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Thu, 13 Nov 2014, 19:37 PM

Top Alcohol Dragster Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By David Gerard

POMONA, Calif. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Top Alcohol Dragster at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 50th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

Left Lane: Fred Hanssen Runs 9.308/88.61, Now #2
Right Lane: Aaron Olivarez Runs 5.419/268.65, Now #1

3:51 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 68 degrees, relative humidity 56 percent, barometer 28.90 inches, adjusted altitude 2,396 feet, track temperature 80 degrees.

After an exciting Funny Car session, we will have over twenty dragster this session.

Olivarez left hard and ran well until after the 1000 foot. Looks like a head gasket failure may have spoiled a much better run.

Hanssen had a better sixty foot time, but was slowing before the 330 lights.

Aaron Olivarez's incremental times: 60ft-0.960 sec., 330ft-2.480, 660ft-3.624/219.54 mph, 1,000ft-4.587.

Left Lane: Derik Milanesio No Time, Now #4
Right Lane: Casey Grisel Runs 7.288/128.11, Now #2

Milanesio's car is shut off after the burnout and pushed away.

Grisel's engine sounded terrible at the hit and grumbled off the line. It's all quiet before 330 feet.

Left Lane: Jeff Ashwell No Time, Now #6
Right Lane: Bill Litton Runs 10.003/87.15, Now #4

Ashwell joins the wounded and is pushed back at the end of the burnout.

Another broken pass. A little shake and spin off the line and Litton's engine goes silent.

Left Lane: Ross Stickler Runs 5.532/245.05, Now #3
Right Lane: Tripp Tatum Runs 5.363/274.44, Now #1

We finally get two cars from start to finish and Tatum runs a career best speed and close to his best ET to move to the top of the ladder.

Clean pass for Stickler with lots of room for improvement.

Ross Stickler's incremental times: 60ft-0.933 sec., 330ft-2.464, 660ft-3.644/209.65 mph, 1,000ft-4.654.
Tripp Tatum's incremental times: 60ft-0.968 sec., 330ft-2.494, 660ft-3.611/225.71 mph, 1,000ft-4.551.

Left Lane: Cameron Ferre Runs 5.330/273.33, Now #1
Right Lane: Dan Mercier No Time, Now #10

Mercier does the burnout and keeps on going down the track. He takes the early turnout and Ferre will get to run.

Ferre makes the most of his single to run a career best ET and speed into the new top spot. Sounded like some banging and popping on the top end, so there may be more there for tomorrow.

Cameron Ferre's incremental times: 60ft-0.959 sec., 330ft-2.461, 660ft-3.582/224.77 mph, 1,000ft-4.520.

Left Lane: Megan McKernan Runs 5.473/266.58, Now #4
Right Lane: Ashley Sanford Runs 10.812/80.00, Now #9

Sanford's car gets loose and sideways off the line and she lifts.

McKernan gets a good tuning pass, running into the new number four spot.

Megan McKernan's incremental times: 60ft-0.988 sec., 330ft-2.530, 660ft-3.675/219.65 mph, 1,000ft-4.640.

Left Lane: John Finke Runs 13.402/52.19, Now #11
Right Lane: Chase Copeland Runs 8.063/102.00, Now #7

Finke's pipes go wet right after sixty feet, quickly followed by Copeland.

Left Lane: Johnny Ahten Runs 11.733/86.40, Now #12
Right Lane: Garrett Bateman Runs 5.355/270.21, Now #2

Ahten's car makes a slight move towards the wall and then goes silent. It didn't look hard enough not to stay with it, so something else must have been wrong.

Bateman runs straight and true right on down the track and into the new #2 spot.

Garrett Bateman's incremental times: 60ft-0.940 sec., 330ft-2.444, 660ft-3.576/221.92 mph, 1,000ft-4.531.

Left Lane: Shawn Cowie Runs 5.303/273.05, Now #1
Right Lane: Mark Taliaferro Runs 9.916/90.69, Now #11

Taliaferro's car makes a quick move towards the wall after rattling the tires and slows.

Cowie shows how to use a supercharged engine and flies on down the track and into the new top spot with ease.

Shawn Cowie's incremental times: 60ft-0.909 sec., 330ft-2.371, 660ft-3.509/217.49 mph, 1,000ft-4.479.

Left Lane: Jackie Fricke Runs 15.485/50.81, Now #17
Right Lane: Duane Shields Runs 5.618/262.08, Now #8

We'll get a bump spot from this pair.

Fricke smokes the tires hard at the green and is done early.

Shields's car is a little lazy off the line and just slided into the top half of the field.

Duane Shields' incremental times: 60ft-1.009 sec., 330ft-2.646, 660ft-3.796/219.19 mph, 1,000ft-4.770.

Left Lane: Joey Severance Runs 5.349/269.29, Now #4
Right Lane: Chris Demke Runs 5.277/269.67, Now #1

John Finke is on the bump spot at 13.402.

...and we save the best for last! Two clean passes, but one of the engines went bang near the lights.

Severance nails the tree with a great eighteen light, but Demke has the better incrementals going down the track. They are good enough for stealing the final top spot of the session and bragging rights for the day. Severance holds on for a top four spot.

4:29 p.m. Ashley Sanford is on the bump spot at 10.812.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink