Sat, 18 Feb 2012, 21:48 PM Top Alcohol Dragster Round 2 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Results of round 2 eliminations in Top Alcohol Dragster at the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, Southeast Division, event at Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   13 Dan Mercier                           110 Rich McPhillips              
E2                   0.100  5.386 255.34     ****WINNER****  0.019  5.357 265.53
 Prior rounds:
E1    (D Foley     ) 0.062  5.690 254.18      (D Page      ) 0.003  5.402 266.69
 Qualified:             #2  5.360 268.49                        #3  5.361 260.66

9:33 p.m. It is surprising that the track has stayed in good condition this late in the day. Most expected we'd be through about an hour after sunset, but that was long ago. This round of TAD will close out a long day of racing, but the field has now been cut down to more manageable numbers for tomorrow.

McPhillips nailed Mercier to the tree - not the double-oh light he came up with against page in round one, but a 0.019 is still pretty good for an A/Fuel car - and he steadily pulled away to win by over a car length.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  487 Mark Taliaferro                       288 Sidnei Frigo                 
E2   ****WINNER****  0.052  5.323 275.62                     0.102  5.344 265.64
 Prior rounds:
E1    (A Tatum     ) 0.034  5.407 272.67      (D Shields   ) 0.057  5.357 265.33
 Qualified:             #1  5.339 274.05                        #4  5.364 265.69

Another good race, the winner having both a better light and a quicker run. Frigo made up almost all of Taliaferro's reaction time advantage in the first 60 feet, then Taliaferro pulled away again for the win. Mark Taliaferro's incremental margins: 60ft(0.009), 330 ft(0.007), 660ft(0.027), 1,000ft(0.049). MOV: 0.0713 seconds (approximately 28 feet). Taliaferro will have lane choice when he faces McPhillips in the TAD final tound tomorrow.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink