Sun, 18 May 2003, 04:39 PM Top Alcohol Funny Car Round 2 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. - Results of round 2 eliminations in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 34th annual K&N Filters SuperNationals presented by Pep Boys:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  171 Todd Veney                              1 Frank Manzo
E2                   0.010  5.771 254.14     ****WINNER****  0.046  5.573 260.36
 Prior rounds:
E1    (B Mullins   ) 0.032  5.796 252.24      (D Cox       ) 0.076  5.552 262.33
 Qualified:             #4  5.733 253.85                        #5  5.736 259.56

4:05 PM veney's crew fired the engine, but it did not respond to the throttle, the crew having to wire-tie something in the linkage. He made a very short burnout to keep from delaying Manzo. Despite the distractions, Veney cut a great light and made a race of it, but Manzo was on time and ran true to form, a couple tenths quicker than Veney, for the win.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  296 Bunny Burkett                           3 Jay Payne
E2                  -0.054  6.129 186.43     ****WINNER****  0.052  5.698 253.90
 Prior rounds:
E1    (J Sickles   ) 0.201  6.183 242.54      (S Woodington) 0.070  5.582 259.51
 Qualified:             #9  5.885 241.50                        #1  5.615 257.58

The winner here gets to race Manzo in the semifinals. Both drivers made long, smoky burnouts for the appreciative Englishtown crowd. Bunny needed a couple tenths to have a shot at beating Payne and she tried a little too hard to get it at the green. Then she lost the blower belt on the top end. Meanwhile, Payne fell off the pace a bit, the reason not obvious, and he lost lane choice to Manzo.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  125 Eric Lourie                           194 Michael Ferro
E2   ****WINNER****  0.070  5.907 244.92                    -0.012  5.784 217.98
 Prior rounds:
E1    (P Gill      ) 0.139  5.958 242.93      (C Gambino   ) 0.028  5.663 255.15
 Qualified:            #14  6.371 246.84                        #6  5.797 246.35

Lourie is using up his "luck bank" here, getting his second red light win in a row against a much quicker car. Ferro's grief didn't end with the red light, he "blowed it up" at 1,000 feet with a big BANG, with a big oil fire, orange flames billowing from the front wheel wells. He got it stopped safely and got out quickly, the on board fire system doing a good job of knocking the flames down and the Safety Safari taking care of the rest. Then the Safety Safari went to work on the right lane, from 1,000 feet through where the car stopped.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   14 Paul Lee                                8 Bob Newberry
E2                   0.058  6.079 205.57     ****WINNER****  0.129  5.613 256.60
 Prior rounds:
E1    (J Rupert    ) 0.046  5.853 200.68      (F Tigges    ) 0.220  5.671 254.28
 Qualified:            #10  5.905 243.55                        #2  5.674 255.29

Last pair. Lee left on Newberry big time, but Newberry led by the 330-foot marker, Lee's car getting out of the groove, near the centerline. Newberry will have lane choice against Lourie in the other semifinal match.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink