Fri, 30 Oct 2015, 18:15 PM Top Alcohol Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Dave Rowe

LAS VEGAS - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 15th annual NHRA Toyota Nationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Right Lane: Robert Turner No Time, Now #1

2:38 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 80 degrees, relative humidity 22 percent, barometer 27.80 inches, adjusted altitude 4,257 feet, track temperature 98 degrees.

Turner does his burnout, comes to a stop and the engine goes silent, not sure why.

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Left Lane: Mike Drake No Time, Now #3
Right Lane: Chip Beverett No Time, Now #2

Both drivers begin to stage, bring up the RPM's, then both leave before the tree is activated.

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Left Lane: Hannes Wernhart No Time, Now #5
Right Lane: Chris Marshall Runs 6.287/237.75, Now #1

Wernhart is a no-show. Marshall slowed near the end of the run.

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Left Lane: Clint Thompson Runs 10.768/102.57, Now #3
Right Lane: Terry Ruckman Runs 6.557/244.74, Now #2

Ruckman strikes the tires at the hit, pedals, then gets the slicks to bite. Thompson gets about 20 feet out, rattles the tires and gives up on the run.

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Left Lane: Greg Hunter Runs 5.825/245.49, Now #1
Right Lane: Steve Gasparrelli Runs 8.174/143.09, Now #4

Gasparrelli comes off the line, makes a move toward the wall and had to back off the throttle. Hunter makes a clean, straight pass and takes the top spot for now.

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Left Lane: Nick Januik Runs 12.467/63.11, Now #7
Right Lane: Sean Bellemeur Runs 5.726/253.80, Now #1

Januik rattles the tires off the line, gets out of shape and has to give up on the run. Bellemeur makes a decent pass and takes the top spot for now.

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Left Lane: Ulf Leanders Runs 6.033/256.65, Now #4
Right Lane: Mickey Ferro Runs 5.581/253.28, Now #1

Ferro goes right down the groove with a decent pass and takes the pole for now. Leanders rattles the tires early and has to pedal once.

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Left Lane: Kris Hool Runs 5.652/256.55, Now #3
Right Lane: Jay Payne Runs 5.635/260.06, Now #2

A good side-by-side here, both right down the groove. Payne gets in the second spot for now, Hool right behind in third.

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Left Lane: Shane Westerfield Runs 5.771/245.32, Now #5
Right Lane: Todd Veney No Time, Now #17

Veney's crew fired the engine, it ran for just a second, then shuts off. Westerfield completes his burnout and pulls up to stage. Veney finally gets the car to fire but the starter waved him off and did not allow him to make a pass. Westerfield gets about 60 feet out and has to pedal. He was moving around through the rest of the run but stayed on the throttle and moves into the fifth spot for now.

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Left Lane: Doug Gordon Runs 5.580/261.27, Now #1
Right Lane: John Lombardo Jr. Runs 5.610/264.65, Now #3

Gordon goes right down the groove with a good pass and takes the top spot for now. Lombardo makes a decent pass to get in the field in the third spot for now.

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Left Lane: Jonnie Lindberg Runs 5.793/258.42, Now #9
Right Lane: Annie Whiteley Runs 5.680/261.47, Now #6

Whiteley shook the tires a little but drove through it for a decent pass. Lindberg had a decent short time but the run wasn't quite up to his standards.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink