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Fri, 15 Feb 2013, 15:15 PM

Competition Eliminator Qualifying Notes, Final Session

By David Gerard

POMONA, Calif. - Notes from final, round 3 qualifying in Competition Eliminator at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 53rd annual O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed this round, amount over/under index this round, position in order following run, best prior elapsed time, speed & over/under Index, and position in order prior to run:

Left Lane: Steve Graham Runs 7.427/183.59/-0.503, Now #16; C/A Index: 7.93, Prior Best: 7.405/183.82/-0.525, Was #16
Right Lane: Dean Carter Runs 6.987/187.57/-0.573, Now #12; A/ND Index: 7.56, Prior Best: 6.992/188.38/-0.568, Was #14

11:47 a.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 73 degrees, relative humidity 24 percent, barometer 29.05 inches, adjusted altitude 2,246 feet, track temperature 92 degrees.

Field not filled, no bump spot.

Carter cuts a strong 0.002 light and then runs well to move two spots up the ladder.

Clean pass for Graham, but he stays #16.

Left Lane: Brian Fitzpatrick Runs 16.370/43.08/9.440, Now #22; H/D Index: 6.93, Prior Best: 6.814/213.30/-0.116, Was #22
Right Lane: John Edwards Runs 7.340/186.92/-0.570, Now #10; C/AA Index: 7.91, Prior Best: 7.333/186.18/-0.577, Was #10

Lots of shake and spin for Fitzpatrick again and he lifts way early.

Edwards runs close to his prior best and doesn't improve.

Left Lane: Ross Wilson Runs 8.184/165.82/-0.576, Now #6; C/SM Index: 8.76, Prior Best: 8.150/168.77/-0.610, Was #6
Right Lane: Doug Lambeck Runs 8.348/160.58/-0.602, Now #8; D/SMA Index: 8.95, Prior Best: 8.376/160.00/-0.574, Was #11

They leave together and run together down the track.

Lambeck puts more power to the ground and moves into the current top eight, but Wilson slows just a little to stay #6.

Left Lane: Tyler Hogan Runs 6.996/188.75/-0.604, Now #4; C/DA Index: 7.60, Prior Best: 6.982/189.15/-0.618, Was #4
Right Lane: Ron Weems Runs 14.271/60.58/4.981, Now #24; A/A Index: 9.29, No Prior Run

Hogan makes it two out of three for good runs and finishes close to his first session performance.

Weems' GTO gets out of the groove and moves towards the center line before he lifts.

Left Lane: Scott McClay Runs 7.256/181.67/-0.614, Now #6; C/ED Index: 7.87, Prior Best: 7.287/181.08/-0.583, Was #10
Right Lane: Scott Hedlund Runs 7.712/175.98/-0.638, Now #2; A/SM Index: 8.35, Prior Best: 7.705/176.28/-0.645, Was #2

Mc Clay gets two good passes out of three too, but picks up the pace to run into the new sixth position!

Good clean pass for Hedlund too. He runs close to his session two best.

Left Lane: Tom Mettler Runs 7.377/183.44/-0.623, Now #4; PST Index: 8.00, Prior Best: 7.429/182.30/-0.571, Was #14
Right Lane: Ed Sigmon Runs 8.455/156.03/-0.585, Now #12; C/SR Index: 9.04, Prior Best: 8.609/130.05/-0.431, Was #18

Two great passes.

Mettler returns to his expected performance level, all the way up to the top four for now.

Sigmon does too and moves six spots on the ladder.

Left Lane: Mark Lelchook Runs 8.081/122.33/0.141, Now #18; D/ED Index: 7.94, Prior Best: 7.451/177.56/-0.489, Was #18
Right Lane: Gary Ross Runs 6.653/209.85/-0.497, Now #16; A/AA Index: 7.15, Prior Best: 6.606/209.59/-0.544, Was #16

Lelchook's dragster leaves hard, but goes silent on the top end.

Ross can't improve either on a clean pass.

Left Lane: Joe Roubicek Runs 6.717/207.69/-0.433, Now #19; A/AA Index: 7.15, Prior Best: 7.246/146.67/0.096, Was #23
Right Lane: Jeff Lane Runs 7.996/168.35/-0.624, Now #4; B/SMA Index: 8.62, Prior Best: 8.030/167.88/-0.590, Was #11

Lane finds the combination this time and soars up the ladder seven spots to the new #4. Nice looking pass.

Roubicek finally gets a clean pass and runs into the sixes and the #19 spot.

Left Lane: Chip Rumis Runs 6.833/202.73/-0.317, Now #22; A/AA Index: 7.15, Prior Best: 6.797/202.61/-0.353, Was #22
Right Lane: Lou Ficco Jr. Runs 6.932/198.06/-0.638, Now #3; B/AP Index: 7.57, Prior Best: 6.998/196.76/-0.572, Was #15

Rumis' Cobalt goes a little zig-zag off the line and it costs him some ET.

Ficco joins the big movers with a clean and straight pass into the current number three position on the ladder.

Left Lane: Justin Lamb Runs 8.684/155.01/-0.496, Now #18; F/SMA Index: 9.18, Prior Best: 8.792/126.62/-0.388, Was #21
Right Lane: Alan Ellis Runs 6.580/203.16/-0.570, Now #11; A/AA Index: 7.15, Prior Best: 6.548/204.79/-0.602, Was #11

Three clean passes in a row for Ellis to stay number eleven.

Lamb gets the front end up and powers down the track. He gets three spots on the ladder.

Left Lane: Aaron Strong Runs 8.281/164.89/-0.649, Now #1; G/A Index: 8.93, Prior Best: 8.279/164.61/-0.651, Was #1
Right Lane: Joe Mozeris Runs 7.885/149.56/0.365, Now #21; B/ED Index: 7.52, Prior Best: 7.117/182.40/-0.403, Was #21

Both cars leave hard, but Mozeris slows down track.

Strong picks up some MPH, but loses a little ET. Strong pass!

Left Lane: Dan Fletcher Runs 7.971/169.08/-0.679, Now #1; C/EA Index: 8.65, Prior Best: 8.032/156.86/-0.618, Was #8
Right Lane: Randy Jones Runs 8.411/157.67/-0.639, Now #4; C/TA Index: 9.05, Prior Best: 8.423/157.65/-0.627, Was #4

Say Hello to your new number one qualifier. Fletcher saves the best for last and jumps all the way up to the final top spot on a strong pass.

Jones makes a strong pass too and stays number four.

12:09 p.m. Field not filled, no bump spot.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink