Sun, Oct 4, 07:50 PM Upsets Prevail in Early Eliminations

Courtesy of NHRA Marketing at Sacramento FMDRS

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Rod Alexander of Montrose, Calif., will be one of the two Federal-Mogul Funny Cars left to run on Sunday. After upsets in the first two rounds of eliminations, Alexander will run Paso Robles' Doug Gordon in the final.

In round-one of eliminations the new-comer Alexander beat division points leader Johnny Gray 5.96 elapsed time (e.t.) to Gray's 5.97 e.t. In the next round Alexander beat veteran racer, Steve Sommer, of Nampa, Idaho, on a holeshot, meaning that although Sommer had the better elapsed time, Alexander had the better reaction time which gave him the win

Doug Gordon caused some upset of his own, beating John Weaver, Hanford, Calif., in round-one and the class' number one qualifier, Bret Williamson of Campbell, Calif, in round two.

In the Federal-Mogul Dragster final tomorrow top qualifier Rick Henkelman will square off against Mark Woods, Jr.

Henkelman, of San Jose, Calif., ran a 5.40 e.t. in the first round to defeat Cliff Bingham, Huntington Beach, Calif. In the next round Henkelman, who holds the class e.t. national record at 5.37 seconds, slowed somewhat to a 5.49 defeating Mark Hentges of Federal Way, Wash.

In continued qualifying action today, Rick Houser, of Pasadena, Calif., topped the field in Comp Eliminator; In Super Stock John Schiess, of North Hills, Calif., held on to his top spot from yesterday; and Bill Heard, Jr., of Vancouver, Wash., maintained his position in Stock.

Final eliminations begin Sunday at 9:30 a.m. at Sacramento Raceway, with Federal-Mogul Dragsters and Federal-Mogul Funny Cars scheduled to run their final round at 11 a.m.

Results Saturday after the two rounds of eliminations in Federal-Mogul Dragsters and Funny Cars and final rounds of qualifying in other categories from Sacramento Raceway, the fifth of six events in the NHRA Pacific Division's Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series:

FEDERAL-MOGUL FUNNY CAR ELIMINATIONS

(Round one)

Rod Alexander, Montrose, Calif., 5.961 e.t., 237.94 mph def. Johnny Gray, Carlsbad, N.M., 5.970 e.t., 237.20 mph

Steve Sommer, Nampa, Idaho, 5.853 e.t. def. Ron August, Danville, Calif., (broke)

Bret Williamson, Campbell, Calif., 5.948 e.t., 240.41 mph def. Dennis Taylor, Anaheim, Calif., 6,037 e.t., 231.70 mph

Doug Gordon, Paso Robles, Calif., 5.923 e.t., 243.41 mph def. John Weaver, Hanford, Calif., 5.907 e.t., 238.18 mph

(Round two)

Doug Gordon, 5.926 e.t., 243.07 mph def. Bret Williamson, 8.067 e.t., 115.92 mph

Rod Alexander, 5.905 e.t., 240.89 mph def. Steve Sommer, 5.883 e.t., 242.39 mph

FEDERAL-MOGUL DRAGSTER ELIMINATION

(Round one)

Larry Miersch, Fallbrook, Calif., 6.023 e.t., 183.86 mph def. Mark Hentges, Federal Way, Wash., 6.745 e.t., 146.58 mph

Dale Carlson, Olympia, Wash., 5.672 e.t., 248.11 mph def. John Shoemaker, Sacramento, Calif., 5.763 e.t., 237.48 mph

Mark Woods, Jr., Kingsburg, Calif., 5.567 e.t., 242.26 mph def. Pete Kaiser, Pleasent Hill, Calif., 6.209 e.t., 205.60 mph

Rick Henkelman, San Jose, Calif., 5.401 e.t., 256.70 mph def Cliff Bingham, Huntington Beach, Calif., 5.630 e.t., 249.91 mph

(Round two)

Mark Woods, Jr., 5.472 e.t. 240.61 mph def. Dale Carlson, 5.647 e.t., 250.42 mph

Rick Henkelman, 5.491 e.t., 255.92 mph def. Larry Miersch, 6.649 e.t., 169.42 mph

COMP ELIMINATOR QUALIFYING

1. Rick Houser, Pasadena, Calif., 8.743 e.t., -0.657 (under index)
2. Andy Manna, Jr., Covina, Calif., 8.879 e.t., -0.657
3. Darren Davis, Upland, Calif., 7.916 e.t., -0.654
4. Jim Kennedy, San Jose, Calif., 8.533 e.t., -0.607
5. Rick Braun, Redlands, Calif., 7.986 e.t., -0.584
6. Phil Cocuzza, Van Nuys, Calif., 8.029 e.t., -0.569
7. Rob Robinson, Portland, Ore., 8.004 e.t., -0.566
8. Tom Huggins, Santa Paula, Calif., 7.409 e.t., -0.561
9. John Johnson, Placentia, Calif., 7.122 e.t., -0.538
10. Rich Howell, Yorba Linda, Calif., 7.445 e.t., -0.525 

SUPER STOCK QUALIFYING
1. John Schiess, North Hills, Calif., 9.485 e.t., -1.215 (under index)
2. Doug Lambeck, Northridge, Calif., 8.879 e.t., -1.21
3. Jimmy DeFrank, Tarzana, Calif., 10.294 e.t., -1.056
4. Dick Carr, Clovis, Calif., 9.167 e.t., -1.033
5. Frank Grossi, Upland, Calif., 9.524 e.t., -1.026
6. Gary Williams, Mariposa, Calif., 11.165 e.t., -0.985
7. Logan Smith, Loomis, Calif., 9.718 e.t., -0.982
8. Tony DeFrank, Tarzana, Calif., 10.219 e.t., -0.981
9. Jeff Lane, North Bend, Wash., 8.922 e.t., -0.978
10. Tommy Erickson, Long Beach, Calif., 9.834 e.t., -0.966

STOCK ELIMINATOR QUALIFYING
1. Bill Heard, Vancouver, Wash., 10.893 e.t., -1.107 (under index)
2. Robert Turner, Riverside, Calif., 11.045 e.t., -1.105
3. Darin Grossi, Soulsbyville, Calif., 10.458 e.t., -1.092
4. Scott Hilton, Burbank, Calif., 10.899 e.t., -1.051
5. Chuck Rayburn, Castro Valley, Calif., 10.505 e.t., -1.045
6. Clark Holroyd, Chino, Calif., 10.569 e.t., -0.981
7. Tom Roberts, Mira Loma, Calif., 11.760 e.t., -0.990
8. Steve Wann, Modesto, Calif., 10.737 e.t., -0.963
9. Danny Missbrenner, San Jose, Calif., 11.047 e.t., -0.953
10. Dwayne Scheitlin, Madera, Calif., 10.619 e.t., -0.931