Drag Race Central | Presented by Summitracing.com

Fri, 04 Sep 2015, 17:37 PM

Top Alcohol Dragster Qualifying Notes, Session #2

By Larry Sullivan

BROWNSBURG, Ind. - Notes from round 2 qualifying in Top Alcohol Dragster at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 61st annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. 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:

Left Lane: Rich McPhillips Runs 5.446/268.76, Now #4; No Prior Run

4:40 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 91 degrees, relative humidity 46 percent, barometer 29.07 inches, adjusted altitude 3,930 feet, track temperature 126 degrees.

McPhillips was a no-show for the first session, so this was his first run of the event. Ashley Sanford is on the bump spot at 5.924.

Nice first pass, right down the groove with no obvious problems.

Rich McPhillips' incremental times: 60ft-1.006 sec., 330ft-2.534, 660ft-3.668/221.63 mph, 1,000ft-4.621.

Now Jerry Powell is on the bump spot at 5.809.

Left Lane: Duane Shields Runs 5.344/269.78, Now #1; Best prior run: 10.053/131.22, Was #18
Right Lane: Buddy Domingue Runs 5.426/270.37, Now #5; No Prior Run

Domingue had a bad run in round one and bypassed the scales; Shields smoked the tires.

Both drivers got their stuff figured out and made nice, straight, strong runs.

Duane Shields' incremental times: 60ft-0.947 sec., 330ft-2.442, 660ft-3.563/223.25 mph, 1,000ft-4.518.
Buddy Domingue's incremental times: 60ft-0.986 sec., 330ft-2.508, 660ft-3.647/220.98 mph, 1,000ft-4.605.

Now Karen Stalba is on the bump spot at 5.781.

Left Lane: Jerry Powell Runs 5.743/245.27, Now #17; Best prior run: 5.809/246.98, Was #18
Right Lane: Cameron Ferre Runs 5.417/264.03, Now #4; Best prior run: 14.923/82.89, Was #23

Both had problems in the first session.

Like the others, they figured out what to change and came back with better runs. Ferre stepped right ujp to fourth with a nice run, but Powell still had problems in the first half of his run and he failed to get back into the field.

Now Noah Condo is on the bump spot at 5.617.

Left Lane: Karen Stalba Runs 5.792/237.88, Now #19; Best prior run: 5.781/248.52, Was #18
Right Lane: Michael Manners Runs 5.561/252.57, Now #13; Best prior run: 14.315/72.26, Was #23

Thes two are normally in the low thirties or better, but today's hot air and hot track continue to challenge the tuners. Manners had a good launch and a reasonable run, but Stalba lost a lot in the first half of her run and she failed to improve.

Michael Manners' incremental times: 60ft-0.964 sec., 330ft-2.501, 660ft-3.681/211.89 mph, 1,000ft-4.684.
Karen Stalba's incremental times: 60ft-1.000 sec., 330ft-2.614, 660ft-3.833/204.54 mph, 1,000ft-4.873.

Now Brandon Booher is on the bump spot at 5.573.

Left Lane: Brandon Booher Runs 5.494/265.80, Now #10; Best prior run: 5.573/264.29, Was #16
Right Lane: Joey Severance Runs 11.847/68.92, Now #23; Best prior run: 12.409/90.55, Was #23

Once again Severance spun the tires. He pedaled, spun again and lifted. Meanwhile, Booher went right down the groove and got off the bump spot.

Now Josh Hart is on the bump spot at 5.571.

Left Lane: Josh Hart Runs 5.826/222.40, Now #17; Best prior run: 5.571/257.19, Was #16
Right Lane: Shawn Cowie Runs 5.498/266.21, Now #11; Best prior run: 10.868/75.43, Was #22

Hart spun and lost time early in the run. Cowie got his setup figured out and made a nice run.

Josh Hart's incremental times: 60ft-1.004 sec., 330ft-2.610, 660ft-3.834/204.91 mph, 1,000ft-4.879.
Shawn Cowie's incremental times: 60ft-0.962 sec., 330ft-2.481, 660ft-3.658/211.33 mph, 1,000ft-4.654.

Now Matthew Cummings is on the bump spot at 5.565.

Left Lane: Matthew Cummings Runs 8.205/69.79, Now #16; Best prior run: 5.565/253.28, Was #16
Right Lane: Ashley Sanford No Time, Now #22; Best prior run: 5.924/207.66, Was #22

Sanford blipped the throttle and left early. Cummings popped the burst panel at half track.

Left Lane: Marty Thacker No Time, Now #14; Best prior run: 5.540/260.41, Was #14
Right Lane: Tripp Tatum Runs 10.056/79.79, Now #21; Best prior run: 5.782/217.49, Was #21

Thacker started leaving a trail as he neared half track, his car got loose and he clipped a timing reflector, DQ'ing the run. Tatum shook and slowed early in the run.

Left Lane: Jeff Veale Runs 5.479/266.90, Now #11; Best prior run: 5.521/264.96, Was #13
Right Lane: Noah Condo Runs 5.438/263.92, Now #7; Best prior run: 5.617/259.56, Was #18

Two nice, clean runs. Condo got in, in the top half, and veale moved up a couple spots.

Jeff Veale's incremental times: 60ft-0.996 sec., 330ft-2.531, 660ft-3.688/218.44 mph, 1,000ft-4.651.
Noah Condo's incremental times: 60ft-0.949 sec., 330ft-2.429, 660ft-3.589/213.74 mph, 1,000ft-4.588.

Now Michael Manners is on the bump spot at 5.561.

Left Lane: Bill Litton Runs 5.607/255.92, Now #14; Best prior run: 5.501/264.75, Was #14

Litton lost two spots on the ladder when the prior pair improved, then made a clean run. However, he ended upo a tenth slower than his first run and stayed 14th.

Left Lane: Randy Meyer Runs 5.530/263.20, Now #9; Best prior run: 5.455/266.79, Was #9

Meyer made a good run in the first session, but several drivers have bettered his time in this second session. Meyer made a clean run, but lost ground, slower in both ET and speed.

Randy Meyer's incremental times: 60ft-0.981 sec., 330ft-2.540, 660ft-3.706/215.68 mph, 1,000ft-4.687.

Left Lane: Chris Demke Runs 5.414/269.94, Now #4; Best prior run: 5.420/271.95, Was #5
Right Lane: Mia Tedesco Runs 5.423/266.16, Now #2; Best prior run: 5.354/268.49, Was #2

These two had good runs in the first session - Tedesco quickest and Demke fastest. Demke's first-round speed is still the fastest of the event, but Tedesco lost her spot atop the ladder to Shields' quicker run.

Demke improved his ET slightly, but Tedesco lost ground and failed to improve, staying second until tomorrow's session.

That's it, Duane Shields leads the field at 5.344 and Michael Manners is on the bump spot at 5.561.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink