positions on the list.

Left Lane: Rodger Brogdon Runs 6.657/206.54, Now #9
Right Lane: Johnny Gray Runs 6.618/207.98, Now #1

Brogdon looks pretty racy but Grey takes the show with this one. Big speed and super ET. These days it's good to be Johnny Gray.

Left Lane: Greg Stanfield Runs 6.616/208.17, Now #1
Right Lane: Ron Krisher No Time, Now #25

Not only did Krisher leave before the tree came down, but the right lane bit him bigtime as the Cobalt stood up and headed for the wall. He lifts.

Stanfield fires a shot for the little guys.

Left Lane: Shane Gray Runs 6.633/207.98, Now #5
Right Lane: Jason Line Runs 6.611/207.94, Now #1

This is a real duel of the horsepower guys, and Line says Summit still has something for the new kid.

Left Lane: Greg Anderson Runs 10.337/86.47, Now #23
Right Lane: Jeg Coughlin Runs 6.634/207.85, Now #6

One more pair of arch rivals, but Jeggie says he's the one to answer to.

Anderson slowed at half track, and I couldn't see or hear from here what might have happened.

Left Lane: Allen Johnson Runs 6.601/209.46, Now #2
Right Lane: Mike Edwards Runs 6.596/208.46, Now #1

And these two guys are pretty fast themselves. Edwards wants to remind us all that he's still here. The battle goes on.

Morgan holds on to the 12th spot with a 6.653.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink