Sat, 05 Oct 2013, 17:40 PM Competition Eliminator Round 3 Eliminations

By Jim Samuel

MOHNTON, Pa. - Results of round 3 eliminations in Competition Eliminator at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 29th annual Auto-Plus NHRA Nationals:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
   13 Steve Szupka                           15 Calvin Hill                  
E3                  -0.026  8.729 115.45     ****WINNER****  0.079 11.142  82.30
        G/EA Index: 8.74 (+/-): -0.011            D/EA Index: 8.77 (+/-):  2.372
 Prior rounds:
E2    (G Guarriello) 0.013  8.239 -0.501      (E Bollman   ) 0.031  8.269 -0.531
E1    (M Costa     ) 0.078  8.713 -0.027      (D Algeri    ) 0.025  8.354 -0.446
 Qualified:            #12  8.190 -0.550                       #16  8.262 -0.538

5:30 p.m. - Weather conditions: air temperature 82 degrees, relative humidity 59 percent, barometer 29.44 inches, adjusted altitude 2,923 feet, track temperature 94 degrees.

Szupka went red, Hill will move on to the next round.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
  368 Fred Allen                             19 Anthony Niemczyk             
E3   ****WINNER****  0.013  9.069 104.82                    -0.005  7.491 118.50
        B/SR Index: 8.30 (+/-):  0.769             I/D Index: 7.24 (+/-):  0.251
 Prior rounds:
E2    (K Cultrera  ) 0.036  7.795 -0.585      (S Biondo    ) 0.004  6.889 -0.351
E1    (L Johnson   ) 0.026  7.918 -0.462      (C Wentzel   ) 0.031  6.741 -0.499
 Qualified:             #6  7.797 -0.583                       #10  6.688 -0.552

Another red light. This time, Niemczyk went red and Allen will move on to a fourth round matchup with Calvin Hill.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
 1086 Mark Hopkins                         2617 Russell Joly                 
E3                  -0.028 10.567  87.31     ****WINNER**** -0.057  7.878 135.61
         D/A Index: 8.28 (+/-):  2.287            C/AA Index: 7.86 (+/-):  0.018
 Prior rounds:
E2    (F Aragona Jr) 0.091 11.108  2.828      (M Kaufman   ) 0.066  7.358 -0.552
E1    (E Mannino   ) 0.058  7.856 -0.424      (R Schonberge) 0.023  7.731 -0.179
 Qualified:            #27  7.856 -0.424                       #15  7.369 -0.541

This was the third pair of the round and the third decided by a red light start. This time, Hopkins went red so Joly moves on.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
 3002 Pat Ross                             1422 Allyn Armstrong              
E3   ****WINNER**** -0.002  8.289 122.63                    -0.030  9.597 108.76
         E/A Index: 8.28 (+/-):  0.009             L/A Index: 9.29 (+/-):  0.307
 Prior rounds:
E2    (A Hodges    ) 0.149  7.780 -0.500      (D Hughes    ) 0.028  9.204 -0.086
E1    (S Gaffney   ) 0.024  7.816 -0.464      (T Stalba    ) 0.058  8.960 -0.330
 Qualified:            #13  7.730 -0.550                       #25  8.827 -0.463

Four pairs,f our races decided by red lights...only this time, both drivers went red. Armstrong went red first, so Ross will race Joly tomorrow in round four.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink