Fri, 12 Feb 2016, 18:32 PM Top Alcohol Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #2

By Larry Sullivan

POMONA, Calif. - Notes from round 2 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 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: Clint Thompson Runs 6.108/165.46, Now #16; Best prior run: 12.822/75.69, Was #17
Right Lane: Chip Beverett No Time, Now #19; No Prior Run

3:02 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 84 degrees, relative humidity 24 percent, barometer 28.94 inches, adjusted altitude 3,194 feet, track temperature 109 degrees.

Tony Bartone is on the bump spot at 10.559.

Beverett was shut off after the burnout. Thompson tried to make a full pass, "blew it up" at 1,000 feet with a lot of smoke, no oil.

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Left Lane: Tony Bartone No Time, Now #17; Best prior run: 10.559/108.02, Was #17
Right Lane: Steve Gasparrelli Runs 8.160/113.06, Now #14; Best prior run: 6.079/249.35, Was #14

Bartone went steadily left and bounced off the wall about 300 feet out, DQ'ing the run. Gasparrelli struggled to get to half track and coasted through.

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Left Lane: Bret Williamson Runs 11.133/75.05, Now #15; Best prior run: 6.093/178.92, Was #15
Right Lane: Sean Bellemeur Runs 5.641/258.22, Now #9; Best prior run: 5.795/252.71, Was #10

Williamson shook early and lifted. Nice run by Bellemeur.

Sean Bellemeur's incremental times: 60ft-0.970 sec., 330ft-2.521, 660ft-3.735/203.77 mph, 1,000ft-4.768.

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Left Lane: Nick Januik Runs 5.717/253.47, Now #10; Best prior run: 5.932/239.82, Was #13
Right Lane: Hannes Wernhart Runs 14.512/64.16, Now #11; Best prior run: 5.739/250.92, Was #10

Wernhart was up in smoke immediately, the car making a hard left turn. Januik improved over his run yesterday with no apparent problems.

Nick Januik's incremental times: 60ft-0.970 sec., 330ft-2.541, 660ft-3.779/199.61 mph, 1,000ft-4.828.

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Left Lane: Jay Payne Runs 5.615/262.90, Now #7; Best prior run: 5.870/257.48, Was #13
Right Lane: Steven Ham Runs 5.600/256.26, Now #5; Best prior run: 5.637/253.85, Was #7

Nice side-by-side show for the Friday crowd, the two cars were just a bit loose, but stayed in the groove.

Jay Payne's incremental times: 60ft-0.975 sec., 330ft-2.536, 660ft-3.740/206.29 mph, 1,000ft-4.758.
Steven Ham's incremental times: 60ft-0.972 sec., 330ft-2.511, 660ft-3.710/206.39 mph, 1,000ft-4.730.

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Left Lane: Mike Doushgounian Runs 5.776/204.42, Now #13; Best prior run: 5.854/255.97, Was #13
Right Lane: Terry Ruckman Runs 10.539/79.97, Now #8; Best prior run: 5.617/261.12, Was #8

Doushgounian made a good run until just past the 1,000-foot marker, then there was a Bang and lots of white smoke. Ruckman shook and lost traction early.

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Left Lane: Ulf Leanders Runs 5.629/261.72, Now #9; Best prior run: 5.640/261.32, Was #9
Right Lane: Shane Westerfield Runs 15.092/53.82, Now #6; Best prior run: 5.606/261.32, Was #6

Westerfield smoked the tires and coasted through. Leanders made a nice-looking run, improved slightly over his first.

Ulf Leanders' incremental times: 60ft-0.982 sec., 330ft-2.538, 660ft-3.744/207.11 mph, 1,000ft-4.767.

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Left Lane: Doug Gordon Runs 5.519/265.38, Now #3; Best prior run: 5.595/265.48, Was #4
Right Lane: Brian Hough Runs 6.703/145.97, Now #4; Best prior run: 5.570/262.18, Was #3

Very nice effort for Gordon, moving up one spot on the ladder. Hough had early problems and lost the spot to Gordon.

Doug Gordon's incremental times: 60ft-0.941 sec., 330ft-2.477, 660ft-3.663/208.62 mph, 1,000ft-4.670.

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Left Lane: Jonnie Lindberg Runs 5.474/267.64, Now #2; Best prior run: 5.484/259.36, Was #2
Right Lane: John Lombardo Jr. Runs 9.543/91.27, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.462/271.35, Was #1

Final pair. Lombardo got way right of the groove, but stayed off the wall. Another nice run by Lindberg, improving slightly, but he stayed in the #2 spot.

Jonnie Lindberg's incremental times: 60ft-0.953 sec., 330ft-2.474, 660ft-3.645/212.39 mph, 1,000ft-4.635.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink