Sun, 7 Oct 2001, 06:40 PM READING - Federal-Mogul Funny Car Round 3 Eliminations

By Jim Samuel

MOHNTON, Pa. - Results of round 3 eliminations in Federal-Mogul Funny Car at the 17th annual Pep Boys NHRA Nationals presented by Greased Lightning:

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   1 Frank Manzo         5.690 247.97  Q    5 Paul Gill           5.765 248.39
   (D Cox       ) 0.483  5.606 255.92  E1   (E Fisher    ) 0.490  5.640 254.71
                  0.474  5.707 251.39  E2   (M White     ) 0.515  5.634 253.61
 *****WINNER***** 0.443  5.634 252.61  E3                  0.499  5.627 254.09

Manzo had a single run in round one and a bye in round two, so this was the first time he ran with an opponent in the other lane. Manzo had a rare engine problem in round two, so Gill had lane choice for this round. Manzo got the hole shot and stayed in front, despite getting a bit loose at 660 feet. Margin of victory = 0.049 seconds (approximately 18 feet).

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   3 Von Smith           5.754 248.07  Q    2 Bob Newberry        5.715 251.58
   (M Ferro     ) 0.480  5.699 253.90  E1   (S Woodington) 0.502  6.648 149.07
   (E Lourie    ) 0.506  5.709 242.58  E2   (T Veney     ) 0.568  5.637 255.43
                  0.000 No Time        E3 *****WINNER***** 0.561  5.674 254.71

Smith did not make the call so Newberry had a single run into the finals against Northeast Division rival Frank Manzo. Newberry made a good run but lost lane choice to Manzo in the final.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink