Sat, 29 Oct 2011, 10:04 PM Top Alcohol Funny Car Round 1 Eliminations

By Dave Rowe

LAS VEGAS - Results of round 1 eliminations in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 11th annual Big O Tires NHRA Nationals:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   10 Doug Gordon                            71 Steve Gasparrelli            
E1                   0.056  5.818 243.15     ****WINNER****  0.058  5.691 255.58
 Qualified:             #8  5.717 253.04                        #9  5.719 254.90

6:31 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 77 degrees, relative humidity 17 percent, barometer 27.90 inches, adjusted altitude 3,859 feet, track temperature 84 degrees.

Gordon gets out in front first but the rear of the car starts moving around. Gasparrelli goes around him before the 330 foot mark and starts to pull away. Gordon gets about 100 feet down, smoke starts coming from under the car and he slows.

Steve Gasparrelli's incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.022), 330 ft(0.039), 660ft(0.072), 1,000ft(0.091). MOV: 0.1251 seconds (approximately 45 feet).

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  744 Shane Westerfield                     562 Kris Hool                    
E1   ****WINNER****  0.064  5.674 255.29                     0.072  5.915 248.89
 Qualified:            #11  5.772 251.86                        #6  5.684 254.57

Hool moved around early in the run. Westerfield went right down the groove and pulled away for the win.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 7976 Keeter Ray                              4 Tony Bartone                 
E1                   0.018 No Time           ****WINNER****  0.085  5.558 261.37
 Qualified:            #16 12.522  58.50                        #1  5.560 260.51

Ray hits the throttle and the engine dies, not sure why. Bartone makes his quickest pass of the weekend and takes the win.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 6352 John Evanchuk                          34 Paul Gill                    
E1   ****WINNER****  0.078 11.036  79.42                     0.132 No Time      
 Qualified:            #14  6.230 220.33                        #3  5.659 255.39

Evanchuk hits the throttle, loses traction and makes a quick move toward the center line. Gill gets out in front and gets out of the groove. He makes a hard move to the left and takes out one of the timing blocks at half track. Evanchuk rolls through the lights and gets the win.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 6883 Jordan Pawlick                        147 Fred Tigges                  
E1                   0.280  6.035 234.82     ****WINNER****  0.063  6.218 205.51
 Qualified:            #13  6.002 234.37                        #4  5.668 252.95

Tigges gets out of the groove early and heads for the wall. Somehow he keeps the car off the wall, moving back and forth, right near the wall all the way through the run. He never backs off the throttle and takes the win.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   63 Jeff Ashwell                           54 Roger Bateman                
E1   ****WINNER****  0.129  5.903 241.71                     0.122 No Time      
 Qualified:            #12  5.947 242.41                        #5  5.681 253.33

Bateman boils the hides at the hit, pedals two or three times and gets pout of the groove. He stays on the throttle, makes a move to the left and crosses the centerline about 1000 feet out. Ashwell went right down the groove with his quickest pass of the weekend to take the win.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    3 Jay Payne                             799 Sean Bellemeur               
E1   ****WINNER****  0.101  5.627 257.43                     0.026  5.721 253.09
 Qualified:             #7  5.685 256.26                       #10  5.766 250.64

Payne is last off the line, starts making up ground, then drives around Bellemeur at the 1000 foot mark to take the win.

Jay Payne's incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.067), 330 ft(-0.043), 660ft(-0.020), 1,000ft(0.002). MOV: 0.0197 seconds (approximately 7 feet).

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    9 Clint Thompson                         72 John Lombardo Jr.            
E1   ****WINNER****  0.075  5.647 258.81                     0.071  5.707 255.53
 Qualified:            #15 11.757  99.21                        #2  5.609 259.66

Clint Thompson's incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(0.007), 330 ft(-0.002), 660ft(0.021), 1,000ft(0.043). MOV: 0.0568 seconds (approximately 21 feet).

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink