Sun, 26 Sep 2010, 02:24 PM Top Alcohol Funny Car Round 2 Eliminations

By Dave Rowe

ENNIS, Texas - Results of round 2 eliminations in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 25th annual O'Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    4 Tony Bartone                            8 Jay Payne                    
E2                   0.106  5.951 210.28     ****WINNER****  0.070  5.725 251.81
 Prior rounds:
E1    (L Van Hauen ) 0.111  5.534 256.65      (K Ray       ) 0.084  5.663 253.66
 Qualified:             #1  5.586 259.06                        #9  5.748 252.47

1:15 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 72 degrees, relative humidity 68 percent, barometer 29.44 inches, adjusted altitude 2,158 feet, track temperature 86 degrees.

Bartone is 3 - 2 against Payne in prior events.

This was a wild one. Payne leaves the line and starts to rattle the tires. he moves wildly to the right, then steers it back to the left. he never backs off the throttle, the car continues to move around wildly, getting close to the wall several times before he finally crosses the finish line. Bartone got out of the groove early, tha car danced around through the first half of the run, then he finally backs off the throttle.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   75 John Lombardo Jr.                    710D Alexis De Joria              
E2                   0.104  5.659 253.33     ****WINNER****  0.087  5.565 256.45
 Prior rounds:
E1    (S Gasparrell) 0.142  5.609 253.85      (B Davis     ) 0.071  5.647 254.95
 Qualified:            #10  5.758 252.28                        #2  5.631 258.17

Lombardo Jr. is 3 - 1 against De Joria in prior events.

This is a re-match of last years final round, lombardo winning that one. De Joria gets out of the gate first and starts to pull away. both cars move around a little early in the run, with De Joria drifting to the left until the 1000 foot mark. De Joria straightens it out and pulls away for the win.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    7 Chris Foster                            6 Mickey Ferro                 
E2                   0.067  5.651 254.42     ****WINNER****  0.047  5.560 258.02
 Prior rounds:
E1    (T Carter    ) 0.096  5.736 253.04      (S Burck     ) 0.028  5.615 255.77
 Qualified:            #11  5.793 249.81                        #3  5.657 245.94

Ferro gets out of the gate first and pulls away all the way through the run. He makes the quickest pass of the session so far and earns lane choice over De Joria in the next round.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    2 Steve Harker                          562 Kris Hool                    
E2   ****WINNER****  0.083  5.569 257.19                    -0.123  8.353  90.24
 Prior rounds:
E1    (B Brown     ) 0.053  5.638 252.38      (P Gill      ) 0.073  5.832 251.86
 Qualified:             #4  5.681 255.19                       #12  5.806 246.48

This is the first time Harker and Hool have faced each other in eliminations.

Hool leaves too soon but stays on the throttle. he makes a hard move to the left, gets close to the center line, then wisely backs off the throttle. Harker goes right down the groove with his quickest pass of the weekend to take the win. he will have lane choice over Payne in the next round.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink