Sun, 4 Sep 2011, 07:34 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, 57th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 2890 James Eric Dillard                      6 Kenny Lang                   
E1   ****WINNER****  0.035  5.863 252.61                     0.057 11.955  73.60
 Qualified:             #5  5.973 251.72                       #12  6.055 235.43

7:07 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 74 degrees, relative humidity 58 percent, barometer 28.97 inches, adjusted altitude 2,808 feet, track temperature 88 degrees.

At the last minute, Dillard elected to change lanes, so the cars criss-crossed between the ready line and the water.

Lang spun the tires hard, pedaled, and gave up the chase because Dillard was long-gone, running low ET for the weekend.

James Eric Dillard's incremental times: 60ft-1.006 sec., 330ft-2.667, 660ft-3.921/199.91 mph, 1,000ft-4.974.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    5 Melanie Troxel                       321A Scott Ray                    
E1   ****WINNER****  0.054  5.918 250.92                     0.000  6.119 234.17
 Qualified:             #1  5.907 251.25                       #16  6.078 228.11

That worked so well for Dillard that Troxel also made a lane swap between the lanes and the water.

Ray had a perfect light, but his 6.11 was not quick enough by at least a tenth.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    7 Jay Payne                            6294 Dennis Radford               
E1   ****WINNER****  0.090  5.918 242.06                     0.077 10.274 108.71
 Qualified:             #3  5.953 240.21                       #14  6.066 234.74

At the green, Payne's car leaped off the line while Radford's gently eased off the line and idled down the track. Might have been a broken throttle cable.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   43 Rickie Smith                         4262 Dave Pierce                  
E1   ****WINNER****  0.073  5.984 238.55                     0.044 No Time      
 Qualified:             #4  5.968 235.51                       #13  6.065 234.37

Pierce's car made a hard right turn on the launch and he shut it down to stay off the wall, then slowly coasted down the track. The timing system finally timed out before he reached the stripe. Smith faces Dillard in round two, Dillard has lane choice.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    4 Troy Coughlin                         327 Khalid Balooshi              
E1                   0.122  6.106 246.17     ****WINNER****  0.081  5.898 241.80
 Qualified:            #10  6.025 245.67                        #7  5.985 239.91

The good news is that Coughlin finally got his turbo car to make a hard launch. The bad news is that Balooshi made a bad run in the good session and Coughlin draws the points leader in round one.

Balooshi's car was off the line first and was more aggressive early in the run, while Coughlin's car was late and sluggish early in the run.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 1456 Mike Janis                            375 Rickie Jones                 
E1   ****WINNER****  0.056  6.062 239.70                     0.032  6.121 240.29
 Qualified:             #6  5.974 240.68                       #11  6.032 239.74

Jones left first, but his car bobbled briefly and Janis ran him down for the lead before half track. Mike Janis' incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.035), 330 ft(-0.015), 660ft(0.027), 1,000ft(0.033). MOV: 0.0352 seconds (approximately 12 feet). Janis faces Payne in round two, Payne has lane choice.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 1088 Burton Auxier                         770 Donald Martin                
E1   ****WINNER****  0.023  5.928 235.47                     0.029  5.963 243.94
 Qualified:             #8  5.996 238.55                        #9  6.020 242.32

Auxier got to the stripe first, but there were two flashes of flame from under his car in the lights and lots of smoke when he lifted. The track crew took a close look at his lane, then the trucks backed into openings in the track and they fired the next pair. Burton Auxier's incremental margins: 60ft(0.025), 330 ft(0.042), 660ft(0.054), 1,000ft(0.059). MOV: 0.0415 seconds (approximately 15 feet). He faces Troxel in round two, Troxel has lane choice by a hundredth of a second.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 1794 Mike Castellana                       277 Raymond J Matos              
E1   ****WINNER****  0.049  6.370 170.23                     0.035 20.393  34.25
 Qualified:             #2  5.931 240.12                       #15  6.066 231.52

Last pair. Matos launched into nasty tire shake, his car fishtailing violently. Castellana advanced unchallenged, but was all over his lane and lifted early. He will face Balooshi in round two, Balooshi has lane choice.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink