Thu, 11 Feb 2016, 19:01 PM Top Alcohol Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #1 |
By Larry Sullivan |
POMONA, Calif. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 56th annual Circle K NHRA Winternationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:
Left Lane: Steven Ham Runs 5.637/253.85, Now #1
3:28 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 83 degrees, relative humidity 27 percent, barometer 28.97 inches, adjusted altitude 3,113 feet, track temperature 104 degrees.
Ham is visiting from Queensland, Australia, and
made a nice opening run, with just a little wheel chatter on the launch. The car settled down quickly and went right
down the middle of the groove.
Steven Ham's incremental times: 60ft-0.993 sec., 330ft-2.548, 660ft-3.748/206.45
mph, 1,000ft-4.768.
Left Lane: Mike Drake Runs 18.534/21.24, Now #3
Right Lane: Bret Williamson Runs 6.093/178.92, Now #2
Drake got the yips, launched early, then popped the burst panel, deploying the chutes before the 330-foot marker. He managed to reach the finish line, stopping just past it. Williamson lost some time early in the run with tire shake, slowed on the top end.
Left Lane: Chip Beverett No Time, Now #5
Right Lane: Tony Bartone Runs 10.559/108.02, Now #3
Beverett never did get the car staged and was timed out. bartone launched, shook, backpedaled and threw in the towel.
Left Lane: Hannes Wernhart Runs 5.739/250.92, Now #2
Right Lane: Clint Thompson Runs 12.822/75.69, Now #5
Thompson shook and smoked the tires. Wernhart's car kept going left and he got close to the wall before it started going back to the right, he didn't appear to lift.
Left Lane: Terry Ruckman Runs 5.617/261.12, Now #1
Right Lane: Mike Doushgounian Runs 5.854/255.97, Now #4
Doushgounian shook and backpedaled quickly to take it down. Ruckman's car made a move to the left, but he kept it close to the groove to take over the top spot.
Terry Ruckman's incremental times: 60ft-0.977 sec., 330ft-2.530, 660ft-3.734/205.94 mph, 1,000ft-4.755.
Mike Doushgounian's incremental times: 60ft-1.005 sec., 330ft-2.673, 660ft-3.932/200.26 mph, 1,000ft-4.978.
Left Lane: Steve Gasparrelli Runs 6.079/249.35, Now #6
Right Lane: Ulf Leanders Runs 5.640/261.32, Now #3
Gasparrelli shook and backpedaled to tame it down. Leanders made a nice-looking run, moved into third on the list.
Steve Gasparrelli's incremental times: 60ft-0.964 sec., 330ft-2.758, 660ft-4.102/192.08 mph, 1,000ft-5.180.
Ulf Leanders' incremental times: 60ft-0.986 sec., 330ft-2.552, 660ft-3.759/206.80 mph, 1,000ft-4.780.
Left Lane: Sean Bellemeur Runs 5.795/252.71, Now #5
Right Lane: Nick Januik Runs 5.932/239.82, Now #7
Looked like Bellemeur did a quick pedal job about 200 feet out. Januik had some early tire shake, drove through it, but was out of the throttle early.
Sean Bellemeur's incremental times: 60ft-0.986 sec., 330ft-2.635, 660ft-3.873/201.79 mph, 1,000ft-4.914.
Nick Januik's incremental times: 60ft-1.013 sec., 330ft-2.617, 660ft-3.890/192.60 mph, 1,000ft-4.994.
Left Lane: Brian Hough Runs 5.570/262.18, Now #1
Right Lane: Jay Payne Runs 5.870/257.48, Now #8
Nice run by Hough, no visible problems anywhere. Payne shook early and backpedaled.
Brian Hough's incremental times: 60ft-0.953 sec., 330ft-2.502, 660ft-3.695/207.78 mph, 1,000ft-4.712.
Jay Payne's incremental times: 60ft-1.005 sec., 330ft-2.681, 660ft-3.947/199.02 mph, 1,000ft-4.995.
Left Lane: Shane Westerfield Runs 5.606/261.32, Now #3
Right Lane: Doug Gordon Runs 5.595/265.48, Now #2
Two nice runs, side-by-side all the way.
Shane Westerfield's incremental times: 60ft-0.966 sec., 330ft-2.537, 660ft-3.741/206.86 mph, 1,000ft-4.753.
Doug Gordon's incremental times: 60ft-0.955 sec., 330ft-2.530, 660ft-3.736/207.18 mph, 1,000ft-4.746.
Left Lane: John Lombardo Jr. Runs 5.462/271.35, Now #1
Right Lane: Jonnie Lindberg Runs 5.484/259.36, Now #2
The top two cars from the 2015 Lucas Oil Series come up to finish the round, with Mike Drake on the bump spot at 18.534. They made the two quickest runs of the session, by about a tenth, to take over the top two spots.
Now Tony Bartone is on the bump spot at 10.559.
John Lombardo Jr.'s incremental times: 60ft-0.943 sec., 330ft-2.481, 660ft-3.647/213.16 mph, 1,000ft-4.631.
Jonnie Lindberg's incremental times: 60ft-0.953 sec., 330ft-2.468, 660ft-3.641/211.10 mph, 1,000ft-4.636.
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