Sun, 5 Sep 2010, 06:50 PM Pro Modified Round 1 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

CLERMONT, Ind. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Pro Modified at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 56th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  507 Melanie Troxel                         43 Rickie Smith                 
E1                   0.081  6.915 210.08     ****WINNER****  0.064  5.974 234.53
 Qualified:             #8  5.951 247.16                        #9  5.958 237.75

6:28 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 83 degrees, relative humidity 30 percent, barometer 29.06 inches, adjusted altitude 3,044 feet, track temperature 109 degrees.

Troxel shook hard on the launch, pedaled, and by then Smith was long gone, running close to his qualifying pace.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 5012 Kenny Lang                           321A Scott Ray                    
E1   ****WINNER****  0.034  5.999 238.34                    -0.079 14.075  67.09
 Qualified:            #10  5.987 237.96                        #7  5.950 239.87

Ray went red, then lost traction and got very sideways before lifting. Lang made a clean pass, close to his qualifying pace.

Two pairs, two upsets.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   14 Ed Hoover                            2377 Von Smith                    
E1   ****WINNER****  0.020  5.981 240.98                     0.025  5.993 242.89
 Qualified:            #11  5.994 240.38                        #6  5.943 244.96

This was a close drag race, but Hoover led all the way. Smith was able to narrow the gap on the top end, but never caught him.

Ed Hoover's incremental margins: 60ft(0.017), 330 ft(0.033), 660ft(0.031), 1,000ft(0.024). MOV: 0.0176 seconds (approximately 6 feet).

Three pairs, three upsets.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 5011 Mike Knowles                            4 Danny Rowe                   
E1                   0.092  5.985 240.77     ****WINNER****  0.029  6.001 245.23
 Qualified:            #12  6.001 241.54                        #5  5.930 247.16

Finally a winner from the top half of the ladder, but it took a holeshot to do it. Rowe drove through early tire shake, scrubbing off some ET, but his starting line advantage was big enough to take up the slack and he was actually quicker on the top half of the track.

Danny Rowe's incremental margins: 60ft(0.029), 330 ft(0.001), 660ft(0.013), 1,000ft(0.030). MOV: 0.0476 seconds (approximately 17 feet).

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   24 Troy Coughlin                           5 Joe Baker                    
E1                   0.090  9.921  90.03     ****WINNER****  0.033  6.003 237.17
 Qualified:             #4  5.928 238.51                       #13  6.006 236.17

Coughlin's car has been solid most of the weekend, but it started to shake and get sideways about 200 feet out on this run and his weekend ends a day early. Baker makes it four-for-five for the bottom half of the ladder, but top-half qualifier Rowe has lane choice against Baker in round two, by two thousandths of a second.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 4262 Dave Pierce                             2 Roger Burgess                
E1   ****WINNER****  0.039 11.225  75.50                    -0.182  6.059 239.02
 Qualified:            #14  6.015 238.93                        #3  5.926 244.74

Burgess went way red and we have yet another winner from the bottom half of the field. Pierce shook and slowed almost immmediately, giving Hoover lane choice in the quarterfinals.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  314 Rick Stivers                          348 Brad Personett               
E1                         No Time           ****WINNER****  0.601  6.006 248.93
 Qualified:            #15  6.027 241.41                        #2  5.896 252.33

No upset here, but the win came before the cars could stage, Stivers' chutes deploying when he began his burnout. Personett made a clean run, but lost lane choice to Lang in the quarters.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 1090 Raymond Commisso                     1456 Mike Janis                   
E1   ****WINNER****  0.003  6.042 241.84                     0.055  6.118 219.36
 Qualified:            #16  6.048 240.72                        #1  5.887 244.16

Another upset - six of the eight winners came from the bottom half of the field in this round. Commisso was almost perfect on the tree, Janis was late, then Janis ran into tire shake and threw in the towel early when he was unable to catch Commisso. Commisso faces Smith in round two, Smith has lane choice.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink