Sun, 10 Oct 2010, 10:38 AM Top Alcohol Dragster Round 1 Eliminations

By Jim Samuel

MOHNTON, Pa. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Top Alcohol Dragster at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 26th annual Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   14 Dan Mercier                           122 Arthur Gallant               
E1                   0.066  6.971 216.83     ****WINNER****  0.238  6.778 252.33
 Qualified:            #19  9.689  82.22                        #7  5.400 269.56

10:07 a.m. - Weather conditions: air temperature 57 degrees, relative humidity 42 percent, barometer 29.43 inches, adjusted altitude 810 feet, track temperature 70 degrees.

Gallant won here in 2002 and was runner up in 2005 and 2006. Mercier won here in 2006 for his only national event win.

When they launched, Mercier smoked the rear tires and Gallant shook the tires. They both pedaled their cars a couple of times and when it was over, Gallant got his 99th round win in national events.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 1482 Richard Bourke                       7051 Darren Nicholson             
E1                   0.045 11.582  90.00     ****WINNER****  0.080  5.357 260.21
 Qualified:             #9  5.419 256.21                        #5  5.363 260.61

Bourke was first out of the gate but Nicholson got by him for the win before they reached 60 feet.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   33 Marty Thacker                           6 Ken Perry                    
E1                   0.017 12.765  57.61     ****WINNER****  0.036 11.662  42.09
 Qualified:             #6  5.392 239.36                       #10  5.425 255.29

This was an odd race. Thacker shook the tires coming out of the gate and clicked it off to coast down the track. Perry was pulling ahead when his car popped the blower and the chutes came out. Both cars were coasting down the track with Perry out in front with the chutes open and Thacker coasting slowly behind. Perry managed to coast to the finish line first to take the win.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  110 Rich McPhillips                         3 Duane Shields                
E1                   0.066 10.962  67.52     ****WINNER****  0.082  5.280 272.01
 Qualified:            #15  5.517 256.36                        #8  5.403 267.59

This the last national event Shields can claim in the points standings. He is the defending champ here and needs to go to the semi-final round of eliminations to gain points. He took the first step toward achieving that goal when he put up his quickest run of the weekend while McPhillips shook the rear tires out of the gate and clicked it off.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    5 John Finke                            185 Mike Kosky                   
E1   ****WINNER****  0.051  5.323 250.97                    -0.022  5.571 204.32
 Qualified:            #11  5.448 259.11                        #3  5.319 266.32

Finke drove through tire shake but it didn't matter because Kosky had already lit the red light. Finke will race Shields next time out.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 1490 Brandon Greco                          69 Mike Austin                  
E1                   0.109  5.386 262.33     ****WINNER****  0.064  5.298 268.81
 Qualified:            #12  5.462 260.71                        #4  5.326 267.80

Greco had his career best ET and speed on this run but it was not good enough because Austin got out of the gate first and also had his career best ET to take the win. Austin will race Perry in the next round.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   35 Brandon Booher                          1 Bill Reichert                
E1                   0.009  5.597 214.62     ****WINNER****  0.055  5.300 262.95
 Qualified:            #13  5.504 258.96                        #2  5.315 264.55

Reichert won here in 2005. Booher got off the starting line first and led to 330 feet. Reichert had some tires spin on his launched but got it hooked up to pull ahead of Booher and take th win. He'll race Nicholson in round two. This is the last national event that Reichert can claim for the points standings. He needs to get to the final round of eliminations to increase his point total.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   18 Darvin Martinets                     4843 Monroe Guest                 
E1                   0.060 10.130  67.98     ****WINNER****  0.043  5.238 271.57
 Qualified:            #14  5.509 258.76                        #1  5.223 268.01

Martinets had a lot of tire shake coming off the starting line, then made a move toward the center line so he clicked it off. Guest will race Gallant in the next round.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink