Sun, 10 Nov 2013, 17:58 PM Top Alcohol Dragster Round 3 Eliminations

By David Gerard

POMONA, Calif. - Results of round 3 eliminations in Top Alcohol Dragster at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 49th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    8 Mark Taliaferro                        79 Johnny Ahten                 
E3                   0.091  5.303 272.01     ****WINNER****  0.012  5.368 258.76
 Prior rounds:
E2    (D St Arnaud ) 0.079  5.290 273.88      (J Severance ) 0.055  5.354 259.01
E1    (G Gingles   ) 0.053  5.432 265.48      (S Cowie     ) 0.034  5.391 257.58
 Qualified:             #3  5.282 271.02                        #7  5.376 259.31

2:49 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 80 degrees, relative humidity 19 percent, barometer 28.94 inches, adjusted altitude 2,870 feet, track temperature 102 degrees.

Classic Fueler vs. Blower match up.

Ahten nails the tree with a stellar 0.012 light and holds off a charging Taliaferro. The injected car started to drop cylinders on the top end, but he had the momentum too stay in front.

Johnny Ahten's incremental margins: 60ft(0.057), 330 ft(0.018), 660ft(0.026), 1,000ft(0.040). MOV: 0.0141 seconds (approximately 6 feet).

Mark Taliaferro's incremental times: 60ft-0.926 sec., 330ft-2.374, 660ft-3.503/219.19 mph, 1,000ft-4.477.
Johnny Ahten's incremental times: 60ft-0.948 sec., 330ft-2.435, 660ft-3.556/222.69 mph, 1,000ft-4.516.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    1 Jim Whiteley                          611 Garrett Bateman              
E3   ****WINNER****  0.088  5.221 276.86                     0.045  5.414 262.49
 Prior rounds:
E2    (R Martin    ) 0.051  5.275 275.39      (C Demke     ) 0.068  5.302 273.61
E1    (B Litton    ) 0.086  5.243 276.24      (R Stickler  ) 0.077  5.228 274.44
 Qualified:             #1  5.218 275.90                        #4  5.282 270.59

Bateman gets a nice starting line advantage, but his engine was dropping cylinders from the start.

Whiteley drives on by about 100 feet out and pulls steadily ahead for the easy win. He keeps lane choice in the final round.

Jim Whiteley's incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.040), 330 ft(0.051), 660ft(0.084), 1,000ft(0.112). MOV: 0.1507 seconds (approximately 58 feet).

Jim Whiteley's incremental times: 60ft-0.932 sec., 330ft-2.343, 660ft-3.456/221.71 mph, 1,000ft-4.409.
Garrett Bateman's incremental times: 60ft-0.935 sec., 330ft-2.437, 660ft-3.583/217.32 mph, 1,000ft-4.564.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink