Sun, 06 Sep 2015, 10:52 AM Top Alcohol Dragster Qualifying Notes, Final Session |
By Larry Sullivan |
BROWNSBURG, Ind. - Notes from final, round 4 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: Karen Stalba Runs 5.445/264.55, Now #17; Best prior run: 5.781/248.52, Was #22
9:22 a.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 74 degrees, relative humidity 71 percent, barometer 29.20 inches, adjusted altitude 2,651 feet, track temperature 82 degrees.
If the just-completed Top Alcohol Funny Car
session is any guide, we should see some awesome runs in this session. Ashley Sanford is on the bump spot at 5.440.
Stalba improved by over three tenths, just missed the field.
Karen Stalba's incremental times: 60ft-0.954
sec., 330ft-2.474, 660ft-3.627/216.72 mph, 1,000ft-4.603.
Left Lane: Jerry Powell Runs 18.361/44.82, Now #23; Best prior run: 5.743/245.27, Was #22
Right Lane: Joey Severance Runs 5.357/271.35, Now #8; Best prior run: 6.523/151.12, Was #23
Severance hasn't gotten to the finish line under power in his first three tries. Powell had two full passes in three tires, but his best was three tenths slower than the bump time.
Powell boiled the hides. Severance got his problems sorted out and made a very nice run.
Joey Severance's incremental times: 60ft-0.942 sec., 330ft-2.425, 660ft-3.561/217.91 mph, 1,000ft-4.531.
Now Shawn Cowie is on the bump spot at 5.439.
Left Lane: Matthew Cummings Runs 5.530/254.42, Now #22; Best prior run: 5.565/253.28, Was #22
Right Lane: Michael Manners Runs 5.478/265.06, Now #19; Best prior run: 5.448/250.46, Was #19
Cummings made his best pass of the event, Manners failed to improve. Neither will be on the ladder for this afternoon's eliminations.
Left Lane: Bill Litton Runs 5.403/264.86, Now #13; Best prior run: 5.501/264.75, Was #21
Right Lane: Ashley Sanford Runs 5.441/266.64, Now #18; Best prior run: 5.440/265.27, Was #17
Litton improved almost a tenth and bumped into the field. Sanford ran a thousandth slower than her previous best here and is now in the second-alternate position.
Bill Litton's incremental times: 60ft-0.947 sec., 330ft-2.465, 660ft-3.604/220.55 mph, 1,000ft-4.567.
Ashley Sanford's incremental times: 60ft-0.955 sec., 330ft-2.506, 660ft-3.656/219.83 mph, 1,000ft-4.617.
Now Noah Condo is on the bump spot at 5.438.
Left Lane: Josh Hart Runs 5.422/259.66, Now #16; Best prior run: 5.466/259.36, Was #21
Right Lane: Shawn Cowie Runs 5.396/267.85, Now #12; Best prior run: 5.439/265.17, Was #17
Both bumped into the field, Hart now on the bump spot. That bumped Condo and Brandon Booher.
Josh Hart's incremental times: 60ft-0.955 sec., 330ft-2.463, 660ft-3.604/219.51 mph, 1,000ft-4.574.
Shawn Cowie's incremental times: 60ft-0.931 sec., 330ft-2.405, 660ft-3.570/213.03 mph, 1,000ft-4.558.
Left Lane: Brandon Booher Runs 5.397/265.80, Now #13; Best prior run: 5.424/266.48, Was #17
Right Lane: Noah Condo Runs 5.442/263.77, Now #18; Best prior run: 5.438/263.92, Was #18
These two were just bumped from the field. Booher got back in, Condo did not. The cars still in the lanes are already in the field, so bumping is over.
Brandon Booher's incremental times: 60ft-0.928 sec., 330ft-2.414, 660ft-3.574/213.81 mph, 1,000ft-4.559.
Noah Condo's incremental times: 60ft-0.969 sec., 330ft-2.442, 660ft-3.599/213.81 mph, 1,000ft-4.594.
Now Cameron Ferre is on the bump spot at 5.417. As noted, there's nobody left who can bump him out.
Left Lane: Marty Thacker Runs 5.408/265.33, Now #15; Best prior run: 5.397/265.01, Was #14
Right Lane: Cameron Ferre Runs 5.274/274.00, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.417/264.03, Was #16
Ferre's car had some strange flames out of the headers on the top end, but it held together ling enough to vault him from #16 to #1. Thacker failed to improve, will start from the #15 spot. Bill Litton is on the bump spot at 5.403, six hundredths slower than the quickest 16-car TAD field ever.
Marty Thacker's incremental times: 60ft-0.954 sec., 330ft-2.423, 660ft-3.575/214.55 mph, 1,000ft-4.564.
Cameron Ferre's incremental times: 60ft-0.938 sec., 330ft-2.417, 660ft-3.530/225.67 mph, 1,000ft-4.466.
Left Lane: Jeff Veale Runs 15.351/63.27, Now #11; Best prior run: 5.366/276.13, Was #10
Right Lane: Buddy Domingue Runs 5.310/275.84, Now #5; Best prior run: 5.379/274.66, Was #11
Veale ran top speed of the meet yesterday, but he won't improve today, spinning the tires hard, then coasting through, the engine silent. Domingue made a nice run to jump into the top half of the field.
Buddy Domingue's incremental times: 60ft-0.971 sec., 330ft-2.458, 660ft-3.564/226.20 mph, 1,000ft-4.501.
Left Lane: Duane Shields Runs 5.249/271.57, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.344/269.78, Was #8
Right Lane: Mia Tedesco Runs 5.346/268.54, Now #9; Best prior run: 5.354/268.49, Was #9
Shields made a very nice run, improved a tenth and he's now #1. Tedesco improved slightly, stayed in the #9 spot.
Duane Shields' incremental times: 60ft-0.928 sec., 330ft-2.399, 660ft-3.497/227.11 mph, 1,000ft-4.435.
Mia Tedesco's incremental times: 60ft-0.944 sec., 330ft-2.433, 660ft-3.558/222.66 mph, 1,000ft-4.517.
Left Lane: Randy Meyer Runs 5.183/271.90, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.343/267.53, Was #8
Right Lane: Jared Dreher Runs 5.290/267.06, Now #5; Best prior run: 5.338/262.39, Was #7
Wow! Meyer has been cranking off some awesome runs lately and this was one of them. His speed isn't in contention for top speed of the meet, but he's #1 by over five hundredths of a second and the only driver in the 'teens.
Dreher made an impressive run in the other lane, but he was a tenth of a second back at the stripe.
Randy Meyer's incremental times: 60ft-0.920 sec., 330ft-2.360, 660ft-3.441/230.76 mph, 1,000ft-4.370.
Jared Dreher's incremental times: 60ft-0.920 sec., 330ft-2.394, 660ft-3.505/224.28 mph, 1,000ft-4.459.
Left Lane: Rich McPhillips Runs 5.263/274.83, Now #3; Best prior run: 5.308/272.72, Was #7
Right Lane: Chris Demke Runs 5.263/272.23, Now #4; Best prior run: 5.297/271.52, Was #6
Two more very good runs. Identical elapsed times, McPhillips getting the position on speed.
Rich McPhillips' incremental times: 60ft-0.938 sec., 330ft-2.409, 660ft-3.514/226.51 mph, 1,000ft-4.453.
Chris Demke's incremental times: 60ft-0.920 sec., 330ft-2.343, 660ft-3.469/219.72 mph, 1,000ft-4.438.
Right Lane: Tripp Tatum Runs 6.204/170.86, Now #6; Best prior run: 5.289/267.37, Was #6
Tatum is the final car of the session. Robin Samsel qualified in the field in the first session, has not made a run since then - but he's not broken.
Tatum launched, shook, pedaled and legged it through.
Copyright ©2026 AUTOSALES INC, dba Summit Racing Equipment
Ready to take your order at 1-800-230-3030 | Customer Service 1-800-517-1035
Ready to take your order at 1-800-230-3030 | Customer Service 1-800-517-1035