Fri, 18 Oct 2019, 14:37 PM Top Alcohol Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Dave Rowe

ENNIS, Texas - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 34th annual AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

---

Right Lane: Steve Burck Runs 5.620/265.90, Now #1

1:18 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 78 degrees, relative humidity 35 percent, barometer 29.25 inches, adjusted altitude 2,525 feet, track temperature 109 degrees.

Burck goes down the groove with a nice pass out of the box to set the early pace.

---

Left Lane: Kyle Smith Runs 5.609/254.86, Now #1
Right Lane: Steve Gasparrelli Runs 7.776/133.95, Now #3

Smith goes right down the groove with the quickest pass of his career to take the early pole.

Kyle Smith's incremental times: 60ft-0.953 sec., 330ft-2.498, 660ft-3.704/206.07 mph, 1,000ft-4.736.

Gasparrelli rattles the tires and has to back off the throttle. he gets back on it for a second before giving up on the run.

---

Left Lane: Bryan Brown Runs 5.899/258.96, Now #4
Right Lane: Jay Payne Runs 5.488/269.13, Now #1

Brown rattles the tires at the hit and has to pedal. He recovers but is well off of the pace. Payne was moving around a little early in the run but makes a good pass to take the top spot for now.

---

Left Lane: Doug Gordon Runs 30.353/39.50, Now #7
Right Lane: Annie Whiteley Runs 11.127/75.40, Now #6

0-for-2 on this one. Gordon rattles the tires at the hit and is off the throttle quickly. Whiteley gets a little further before giving up on the run.

---

Left Lane: Shane Westerfield Runs 5.480/270.05, Now #1
Right Lane: Chris Marshall Runs 5.562/265.59, Now #3

Westerfield goes down the groove with the quickest pass of the round so far to take the top spot for now. marshall made a move to the right, then back to the left, and he stayed with it all the way through the run. He makes a decent pass and gets in the third spot for now.

Shane Westerfield's incremental times: 60ft-0.960 sec., 330ft-2.491, 660ft-3.658/213.13 mph, 1,000ft-4.647.

Chris Marshall's incremental times: 60ft-0.939 sec., 330ft-2.487, 660ft-3.700/206.04 mph, 1,000ft-4.714.

---

Left Lane: Brian Hough Runs 5.665/215.27, Now #6
Right Lane: Sean Bellemeur Runs 9.178/95.44, Now #9

Bellemeur rattles the tires off the line, gets about 200 feet out and aborts the run. Hough was on a decent pass but smoke started coming from the left side header about 700 feet out and the car nosed over.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink