Mon, 08 Oct 2012, 11:51 AM Top Alcohol Funny Car Round 3 Eliminations

By Jim Samuel

MOHNTON, Pa. - Results of round 3 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
 1509 Dan Pomponio                          377 Paul Noakes                  
E3                   0.055  5.703 246.89     ****WINNER****  0.058  5.697 250.88
 Prior rounds:
E2    (J Anderika  ) 0.103  5.697 254.42      (P Gill      ) 0.038  5.720 254.38
E1    (C Simonton  ) 0.054  5.663 256.16      (T Veney     ) 0.056  5.622 255.87
 Qualified:             #7  5.680 254.38                       #11  5.718 253.33

11:40 a.m. - Weather conditions: air temperature 55 degrees, relative humidity 57 percent, barometer 29.68 inches, adjusted altitude 440 feet, track temperature 57 degrees.

Pomponio got off the starting line just a hair before Noakes and held the lead to 1,000 feet. Noakes' car got out of the groove and was drifting toward the wall. he got the car straightened out and got by Pomponio to take the win. Paul Noakes' incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.030), 330 ft(-0.012), 660ft(-0.009), 1,000ft(-0.006). MOV: 0.0038 seconds (approximately 17 inches).

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    1 Frank Manzo                             5 Mickey Ferro                 
E3   ****WINNER****  0.048  5.739 250.60                     0.025 No Time      
 Prior rounds:
E2    (T Bogolo    ) 0.082  5.486 262.64      (B Harvanek  ) 0.040  5.768 256.89
E1    (J Fiorini   ) 0.086  5.498 261.78      (M Ferriolo  ) 0.055  5.548 259.26
 Qualified:             #1  5.510 261.57                        #4  5.619 255.87

Ferro was first off the starting line and led to 60 feet. Then Ferro drifted and tapped the wall, so his time was DQ'ed. Manzo got the win but gave up lane choice to Noakes in the final round.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink