Sat, 02 Nov 2019, 14:28 PM Top Alcohol Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Final Session

By Dave Rowe

LAS VEGAS - Notes from final, round 3 qualifying in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 19th annual Dodge NHRA Nationals presented by Pennzoil 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:

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Left Lane: Mike Doushgounian Runs 5.646/261.93, Now #11; Best prior run: 5.985/246.80, Was #15
Right Lane: Annie Whiteley Runs 5.479/270.81, Now #5; Best prior run: 8.750/109.86, Was #18

11:02 a.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 64 degrees, relative humidity 14 percent, barometer 28.11 inches, adjusted altitude 2,663 feet, track temperature 81 degrees.

Doushgounian rattles the tires, has to pedal, then goes on through with his quickest pass of the weekend. Whiteley makes her first full pass of the weekend and gets in the fifth spot for now.

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Left Lane: Kris Hool Runs 5.549/263.72, Now #7; Best prior run: 5.906/258.52, Was #16
Right Lane: Robert Turner Runs 5.765/240.94, Now #14; Best prior run: 6.454/169.59, Was #18

Hool makes a little move to the right, then back to the left, then goes on through with his quickest pass of the weekend to move up to the seventh spot. Turner makes a clean pass and moves up to the 14th spot for now.

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Left Lane: Doug Schneider Runs 5.797/249.03, Now #17; Best prior run: 5.797/251.39, Was #16
Right Lane: Jay Payne Runs 5.535/267.43, Now #7; Best prior run: 6.209/173.65, Was #18

Schneider gets out of the groove, drifts a little to the right, then gets it back in the groove. He doesn't improve and gets knocked out of the field. payne makes his quickest pass of the weekend and gets in the show in the seventh spot for now.

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Left Lane: Hannes Wernhart Runs 5.801/254.23, Now #16; Best prior run: 5.790/255.68, Was #16
Right Lane: Nick Januik Runs 10.386/90.87, Now #18; Best prior run: 5.841/251.49, Was #18

Januik goes up in smoke at the hit, pedals three or four times, but he can't get the slicks to bite and finally gives up on the run. Wernhart makes a clean pass but he can't improve.

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Left Lane: Steve Gasparrelli Runs 5.610/262.33, Now #9; Best prior run: 5.573/263.15, Was #9
Right Lane: Terry Ruckman Runs 5.577/266.69, Now #10; Best prior run: 5.643/262.59, Was #12

Gasparrelli goes down the groove with a good pass but he doesn't improve. Ruckman makes his quickest pass of the weekend and he moves up a couple of spots to 10th for now.

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Left Lane: Brian Hough Runs 5.499/265.53, Now #6; Best prior run: 5.506/266.42, Was #6
Right Lane: Chris Marshall Runs 9.816/128.14, Now #12; Best prior run: 5.595/262.95, Was #12

Hough goes down the groove with a good run, his quickest pass of the weekend, but he stays in the sixth spot. Marshall loses traction at the hit and has to give up on the run early.

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Left Lane: Ulf Leanders Runs 5.457/265.85, Now #4; Best prior run: 5.450/264.23, Was #4
Right Lane: Steve Macklyn Runs 5.617/262.95, Now #11; Best prior run: 5.588/260.86, Was #11

Leanders goes right down the groove with a good pass but he doesn't improve. Macklyn drifts toward the wall, the car makes a move back to the left, then he gets it straightened out and makes a decent pass.

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Left Lane: Shane Westerfield Runs 5.450/269.83, Now #3; Best prior run: 5.431/271.35, Was #3
Right Lane: Sean Bellemeur Runs 9.669/89.53, Now #2; Best prior run: 5.429/270.54, Was #2

Bellemeur rattles the tires at the hit, makes a move toward the wall, then he backs off of the throttle. Westerfield makes another good pass but doesn't improve.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink