Drag Race Central | Presented by Summitracing.com

Sat, 4 Sep 2010, 04:02 PM

Pro Stock Qualifying Notes, Session #2

By Dan Bennett

CLERMONT, Ind. - Notes from round 2 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 this round, position in order following run, best prior elapsed time/speed, and position in order prior to run:

Right Lane: Steve Schmidt No Time, Now #29; No Prior Run

Well, we just had a really good motorcycle session, so things could get interesting here.

Speaking of interesting, the track prep was different than I'm used to seeing. We didn't have the tractor dragging the first 100 feet, but I did see the four wheeler spraying VHT on the top end. Hmmmm.

Schmitt leaves before the tree fires so we'll have to wait for the next pair to get an idea of what we'll see.

Left Lane: Greg Anderson Runs 6.602/209.20, Now #3; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Ron Krisher Runs 6.620/209.17, Now #7; No Prior Run

And this is a pretty good pair to test the waters, so to speak. I have to believe that Greg would rather be later in the session, but his bypassing the scales after a broken run in the first session put him here.

Greg's pass looked pretty strong down low, as he carried the front wheels at least 300 feet.

Greg Anderson's incremental times: 60ft-0.995 sec., 330ft-2.771, 660ft-4.249/166.44 mph, 1,000ft-5.525.
Ron Krisher's incremental times: 60ft-1.002 sec., 330ft-2.785, 660ft-4.267/165.86 mph, 1,000ft-5.544.

V. Gaines is on the bump spot at 6.647.

Left Lane: Steve Spiess Runs 6.664/207.43, Now #18; Best prior run: 28.000/0.00, Was #30
Right Lane: Mark Martino Runs 14.057/64.67, Now #30; Best prior run: 16.362/100.07, Was #29

Martino spun hard and turned right.

Spiess looks good over in the left lane but a 6.66 is not going to do the job.

Left Lane: Vincent Nobile Runs 6.685/205.44, Now #20; Best prior run: 7.013/205.57, Was #27
Right Lane: Richie Stevens Runs 6.682/206.86, Now #19; Best prior run: 13.138/64.34, Was #29

Stevens is in the Elite Motorsports GXP and it's always good to see a driver of his talent getting a well-deserved ride.

Both of these cars looked a bit lazy down low, as they didn't make a strong charge to the 330.

Vincent Nobile's incremental times: 60ft-1.001 sec., 330ft-2.791, 660ft-4.292/163.85 mph, 1,000ft-5.588.
Richie Stevens' incremental times: 60ft-1.010 sec., 330ft-2.809, 660ft-4.302/164.93 mph, 1,000ft-5.592.

Left Lane: Mark Hogan Runs 7.285/146.38, Now #28; Best prior run: 6.890/201.85, Was #27
Right Lane: Rickie Jones Runs 6.651/207.11, Now #14; Best prior run: 11.869/72.89, Was #29

Jones is in the other Elite Motorsports car and hasn't been to the finish line under power yet this weekend.

I'm not sure why Hogan slowed. Jones doesn't get into this field but would be there if this was the last session.

Left Lane: John Gaydosh Jr Runs 6.838/200.41, Now #27; Best prior run: 6.887/199.85, Was #27
Right Lane: Dave River Runs 6.870/200.38, Now #28; Best prior run: 6.929/199.64, Was #29

Take a look at the speed here and compare it to the fast guys in the class. These two racers need more power to be able to knock heads with the rest.

Left Lane: Kevin Lawrence Runs 6.793/202.73, Now #26; Best prior run: 6.812/196.73, Was #26
Right Lane: Bob Glidden Runs 6.743/204.01, Now #24; Best prior run: 6.782/204.94, Was #25

That's another career best for Glidden but it's not nearly enough. The run looked fine with no obvious problems.

Bob Glidden's incremental times: 60ft-1.011 sec., 330ft-2.812, 660ft-4.331/162.04 mph, 1,000ft-5.638.

Left Lane: Bob Benza Runs 6.721/206.45, Now #24; Best prior run: 6.751/204.85, Was #25
Right Lane: Erica Enders Runs 13.426/79.79, Now #23; Best prior run: 6.713/206.39, Was #23

Erica has her hands full. The setup is way off as the car stands up and torque steers to the right. She has to lift and is coasting at 100 feet.

Benza picks up 3 hundredths but needs more.

V. Gaines is still on the bump spot at 6.647.

Left Lane: Rodger Brogdon Runs 6.644/207.98, Now #12; Best prior run: 6.657/206.54, Was #18
Right Lane: Vinnie Deceglie Runs 6.673/207.56, Now #20; Best prior run: 6.702/206.76, Was #22

Brogdon finds just a small bit but it's enough for him to bump it for the time being.

Rodger Brogdon's incremental times: 60ft-0.993 sec., 330ft-2.782, 660ft-4.273/164.93 mph, 1,000ft-5.559.

Left Lane: Bob Yonke Runs 6.641/207.08, Now #12; Best prior run: 6.656/206.61, Was #18
Right Lane: Justin Humphreys Runs 12.186/63.99, Now #18; Best prior run: 6.655/207.15, Was #17

Humphreys leaves, and it's OK for the first 30 feet but then shake sets in. Yonke bumps Brogdon.

Left Lane: Larry Morgan Runs 6.654/208.17, Now #17; Best prior run: 6.653/206.89, Was #17
Right Lane: Kurt Johnson Runs 6.669/207.72, Now #15; Best prior run: 6.650/207.46, Was #15

Morgan in a Ford, KJ in a Pontiac. Is this Bizarro world?

Johnson headed to the right but never left the groove.

Left Lane: Ronnie Humphrey Runs 6.622/208.49, Now #9; Best prior run: 6.637/207.78, Was #11
Right Lane: V. Gaines Runs 6.607/208.68, Now #4; Best prior run: 6.647/207.27, Was #14

Gaines started the session on the bump, and even with this great weather he's only down to the 14th spot.

Very nice shot for V as he goes deep into the order. Humphrey picks up two spots.

Left Lane: Shane Gray Runs 13.671/46.63, Now #12; Best prior run: 6.633/207.98, Was #11
Right Lane: Jeg Coughlin Runs 6.591/208.68, Now #1; Best prior run: 6.634/207.85, Was #12

I was focused on Coughlin's yellow streak and missed what happened to Gray. The Jegs car even looked fast!

Jeg goes to #1 and Shane is now on the bump.

Left Lane: Warren Johnson Runs 6.612/208.46, Now #7; Best prior run: 6.630/207.69, Was #11
Right Lane: Johnny Gray Runs 6.616/208.36, Now #8; Best prior run: 6.618/207.98, Was #8

Warren usually does well here, and it seems like he's going to continue pulling a rabbit out of his hat.

He gets deep into the 6.60s with Gray just behind.

Left Lane: Greg Stanfield Runs 6.595/208.91, Now #3; Best prior run: 6.616/208.17, Was #9
Right Lane: Jason Line Runs 6.587/208.81, Now #1; Best prior run: 6.611/207.94, Was #6

These guys are not kidding around. I was really impressed with Stanfield's pass since he seems like he can run with the big money teams from time to time. But then I looked to my right and saw that one of the big money teams just stole his thunder one more time.

Greg Stanfield's incremental times: 60ft-0.982 sec., 330ft-2.757, 660ft-4.240/166.29 mph, 1,000ft-5.517.
Jason Line's incremental times: 60ft-0.986 sec., 330ft-2.755, 660ft-4.231/166.50 mph, 1,000ft-5.509.

Left Lane: Allen Johnson Runs 6.587/209.75, Now #1; Best prior run: 6.601/209.46, Was #5
Right Lane: Mike Edwards Runs 13.527/50.25, Now #5; Best prior run: 6.596/208.46, Was #4

Johnson runs the same as Line, but his speed is going to give him the top spot. Edwards just does miss on the setup as he's spinning hard the first 50 feet and the car slides right.

It wasn't as crazy as I thought it might be, but still a very good session. The fun thing is that we've still got three more.

Wish you were here.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink