Sun, 15 Oct 2017, 13:46 PM Top Alcohol Funny Car Round 2 Eliminations

By Dave Rowe

ENNIS, Texas - Results of round 2 eliminations in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 32nd annual AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  729 Nick Januik                           799 Sean Bellemeur               
E2   ****WINNER****  0.058  5.646 261.47                     0.073  7.157 143.70
 Prior rounds:
E1    (S Gasparrell) 0.031  5.523 261.72      (R Martin    ) 0.019  5.487 265.69
 Qualified:             #7  5.538 261.83                        #2  5.478 265.85

Januik and Bellemeur have each won 1 times against the other in prior events.

Bellemeur hits the throttle and goes into severe tire shake. The car makes a move to the right, then back to the left and he has to back off the throttle. Januik goes right down the groove with a decent pass to take the win.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  800 Ulf Leanders                            8 Annie Whiteley               
E2                   0.064  5.473 267.64     ****WINNER****  0.139  5.397 274.27
 Prior rounds:
E1    (J Jones     ) 0.031  5.570 255.19      (K Hool      ) 0.102  5.496 269.24
 Qualified:             #3  5.497 265.43                        #6  5.536 269.40

Leanders is 2 - 1 against Whiteley in prior events.

Leanders gets out of the gate first, stays in front to the 1000 foot mark, then Whiteley goes around and takes the stripe for the win.

Whiteley's ET is the third quickest in history and her speed is the fifth fastest.

Annie Whiteley's incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.056), 330 ft(-0.053), 660ft(-0.040), 1,000ft(-0.018). MOV: 0.0012 seconds (approximately 6 inches).

Whiteley will have lane choice over Januik in the next round.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    4 Shane Westerfield                       3 John Lombardo Jr.            
E2   ****WINNER****  0.046  5.445 270.43                     0.057  5.544 267.96
 Prior rounds:
E1    (B Brown     ) 0.046  5.533 267.00      (A Bohl      ) 0.079  5.517 268.44
 Qualified:             #4  5.524 267.37                        #5  5.529 269.08

Westerfield and Lombardo Jr. have each won 4 times against the other in prior events.

Westerfield gets the holeshot, starts pulling away, and extends his lead all the way through the run.

Shane Westerfield's incremental margins: 60ft(0.027), 330 ft(0.093), 660ft(0.107), 1,000ft(0.107). MOV: 0.1106 seconds (approximately 43 feet).

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   77 Jay Payne                               2 Doug Gordon                  
E2                   0.063  5.462 268.49     ****WINNER****  0.101  5.407 271.90
 Prior rounds:
E1    (T Ruckman   ) 0.062  5.569 263.77      (M Billington) 0.088  5.468 268.49
 Qualified:             #9  5.574 262.33                        #1  5.472 268.76

Payne gets out of the gate first, stays in front to half track, then Gordon powers by with a career best run to pull away for the win.

Gordon's ET is the tenth quickest ET in TAFC history.

Gordon will have lane choice over Westerfield in the next round.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink