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Fri, 10 Nov 2017, 17:52 PM

Top Alcohol Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #2

By David Gerard

POMONA, Calif. - Notes from round 2 qualifying in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 53rd annual Auto Club NHRA Finals 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:

Left Lane: Nick Januik Runs 7.484/107.20, Now #13; Best prior run: 14.876/70.08, Was #16
Right Lane: Hannes Wernhart Runs 6.074/238.26, Now #10; No Prior Run

2:12 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 70 degrees, relative humidity 52 percent, barometer 28.83 inches, adjusted altitude 2,592 feet, track temperature 97 degrees.

Annie Whiteley is number one at 5.429 and Nick Januik is on the bump spot at 14.876.

Lots driving around and darting, as the cars go down the track. Straight would likely be quicker!

Wernhart makes his first pass and he gets to near the finish line under power to move into the #10 spot.

Januik moves off the bump on a broken pass into the #13 spot.

Hannes Wernhart's incremental times: 60ft-0.998 sec., 330ft-2.656, 660ft-3.988/184.42 mph, 1,000ft-5.122.

Left Lane: Sean Bellemeur Runs 5.768/259.61, Now #9; Best prior run: 10.945/97.40, Was #17
Right Lane: Robert Turner Runs 11.658/75.66, Now #18; Best prior run: 16.224/41.63, Was #18

A bunch of shake and spin off the line for Turner.

Bellemeur drives through a lot of chatter off the line and had to work hard to drive a wandering funny cara to the finish line. It was out of the groove and driving towards the wall around the 330 lights and he had his hands full to move into the field into the #9 spot.

Sean Bellemeur's incremental times: 60ft-0.967 sec., 330ft-2.627, 660ft-3.862/201.85 mph, 1,000ft-4.899.

Left Lane: Shane Westerfield Runs 5.531/268.54, Now #4; Best prior run: 10.281/87.27, Was #16
Right Lane: Terry Ruckman Runs 10.630/80.99, Now #17; Best prior run: 10.736/79.93, Was #17

Shane Westerfield is on the bump spot at 10.281. He gets the power to the ground this session and runs strong into the current top four.

Ruckman shakes, spins, and lifts early.

Shane Westerfield's incremental times: 60ft-0.962 sec., 330ft-2.511, 660ft-3.693/210.87 mph, 1,000ft-4.691.

Left Lane: Steve Gasparrelli Runs 12.954/88.25, Now #14; Best prior run: 7.015/183.10, Was #14
Right Lane: Jay Payne Runs 9.993/111.03, Now #16; Best prior run: 8.246/108.47, Was #16

Jay Payne is on the bump spot at 8.246.

Two broken runs, almost identical shake and spin.

Gasparrelli Camaro makes a hard move towards the wall and he has to horse it back into the lane.

Left Lane: Doug Gordon Runs 5.584/268.87, Now #6; Best prior run: 6.243/173.23, Was #13
Right Lane: Ray Martin Runs 5.636/253.90, Now #10; Best prior run: 5.637/260.51, Was #9

Gordon is away first and then looked to have done a quick pedal slap right after the tree. That's costly, but he still gets near a full pass to move seven spots up the ladder into the current #6 pot.

Martin's Monte Carlo was on a clean pass until night before the lights, where there is a big plume of smoke out from underneath the car. He moves up one spot.

Doug Gordon's incremental times: 60ft-0.926 sec., 330ft-2.529, 660ft-3.738/207.98 mph, 1,000ft-4.744.
Ray Martin's incremental times: 60ft-0.970 sec., 330ft-2.518, 660ft-3.723/204.98 mph, 1,000ft-4.756.

Left Lane: Bret Williamson Runs 5.772/253.71, Now #12; Best prior run: 6.012/180.74, Was #12
Right Lane: Chris Marshall Runs 8.221/80.67, Now #9; Best prior run: 5.616/265.43, Was #9

Marshall had better numbers until after the 330 lights. The blower goes BOOM and the chutes coe out.

Williamson on a much better pass and makes his fastest pass of the season. He stays #12.

Bret Williamson's incremental times: 60ft-0.967 sec., 330ft-2.595, 660ft-3.834/200.77 mph, 1,000ft-4.885.

Left Lane: Chip Beverett No Time, Now #6; Best prior run: 5.563/263.46, Was #5
Right Lane: John Lombardo Jr. Runs 5.490/270.43, Now #3; Best prior run: 5.614/222.62, Was #8

Whoa! Beverett leaves first and hard. He has the Monte Carlo drive hard towards the center line. He nails the 330 reflector on the way across and the the first 660 reflector on the way back across. He way close to the back of Lombardo's car before getting his car to start back to his lane.

Lombardo didn't see him and was back out in front by then and powers down the track into the #6 position.

John Lombardo Jr.'s incremental times: 60ft-0.959 sec., 330ft-2.437, 660ft-3.667/212.23 mph, 1,000ft-4.656.

2:29 p.m.

Left Lane: Brian Hough Runs 6.540/154.53, Now #4; Best prior run: 5.530/266.79, Was #4
Right Lane: Kris Hool No Time, Now #8; Best prior run: 5.603/263.31, Was #8

2:39 p.m. Back to qualifying.

Hool does a nice burnout, but can't get the car into reverse out past the 330 lights. He finally has to get out of the car and over the guardrail.

Hough's Camaro shakes off the line. He tries to pedal to no avail and has to give it up.

Left Lane: Ulf Leanders Runs 5.487/266.74, Now #2; Best prior run: 5.482/267.00, Was #2
Right Lane: Annie Whiteley Runs 5.414/273.27, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.439/272.61, Was #1

A great side by side pair to wrap up the session.

It looked closer for a while, as Leanders gets away first and runs close to his prior best.

Whiteley has the power though and drives right on by with a stronger ET and an even faster speed.

Ulf Leanders' incremental times: 60ft-0.966 sec., 330ft-2.478, 660ft-3.649/212.03 mph, 1,000ft-4.645.
Annie Whiteley's incremental times: 60ft-0.942 sec., 330ft-2.458, 660ft-3.616/214.93 mph, 1,000ft-4.591.

2:46 p.m. Jay Payne is on the bump spot at 8.246.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink