Sun, 02 Oct 2016, 11:15 AM Top Alcohol Funny Car Round 1 Eliminations

By Jim Samuel

MOHNTON, Pa. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 32nd annual Dodge NHRA Nationals:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  440 Steve Burck                            13 Dan Pomponio                 
E1                   0.098  5.900 234.29     ****WINNER****  0.072  5.705 255.24
 Qualified:            #11 187                                  #6 317          

10:48 a.m. - Weather conditions: air temperature 65 degrees, relative humidity 82 percent, barometer 29.54 inches, adjusted altitude 1,549 feet, track temperature 66 degrees.

This is the first time in an NHRA national event that the Top Alcohol Funny Car field has been set on the basis of points rather than qualifying runs. There were no qualifying sessions because of bad weather Friday and Saturday.

This is the first time Burck and Pomponio have faced each other in eliminations.

Pomponio got off the starting line first and had a pretty clean run down the quarter mile. Burck was slower out of the gate, slower to 60 feet and then had some tire shake to fall further behind.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   34 Andy Bohl                             244 Joshua Haskett               
E1   ****WINNER****  0.123  5.581 264.23                     0.099  8.766  96.42
 Qualified:             #3 382                                 #14 103          

This is the first time Bohl and Haskett have faced each other in eliminations.

Haskett's car got off the starting line first, then made a hard move to the right toward the outer wall. He had to back off the throttle a bit while Bohl was making a strong run down the let lane. Bohl got the win and will have lane choice over Pomponio in the next round.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  799 Sean Bellemeur                         11 Matt Gill                    
E1   ****WINNER****  0.037  6.209 167.95                     0.105  8.975 101.41
 Qualified:             #9 200                                  #8 222          

Bellemeur had the quicker start but he had some shake and had to pedal a bit to make it down the quarter mile to take the win. Gill's car launched, bounced around a bit and made a move to the right. This was the first time Bellemeur and Gill have faced each other in eliminations.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 1002 Tyler Scott                          6345 Clint Thompson               
E1                   0.064  5.896 246.75     ****WINNER****  0.020  5.700 247.70
 Qualified:            #10 189                                  #7 316          

Thompson is 1 - 0 against Scott in prior events. Both drivers drove through some tire shake. Thompson got to the finish line first for the win.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  331 Tony Bogolo                          1625 Marie Ferriolo               
E1   ****WINNER****  1.534 21.390  49.48                           No Time      
 Qualified:             #5 336                                 #12 167          

Ferriolo did not answer the call. Bogolo took a leisurely green light and coasted down the track for the win.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  345 Phil Esz                                2 John Lombardo Jr.            
E1                   0.057  5.791 247.02     ****WINNER****  0.097  5.737 268.28
 Qualified:            #16 20                                   #1 681          

This was Esz's first start in TAFC at an NHRA national event. He got off the starting line first and led the race to 1,000 feet. Lombardo steadily gained ground and got by Esz for the win. He'll have lane choice over Bellemeur in the second round.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   16 John Headley                            7 Phil Burkart                 
E1                   0.251  6.880 115.70     ****WINNER****  0.089  5.562 264.86
 Qualified:            #13 147                                  #4 359          

This is the first time Headley and Burkart have faced each other in eliminations. Burkart got out of the gate first and led this one all the way. Headley's car got loose and moved toward the center line before he let out the chutes at 1,000 feet. Burkart will have lane choice over Bogolo in the next round.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   15 DJ Cox Jr.                           1996 John Fiorini                 
E1   ****WINNER****  0.040  5.858 228.73                     0.398  9.278  87.74
 Qualified:             #2 422                                 #15 32           

This is the first time Cox Jr. and Fiorini have faced each other in eliminations. Cox got out of the gate well before Fiorini and led this race from start to finish. He'll move on to the next round but gave up lane choice to Thompson.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink