Sun, 19 Sep 2010, 01:50 PM Pro Stock Round 1 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

CONCORD, N.C. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Pro Stock at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, Third annual O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 2062 Ronnie Humphrey                         9 Johnny Gray                  
E1   ****WINNER****  0.049  6.645 208.91                     0.067  6.635 208.97
 Qualified:             #8  6.628 209.14                        #9  6.629 208.78

1:22 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 87 degrees, relative humidity 41 percent, barometer 29.46 inches, adjusted altitude 3,093 feet, track temperature 124 degrees.

This is the first time Humphrey and Gray have faced each other in eliminations. They were just a thousandth apart in qualifying.

Humphrey 'stole" this one on a holeshot, Gray a hundredth quicker, but second at the stripe.

Ronnie Humphrey's incremental margins: 60ft(0.012), 330 ft(0.009), 660ft(0.010), 1,000ft(0.009). MOV: 0.0084 seconds (approximately 3 feet).

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  730 Shane Gray                              4 Greg Stanfield               
E1                  -0.027  6.664 208.10     ****WINNER****  0.006  6.654 207.98
 Qualified:             #7  6.627 208.59                       #10  6.638 208.17

Stanfield is 2 - 0 against Gray in prior events, both prior meetings coming in the first round.

Gray went red and Stanfield was almost perfect on the tree.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    6 Ron Krisher                           208 Warren Johnson               
E1                   0.192  6.621 209.75     ****WINNER****  0.118  6.663 208.62
 Qualified:             #6  6.619 209.39                       #11  6.639 208.71

Johnson is 16 - 5 against Krisher in prior events, 8-4 in round one.

WJ got a holeshot, with a .118 light, and it was more than enough to get the win. Krisher was late, then made a very good run.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    2 Greg Anderson                         357 Larry Morgan                 
E1   ****WINNER****  0.035  6.614 209.98                    -0.010  6.661 208.33
 Qualified:             #4  6.613 209.10                       #13  6.648 207.66

Anderson is 21 - 1 against Morgan in prior events, 3-0 in round one.

Morgan made it easy with a red light, Anderson almost matched his qualifying time and ran top speed of the meet.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   51 Dave Connolly                          55 V. Gaines                    
E1                   0.035 12.843  68.42     ****WINNER****  0.046  6.625 209.79
 Qualified:             #3  6.610 209.10                       #14  6.652 208.62

Connolly is 14 - 1 against Gaines in prior events, 9-1 in round one matchups.

Connolly had a hundredth in hand on the tree, but the car had a "wiggle" early in the run and he slowed aroudn half track. Gaines advances and will have lane choice against WJ in round two.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    1 Mike Edwards                           50 Jeg Coughlin                 
E1                   0.075  6.609 209.65     ****WINNER****  0.032  6.621 209.30
 Qualified:             #2  6.607 209.79                       #15  6.656 207.82

Coughlin is 24 - 11 against Edwards in prior events, 9-2 in round one. This is a huge matchup because one of two of the favorites for the championship Countdown will be done in round one.

Coughlin had four hundredths in hand as he passed the tree and that was enough to give him a holeshot victory. Jeg Coughlin's incremental margins: 60ft(0.044), 330 ft(0.038), 660ft(0.035), 1,000ft(0.033). MOV: 0.0312 seconds (approximately 10 feet).

So far, four of the six winners have come from the bottom half of the field!

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    3 Jason Line                              8 Kurt Johnson                 
E1                   0.042 12.525  69.82     ****WINNER****  0.030  6.671 208.04
 Qualified:             #1  6.604 209.56                       #16  6.657 208.30

Line is 20 - 13 against Johnson in prior events, 9-1 in round one pairings.

KJ had a slight edge on the tree, then Line slowed before getting to the 330-foot marker. Johnson faces Humphrey in round two, Humphrey has lane choice and we are now at five upsets in seven pairs of cars.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   41 Rodger Brogdon                       7406 Vinnie Deceglie              
E1   ****WINNER****  0.040  6.660 208.23                     0.070 17.844  33.66
 Qualified:             #5  6.617 208.59                       #12  6.648 208.59

Brogdon is 1 - 0 against Deceglie in prior events, but that matchup never happened - it was at Phoenix, this year, and Deceglie crashed in qualifying, so was not able to answer the call for round one.

Deceglie slowed almost immediately, giving Brgdon a free pass to round two. However, he won't have lane choice because he faces Anderson, who ran low ET of the first round.

Unuaual first round, with five upsets in eight pairs of cars.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink