Sat, 24 May 2003, 09:07 PM Top Alcohol Dragster Round 1 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

TOPEKA, Kan. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Top Alcohol Dragster at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 15th annual O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals presented by Castrol GTX:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   10 John Haley                           7438 Morgan Lucas
E1                   0.112  5.673 244.56     ****WINNER****  0.039  5.446 261.37
 Qualified:             #8  5.450 261.57                        #9  5.458 262.18

7:32 PM Current weather conditions: 62 degrees, 91 percent relative humidity, the barometer 29.93 inches under cloudy skies.

Two quality cars from the middle of the field square off first and Haley did a great driving job to get the front end down after the car "climbed the ring gear," the front wheels about five feet in the air before they started down. If he lifted, it wasn't obvious and he made Lucas earn the win light.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    8 Shelly Howard                           2 Duane Shields
E1   ****WINNER****  0.033  5.428 260.31                     0.035  5.470 260.91
 Qualified:             #7  5.431 259.21                       #10  5.481 259.21

Two of the best blown cars in the country end up paired in the first round and it was a very good drag race, leaving together and never more than five-hundredths apart all the way down the track. Shelly Howard's incremental margins: 60ft(0.004), 330 ft(0.037), 660ft(0.047), 1,000ft(0.047). MOV: 0.0442 seconds (approximately 17 feet).

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   33 Jeff Wilson                             9 David Wells
E1                   0.001  5.447 259.21     ****WINNER****  0.043  5.376 262.23
 Qualified:            #12  5.494 255.77                        #5  5.386 262.64

Two more pretty good blown cars, Wilson uncharacteristically struggling a bit during qualifying. Wilson sawed the tree down and it took Wells 660 feet to catch him, but he did and then pulled away to win a close one. David Wells' incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.048), 330 ft(-0.025), 660ft(0.000), 1,000ft(0.016). MOV: 0.0294 seconds (approximately 11 feet), both drivers making their best run of the weekend.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  442 Mike Bowers                           303 Todd Datweiler
E1                   0.237 11.111  75.97     ****WINNER****  0.086  5.321 264.96
 Qualified:            #11  5.486 246.66                        #6  5.386 260.97

Datweiler was very consistent through three qualifying sessions, while Bowers had a few problems on his final qualifying run. Apparently Bowers came to the line with a broken car because when the light turned green his car came slowly off the line and barely accelerated, while Datweiler turned in his best pass of the weekend for an easy win.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  513 Robert Badgett                          7 Marty Thacker
E1                   0.077 16.413  75.16     ****WINNER****  0.013  5.398 263.67
 Qualified:            #13  5.510 259.96                        #4  5.383 262.03

Thacker has been tough this year and he made a very good run for the win, B Badgett smoking the tires and then dropping several cylinders. Thacker faces Wells in the second round and Wells will have lane choice.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  416 James Thompson                        312 Keith Stark
E1                  -0.003  5.511 260.81     ****WINNER****  0.065  5.484 264.34
 Qualified:            #14  5.533 257.19                        #3  5.348 268.12

The winner here gets to take on Datweiler's awesome machine next round. Thompson took a shot at the tree and came up three thousandths short. Then his car shed a body panel at mid track. Sometimes it just doesn't pay to come to the race track. Stark gets to take on Datweiler and Datweiler will pick the lanes.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  603 Mitch Myers                            51 Alan Bradshaw
E1                   0.012  7.059 149.27     ****WINNER****  0.037  5.673 255.48
 Qualified:            #15  5.551 247.02                        #2  5.321 254.38

It's Myers against Meyer, Bradshaw in the Randy Meyer dragster. Bradshaw has recorded some eye-popping runs this year, even after pedaling to get out of shake, but this time his pedal job had ordinary results, but Myers was up in smoke early after a very good light and never recovered. Bradshaw faces Howard in the second round (again?) and Howard has lane choice.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  337 Tim Rudy                              391 Bill Reichert
E1                         No Time           ****WINNER****  0.178  7.418 142.51
 Qualified:            #17  5.608 235.64                        #1  5.289 274.50

Rudy broke on the burnout and the car sat about 200 feet out while Reichert struggled with what appeared to be a balky car, the engine not wanting to run. of course, it's a nitro burner and they always sound awful until under load. He got it staged, took the tree, and then shut the car off before half track and coasted through, lucky to be unopposed this round after posting three awesome runs during qualifying. He faces Lucas in round two, Lucas holding lane choice.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink