Fri, 13 Sep 2019, 13:00 PM Top Alcohol Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Jim Samuel

MOHNTON, Pa. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 35th annual Mopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals presented by Pennzoil listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

---

Right Lane: Brian Gawlik Runs 5.614/259.61, Now #1

12:39 p.m. - Weather conditions: air temperature 68 degrees, relative humidity 68 percent, barometer 29.82 inches, adjusted altitude 1,351 feet, track temperature 80 degrees.

Gawlik opened Top Alcohol Funny Car qualifying with a straight run down the groove. This is his first NHRA national event.

---

Left Lane: Phil Burkart Runs 13.239/61.39, Now #2
Right Lane: John Headley No Time, Now #3

Headley was ready to do his burnout then his car shut down and his crew pushed him back out of the way. Burkart launched, the car shook and stuttered and he shut it down.

---

Left Lane: Fred Tigges Runs 5.581/262.64, Now #1
Right Lane: DJ Cox Jr. Runs 10.298/104.65, Now #3

Cox spun the rear tires when he launched. Tigges had a clean run down the groove.

---

Left Lane: Tony Bogolo Runs 5.807/255.29, Now #3
Right Lane: Dan Pomponio No Time, Now #6

Pomponio did his burnout and staged. When the light turned green, his car did not move. Bogolo went down the track but was moving in and out of the groove the whole way.

---

Left Lane: Shane Westerfield Runs 5.502/270.27, Now #1
Right Lane: Chris Marshall Runs 5.745/225.33, Now #4

Marshall's car bounced a lot it went down the quarter mile. Westerfield had a good run to take the top spot in the order for now.

---

Left Lane: Sean Bellemeur Runs 5.619/268.33, Now #5
Right Lane: Brian Hough Runs 5.400/270.70, Now #1

Bellemeur had some tire shake for the first couple hundred feet of his run. Hough had a clean run down the groove to take the top spot for now.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink