Thu, 11 Feb 2016, 15:13 PM Competition Eliminator Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By David Gerard

POMONA, Calif. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Competition Eliminator at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 56th annual Circle K NHRA Winternationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, amount over/under index, and position in order following run, class and class index:

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Left Lane: Scott Hedlund Runs 7.744/174.62/-0.706, Now #1 A/SM Index: 8.45
Right Lane: Brad Brewer No Time, Now #2 B/A Index: 7.66

11:47 a.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 80 degrees, relative humidity 25 percent, barometer 29.05 inches, adjusted altitude 2,786 feet, track temperature 98 degrees.

Great weather to start off the first Comp session of the year.

Brewer launches and breaks. He motors on down the track to the first turnout and turns off early with no time.

Huge pass for Hedlund to set the mark for the rest of the field.

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Left Lane: Scott McClay Runs 7.279/180.84/-0.651, Now #2 C/ED Index: 7.93
Right Lane: Lucky Snyder Runs 8.802/122.33/0.162, Now #3 F/A Index: 8.64

Great pass for McClay with the new indexes.

Snyder leave hard and then slows.

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Left Lane: Ross Wilson Runs 8.076/168.68/-0.584, Now #3 B/SM Index: 8.66
Right Lane: Ed Sigmon Runs 8.516/137.60/-0.534, Now #4 C/SR Index: 9.05

Wilson makes a good run to get a number on the boards.

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Left Lane: Dean Carter Runs 6.932/191.67/-0.628, Now #3 B/ND Index: 7.56
Right Lane: Ralph Van Paepeghem Runs 7.547/180.57/-0.373, Now #6 A/EA Index: 7.92

Carter goes for the light and misses. He still makes a strong pass into the new #3 spot.

Clean pass for Van Paepeghem.

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Left Lane: Tony Mandella Runs 8.399/150.82/-0.641, Now #3 C/TA Index: 9.04
Right Lane: Joshua Lee Runs 8.940/130.80/-0.630, Now #4 H/EA Index: 9.57

Two more clean passes into the top half of the field.

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Left Lane: Jeff Lane Runs 8.121/167.32/-0.589, Now #6 C/SMA Index: 8.71
Right Lane: Doug Lambeck Runs 8.479/158.93/-0.501, Now #9 D/SMA Index: 8.98

12:01 p.m. A brief delay for a little track work and we are back to racing.

Two clean passes.

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Left Lane: Dan Fletcher Runs 8.810/98.90/0.110, Now #12 C/EA Index: 8.70
Right Lane: Alan Ellis Runs 6.601/206.32/-0.629, Now #5 A/AP Index: 7.23

Fletcher struggles and slows on the top end.

Clean pass for Ellis.

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Right Lane: Ray Skillman Runs 7.503/180.84/-0.767, Now #1 B/EA Index: 8.27

Whoa! Big numbers to wrap up the session!

12:07 p.m. He takes over the top spot for now. Field not filled, no bump spot.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink