Sat, 06 Oct 2012, 18:39 PM Top Alcohol Funny Car Round 2 Eliminations

By Jim Samuel

MOHNTON, Pa. - Results of round 2 eliminations in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 28th annual Auto-Plus NHRA Nationals:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   15 John Anderika                        1509 Dan Pomponio                 
E2                   0.154  6.486 231.75     ****WINNER****  0.103  5.697 254.42
 Prior rounds:
E1    (E Lourie    ) 0.089  5.632 253.85      (C Simonton  ) 0.054  5.663 256.16
 Qualified:             #2  5.598 253.80                        #7  5.680 254.38

6:14 p.m. - Weather conditions: air temperature 66 degrees, relative humidity 50 percent, barometer 29.34 inches, adjusted altitude 1,647 feet, track temperature 72 degrees.

Anderika's car launched, then shook the rear tires and bounced for 200 feet before he got it settled down. Pomponio's run was a lot smoother to earn him the win.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  326 Brian Harvanek                          5 Mickey Ferro                 
E2                  -0.067  5.646 244.52     ****WINNER****  0.040  5.768 256.89
 Prior rounds:
E1    (L Dobbs     ) 0.100  5.643 255.87      (M Ferriolo  ) 0.055  5.548 259.26
 Qualified:             #5  5.644 254.90                        #4  5.619 255.87

Harvanek went red, handing the easy win to Ferro. Harvanek ran it out, blowing out the engine as he crossed the finish line.

Weather conditions: air temperature 62 degrees, relative humidity 54 percent, barometer 29.35 inches, adjusted altitude 1,334 feet, track temperature 74 degrees.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  377 Paul Noakes                            17 Paul Gill                    
E2   ****WINNER****  0.038  5.720 254.38                     0.076  5.788 257.58
 Prior rounds:
E1    (T Veney     ) 0.056  5.622 255.87      (C Thompson  ) 0.112  5.541 255.15
 Qualified:            #11  5.718 253.33                       #14  5.890 256.65

Both cars moved around a lot on the track. Gill was slower at the starting line and used up more track, so Noakes got the win and will face Pomponio in the next round. Pomponio will have lane choice.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    1 Frank Manzo                           331 Tony Bogolo                  
E2   ****WINNER****  0.082  5.486 262.64                     0.074  9.334  93.16
 Prior rounds:
E1    (J Fiorini   ) 0.086  5.498 261.78      (J Headley   ) -0.056 10.192  92.32
 Qualified:             #1  5.510 261.57                        #8  5.686 252.47

Manzo is 1 - 0 against Bogolo in prior national events. Bogolo launched and shook the rear tires hard, bouncing his way down the track. Manzo will have lane choice over Ferro in the next round.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink