Sat, 17 May 2003, 09:09 PM Top Alcohol Dragster Round 1 Eliminations

By Jim Samuel

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Top Alcohol Dragster 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
 3382 Robert Leverich                       118 Ken Winward
E1   ****WINNER****  0.309  6.614 190.97                     0.122  6.009 178.31
 Qualified:            #11  6.851 210.28                        #6  5.648 251.11

8:26 PM - Current weather conditions: 55 degrees, 75 percent relative humidity, the barometer is at 30.11 inches, with a track temperature of 64 degrees.

Winward is driving a car owned by Bruce Insinger. Last year, Winward wrecked his car at Lebanon Valley when he crashed with Karen Benkovich. Insinger lent him a spare car for the rest of the year. At the start of this year, Insinger told Winward to keep running the car for the rest of the year.

After their burnouts, Leverich had to be pushed back to the starting line because he had no reverse gear. At the start of this race, Winward got off the starting line first but got the front wheels in the air and started moving all over his lane. He tried to correct but it appeared that the more he tried to straighten the car, the more he swerved. He came close to crossing the outer boundary of the track and then crossed over the center line at about 1,000 feet. Winward had the quicker reaction time and the lower ET but Leverich got the win with a straight, though uneventful, run.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   77 Steven Cantrell                      1482 Richard Bourke
E1   ****WINNER****  0.082  5.473 236.67                     0.079  5.536 269.94
 Qualified:            #16 28.000   NS                          #1  5.455 266.69

Bourke beat Cantrell off the starting line by three thousandths of a second, but once they got going, Cantrell caught Bourke by the 60-foot mark and then kept on going for an upset win. Steven Cantrell's incremental margins: 60ft(0.090), 330 ft(0.186), 660ft(0.171), 1,000ft(0.128). MOV: 0.0607 seconds (approximately 24 feet).

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 1072 Bruce Horner                         1301 Douglas Foley
E1                         No Time           ****WINNER****  0.161  6.357 159.44
 Qualified:            #14 10.235  83.10                        #3  5.608 242.41

Bruce Horner got into the field with a 10.235 second ET. He did not show at the starting line so Foley had a solo run for the win. Foley will have lane choice over Leverich in the second round of eliminations.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  200 Tony Bartone                          117 Fran Monaghan Jr
E1   ****WINNER****  0.038  5.321 273.50                     0.009  5.566 254.90
 Qualified:            #13  9.163 100.52                        #4  5.615 228.34

Bartone was trailing up to the 330 foot mark but pulled ahead after that to take the win. Tony Bartone's incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.069), 330 ft(-0.033), 660ft(0.055), 1,000ft(0.145). MOV: 0.2162 seconds (approximately 81 feet).

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  124 Steve Lamplough                       185 Mike Kosky
E1   ****WINNER****  0.032  5.571 251.67                     0.026  5.647 245.40
 Qualified:            #15 11.568  69.81                        #2  5.493 251.30

Kosky used up a lot of track on this run. He tried to straighten it out but by taking the long route to the finish line, he used up too much time. Lamplough kept it straight and took the win.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  106 Bruce Insinger                        110 Rich McPhillips
E1                   0.085  5.713 246.30     ****WINNER****  0.067  5.641 254.04
 Qualified:            #12  7.129 136.94                        #5  5.644 254.52

After not doing as well as he would have liked in 2002, McPhillips is back with a new car and a new paint scheme. In the first round of eliminations, he ran the same ET that he ran in qualifying. McPhillips had the quicker start then Insinger got by him at 60 feet and stayed ahead to 330 feet. After that, McPhillips pulled ahead and went on for the win. Rich McPhillips' incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.029), 330 ft(-0.037), 660ft(0.015), 1,000ft(0.064). MOV: 0.0905 seconds (approximately 33 feet).

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  149 Mark Albert                          1034 Sheila Tafur
E1   ****WINNER****  0.331  5.612 247.29                           No Time
 Qualified:            #10  6.462 193.07                        #7  5.691 224.14

Tafur is driving a car owned by her fiance, Mike Kopchick of Rage Engineering. The car was formerly owned by Joe Amato. When she started to stage the car, she went to far and broke the starting line beam so she had no choice but to cruise to the end of the track and give Albert a solo run for the win. Albert gave up lane choice to Lamplough in the second round.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 1128 Karen Benkovich                         1 Arthur Gallant
E1                   0.054  6.049 181.40     ****WINNER****  0.104  5.667 245.27
 Qualified:             #9  6.261 173.72                        #8  5.759 255.92

Benkovich had the better tree and was ahead to 60 feet, but it was all Gallant from then on. Gallant gave up lane choice to Steve Cantrell in the next round.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink