Thu, 07 Feb 2019, 19:27 PM Top Alcohol Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By David Gerard

POMONA, Calif. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 59th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals presented by ProtectTheHarvest.com listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Right Lane: Bret Williamson Runs 6.791/230.88, Now #1

4:03 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 66 degrees, relative humidity 21 percent, barometer 29.03 inches, adjusted altitude 1,815 feet, track temperature 78 degrees.

Williamson will start the session with a single, due to the odd number of entries!

He drives into a little tire shake just after the 60 foot light and does a quick pedal pump. He runs just a little further down the track before clicking it early!

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Left Lane: Hannes Wernhart Runs 6.177/209.79, Now #1
Right Lane: Steve Gasparrelli Runs 7.359/179.30, Now #3

Wernhart's Mustang goes right, and then left ,and he finally gets it straightened out, but clicks it early.

Gasparrelli, like Williamson, has some shake early, pedals, and clicks it off early too.

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Left Lane: Nick Januik Runs 13.154/103.98, Now #5
Right Lane: Ray Martin Runs 7.843/139.59, Now #4

Dueling shake and spin! Januik is done first, quickly followed by Martin.

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Left Lane: Ulf Leanders Runs 5.476/266.74, Now #1
Right Lane: Brian Hough Runs 5.493/267.64, Now #2

OKAY! We finally get a full pass in both lanes.

They left together and ran together right on down the tack to set a mark for the rest of the field.

Leanders is number one and Hough is number two!

Ulf Leanders' incremental times: 60ft-0.962 sec., 330ft-2.462, 660ft-3.632/211.33 mph, 1,000ft-4.632.
Brian Hough's incremental times: 60ft-0.957 sec., 330ft-2.484, 660ft-3.657/211.59 mph, 1,000ft-4.651.

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Left Lane: Jay Payne Runs 5.616/243.28, Now #4
Right Lane: Doug Gordon Runs 5.444/270.54, Now #1

Two more strong passes and Gordon takes the top spot away with both Speed and ET.

Payne was right behind him and takes over #4 for now.

Jay Payne's incremental times: 60ft-1.010 sec., 330ft-2.561, 660ft-3.741/210.60 mph, 1,000ft-4.742.
Doug Gordon's incremental times: 60ft-0.933 sec., 330ft-2.447, 660ft-3.619/212.33 mph, 1,000ft-4.610.

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Left Lane: Chris Marshall No Time, Now #11
Right Lane: Shane Westerfield Runs 5.479/271.02, Now #3

Last pair!

Westerfield has taken over driving chores from Lombardo and powers right on down the track into the final top four for today in the number three spot.

Marshall's day went from bad to worse, as he leaves before the green and then has a ton of tire shake. The Camaro gets loose and makes a hard move towards the center line and he has to lift.

Shane Westerfield's incremental times: 60ft-0.941 sec., 330ft-2.487, 660ft-3.658/213.13 mph, 1,000ft-4.646.

4:22 p.m. Doug Gordon is number one at 5.444 and Field not filled, no bump spot.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink