Fri, 16 Oct 2015, 18:36 PM Top Alcohol Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #2

By Dave Rowe

ENNIS, Texas - Notes from round 2 qualifying in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 30th annual AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals 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:

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Left Lane: Nancy Matter No Time, Now #19; No Prior Run

5:06 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 88 degrees, relative humidity 36 percent, barometer 29.59 inches, adjusted altitude 2,918 feet, track temperature 105 degrees.

Matter starts the engine, rolls a few feet and the engine dies again.

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Left Lane: Jay Payne Runs 5.685/259.16, Now #12; Best prior run: 9.157/95.92, Was #17
Right Lane: Sean Bellemeur Runs 5.524/269.19, Now #3; Best prior run: 9.842/86.82, Was #18

Payne made a move to the right, then back to the left, then gets it under control and improves to the 12th spot. Bellemeur went right down the groove with a career best ET and moves up to the third spot for now.

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Left Lane: Steve Gasparrelli Runs 6.045/244.69, Now #17; Best prior run: 8.876/144.13, Was #18
Right Lane: Scott McVey Runs 5.940/219.33, Now #16; Best prior run: 8.812/129.37, Was #17

McVey makes a move to the right at the hit, tries to correct, the left wheel starts hopping, then the car finally moved back to the left and he went on through and improved enough to get in on the bump. Gasparrelli made a decent pass but did not improve enough to get in the show.

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Left Lane: Lance Van Hauen Runs 5.745/249.49, Now #15; Best prior run: 5.757/251.49, Was #14
Right Lane: Mike Doushgounian Runs 5.496/263.98, Now #2; Best prior run: 8.356/106.36, Was #18

Doushgounian made a little move to the right at the hit, steered it back to the groove and went on through with a good pass to get in the second spot for now. Van Hauen makes a clean pass but drops a spot in the order as Doushgounian goes around him.

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Left Lane: Kris Hool Runs 5.560/260.76, Now #5; Best prior run: 5.645/259.81, Was #12
Right Lane: Ro Yale Runs 5.687/232.59, Now #14; Best prior run: 5.891/246.80, Was #16

Hool goes right down the groove and moves up to the fifth spot for now. Yale makes a clean pass and moves up a couple of spots in the order.

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Left Lane: Bryan Brown Runs 5.644/253.80, Now #13; Best prior run: 5.621/255.82, Was #12
Right Lane: Jonnie Lindberg Runs 5.478/267.00, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.690/260.86, Was #15

Lindberg is able to keep the slicks settled down this time and goes right down the groove with an impressive pass to take the top spot for now. Brown makes a clean pass but doesn't improve and drops a spot in the order as Lindberg goes around him.

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Left Lane: Chris Foster No Time, Now #12; Best prior run: 5.614/257.78, Was #12
Right Lane: Brian Hough Runs 5.557/258.52, Now #6; Best prior run: 5.598/257.43, Was #11

Foster has problems after the burnout and clicks it off. Hough makes a good pass and moves up to the sixth spot in the order.

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Left Lane: Annie Whiteley Runs 5.528/264.23, Now #6; Best prior run: 5.589/263.87, Was #9
Right Lane: Todd Veney Runs 5.577/263.26, Now #10; Best prior run: 5.594/261.47, Was #11

Whiteley makes a clean, straight pass and improves to the sixth spot. Veney improves a little and moves up a spot in the order.

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Left Lane: Steve Harker Runs 5.458/266.06, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.509/267.53, Was #4
Right Lane: Shane Westerfield Runs 5.538/262.28, Now #7; Best prior run: 5.592/258.76, Was #11

Harker drifts to the right, then gets it back in the groove and goes on through with the quickest pass of the day so far to get into the top spot for now. Westerfield makes a clean pass and gets in the top half of the field.

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Left Lane: John Lombardo Jr. Runs 5.496/268.17, Now #3; Best prior run: 5.494/268.81, Was #3
Right Lane: Doug Gordon Runs 5.546/264.08, Now #8; Best prior run: 5.573/264.08, Was #10

Lombardo makes a clean pass but doesn't improve on his earlier run. Gordon makes his quickest pass of the day and moves up to the eighth spot to end this session.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink