Sun, 19 Sep 2010, 06:20 PM Top Alcohol Funny Car Final, Round 4 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

CONCORD, N.C. - Results of final, round 4 eliminations in Top Alcohol Funny Car 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
   63 Clint Thompson                          1 Frank Manzo                  
E4                   0.049  5.587 256.31     ****WINNER****  0.052  5.578 259.91
 Prior rounds:
E3    (J Bojec     ) 0.089  5.588 257.78      (M Billington) 0.035  6.315 253.37
E2    (B Henry     ) 0.125  5.585 258.71      (K Webster   ) 0.048  5.567 262.18
E1    (T Bogolo    ) 0.128  5.598 257.97                     0.059 10.663  82.90
 Qualified:             #3  5.610 258.22                        #1  5.579 260.36

6:14 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 87 degrees, relative humidity 38 percent, barometer 29.36 inches, adjusted altitude 3,168 feet, track temperature 112 degrees.

Manzo has been having clutch problems this weekend, installed a completely new clutch for the finals.

With an unproven clutch in the car, Manzo left right with Thompson, but trailed most of the way down the track, taking charge on the very top end for the win. Frank Manzo's incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.011), 330 ft(-0.016), 660ft(-0.010), 1,000ft(-0.004). MOV: 0.0066 seconds (approximately 2 feet). Unbelievable!

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink