Sat, 17 May 2003, 08:47 PM Top Alcohol Funny Car Round 1 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. - Results of round 1 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
 1489 Darrel Cox                              1 Frank Manzo
E1                   0.159  7.258 116.46     ****WINNER****  0.076  5.552 262.33
 Qualified:            #18  8.436  94.33                        #5  5.736 259.56

7:17 PM Rough weekend for Cox, unable to complete a run during qualifying and then coming in as second alternate when Bobby Martin was unable to repair his car to race Manzo in the first round. He added to his miseries with a big engine explosion at half track, a big flash of flame visible under the car. Meanwhile, Manzo made the fastest TAFC run ever with the third-quickest elapsed time ever, to win easily.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   19 Bruce Mullins                         171 Todd Veney
E1                  -0.027  6.834 147.65     ****WINNER****  0.032  5.796 252.24
 Qualified:            #13  6.074 237.17                        #4  5.733 253.85

This is just the sixth pass on the "Follow a Dream" Avenger. Mullins left early and Veney was probably glad he did because the Avenger drifted a bit to the right, out of the groove, and moved around during the run. We're two-for-two with oil in the left lane once again. Veney races Manzo next roiund, Manzo with lane choice.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  121 Scott Woodington                        3 Jay Payne
E1                  -0.030  6.135 224.40     ****WINNER****  0.070  5.582 259.51
 Qualified:            #16  6.648 197.71                        #1  5.615 257.58

Woodington rolled in, then went deep, then left early. Payne ran a career-best elapsed time on a flawless-looking pass. The good news? No smoke or fluids from either car.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  147 Fred Tigges                             8 Bob Newberry
E1                         No Time           ****WINNER****  0.220  5.671 254.28
 Qualified:            #15  6.509 171.53                        #2  5.674 255.29

Tigges stopped at the end of his burnout and they raised the body so he could get out while Newberry ran. He virtually duplicated his qualifying run, right down the groove. Then the Safety Safari went to work on the left lane once again, Tigges' car leaving a trail of oil from the water to about 300 feet down the track, making it three-for-four so far in the oildown category.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  125 Eric Lourie                            13 Paul Gill
E1   ****WINNER****  0.139  5.958 242.93                    -0.028 No Time
 Qualified:            #14  6.371 246.84                        #3  5.677 246.93

That was one long cleanup...followed by a huge upset, Gill rolling in deep and then rolling the beams when he brought the RPMs up. We're clean and dry, the next pair firing immediately.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  253 Charles Gambino                       194 Michael Ferro
E1                   0.102  6.090 230.49     ****WINNER****  0.028  5.663 255.15
 Qualified:            #11  5.932 238.72                        #6  5.797 246.35

Ferro had a great light and made a great run, right down the groove for an easy win. That's his best-ever run by a tenth of a second. He will have lane choice against Lourie in the second round.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  296 Bunny Burkett                         136 Jim Sickles
E1   ****WINNER****  0.201  6.183 242.54                     0.085  6.451 238.38
 Qualified:             #9  5.885 241.50                        #8  5.875 250.41

Bunny made a huge burnout, almost to the finish line. Sickles was favored here, but Sickles got out of shape and went across the out-of-bounds line near the wall. Burkett also shook and danced around, but got to the finish line first, so the DQ didn't really matter. She faces Jay Payne next round, Payne with lane choice.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   14 Paul Lee                               62 Jason Rupert
E1   ****WINNER****  0.046  5.853 200.68                     0.103  5.917 227.65
 Qualified:            #10  5.905 243.55                        #7  5.845 243.33

Lee was first off the line and then Rupert joined those with handling problems in the right lane and Lee was home first by over a car length. Rupert faces Newberry next round, Newberry with lane choice.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink