Sat, 05 Oct 2013, 13:42 PM Top Alcohol Dragster Qualifying Notes, Final Session

By Jim Samuel

MOHNTON, Pa. - Notes from final, round 3 qualifying in Top Alcohol Dragster at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 29th annual Auto-Plus NHRA Nationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time/top speed this round, position in order following run, best prior elapsed time/speed, and position in order prior to run:

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Left Lane: Marty Thacker Runs 5.509/227.61, Now #12; Best prior run: 6.812/126.16, Was #23
Right Lane: Frank Schuster Runs 5.524/255.68, Now #14; Best prior run: 5.708/246.08, Was #20

1:04 p.m. - Weather conditions: air temperature 81 degrees, relative humidity 59 percent, barometer 29.49 inches, adjusted altitude 2,734 feet, track temperature 102 degrees.

Thacker had a little bit of rear tire shake but drove through it to put himself into the number 12 spot in the order for now. Schuster's run looked cleaner than Thacker's but was not as quick. He'll have to settle for the number 14 spot for now.

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Left Lane: Mike Burns Runs 5.735/243.81, Now #22; Best prior run: 5.817/242.32, Was #22
Right Lane: Al Moeser Runs 5.631/262.39, Now #19; Best prior run: 5.689/234.57, Was #21

Moeser carried the front wheels a foot off the ground for a couple hundred feet. Burns drifted out of the groove and hugged the center line for a while.

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Left Lane: Jonathan Pickett Runs 5.849/187.29, Now #20; Best prior run: 5.634/247.57, Was #20
Right Lane: Mike Kosky Runs 12.923/43.23, Now #21; Best prior run: 5.662/246.66, Was #21

Kosky's car let the chutes out about 200 feet from the starting line. Pickett's car slowed between mid track and the finish line.

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Left Lane: Karen Stalba Runs 5.518/253.28, Now #13; Best prior run: 5.608/237.38, Was #18
Right Lane: Jared Dreher Runs 5.598/260.81, Now #17; Best prior run: 5.592/259.31, Was #16

Stalba moved up five spots in the order and into the number 13 spot for now. Dreher just missed pout on making the field and will not return for eliminations. Duane Shields is on the bump spot at 5.527 with two non-qualified drivers left to make their final attempt.

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Left Lane: Tom Fox Jr. No Time, Now #18; Best prior run: 5.606/256.02, Was #18
Right Lane: Doug Foley No Time, Now #14; Best prior run: 5.523/249.95, Was #14

Fox and Foley were staged when Foley's car started to sound odd. There appeared to be a flash of orange from the engine air intake, then the car lurched forward and and through the beams. With all that going on in the right lane, Fox left before the tree, so he got no ET and will not make the field.

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Left Lane: Duane Shields Runs 10.401/119.50, Now #16; Best prior run: 5.527/256.94, Was #16
Right Lane: Ken Perry Runs 5.501/261.78, Now #10; Best prior run: 5.476/260.31, Was #10

Shields shook the tires and clicked it off. Perry was not as quick as yesterday and did not move up in the order.

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Left Lane: Richard Bourke Runs 5.510/262.95, Now #11; Best prior run: 5.499/263.62, Was #11
Right Lane: Rich McPhillips Runs 5.428/258.12, Now #6; Best prior run: 5.434/261.22, Was #8

Both drivers had good runs. McPhillips' run was quick enough to move him up two spots in the order.

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Left Lane: Jeff Veale Runs 5.435/273.11, Now #9; Best prior run: 5.456/271.95, Was #9
Right Lane: Jackie Fricke Runs 5.468/252.14, Now #5; Best prior run: 5.408/258.02, Was #5

Veale and Fricke ran side-by-side until the last hundred feet or so, when Fricke's car started losing cylinders.

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Left Lane: Dan Page Runs 5.385/264.03, Now #4; Best prior run: 5.434/264.13, Was #8
Right Lane: John Finke Runs 5.396/259.81, Now #5; Best prior run: 5.408/259.66, Was #4

Page moved up four spots in the order with a nice run down the track. That pushed Finke down a rung on the ladder.

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Left Lane: Wayne Morris Runs 5.591/260.76, Now #8; Best prior run: 5.432/260.06, Was #8
Right Lane: Robin Samsel Runs 5.452/259.56, Now #3; Best prior run: 5.378/263.41, Was #3

Two clean runs but no change in the order.

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Left Lane: Bill Reichert Runs 5.318/265.53, Now #2; Best prior run: 5.348/263.62, Was #2
Right Lane: Brandon Booher Runs 10.639/60.68, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.307/269.56, Was #1

Reichert had his best run of the weekend so far but he'll stay in the number two spot. Booher had problems and clicked it off early.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink