Sun, Oct 11, 06:07 PM MEMPHIS - Pro Stock Round 1 Eliminations

By Ed Dykes

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Pro Stock at the 11th annual Pennzoil Nationals presented by AutoZone:

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   8 Mike Thomas         6.939 198.29  Q   9 Mark Pawuk          6.941 197.57
                  0.492  7.287 164.71 E1 *****WINNER***** 0.463  7.031 195.90

12:20 PM, clear skies, 73 degrees, and 47% humidity... in short, a great day for a drag race. Lots of good matchups in this round, and this is one right here. Pawuk leaves first, and Thomas gets out of the groove and never had a chance.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   7 George Marnell      6.937 197.31  Q  10 Ron Krisher         6.942 198.29
                  0.507  6.962 196.59 E1 *****WINNER***** 0.454  6.988 197.08

Marnell hesitates a bit and that made all the difference, Krisher winning with a slower elapsed time.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   6 John Nobile         6.937 198.29  Q  11 Kurt Johnson        6.943 198.67
                  0.489  6.981 197.80 E1 *****WINNER***** 0.447  7.018 198.64

Kurt's holeshot overcomes lane choice here, winning by just 0.005 seconds.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   5 Jeg Coughlin        6.935 198.17  Q  12 Ray Franks          6.948 198.32
 *****WINNER***** 0.438  6.956 198.96 E1                  0.446  8.048 127.08

Franks gets way loose downtrack and has to throw in the towel. It's the part of the track right around the 330' mark that is giving everyone fits.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   4 Mark Osborne        6.919 198.47  Q  13 V. Gaines           6.953 197.43
                  0.488  7.025 197.45 E1 *****WINNER***** 0.495  6.952 197.91

Ozzie gets out of shape at that 330' mark and Gaines makes his best pass of the weekend to upset the Virginian.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   1 Warren Johnson      6.881 199.55  Q  16 Shawn Collins       6.955 197.57
 *****WINNER***** 0.462  6.914 199.23 E1                  0.469  6.975 198.15

Those 198's are cheap today, but it takes The Professor to reach the 199 mark, and that's exactly what he did here, getting the holeshot and never looking back.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   3 Richie Stevens      6.915 198.32  Q  14 Steve Schmidt       6.954 198.20
 *****WINNER***** 0.470  6.959 197.97 E1                  0.482  7.005 198.64

Nothing out of the ordinary here, just a good solid drag race all the way to the finish. The margin was 0.058 seconds, about 16 feet.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   2 Jim Yates           6.884 198.79  Q  15 Larry Morgan        6.955 197.74
 *****WINNER***** 0.483  6.936 198.83 E1                  0.504  6.945 198.55

The final pair here, and Yates' holeshot kept this one from being close. In the next round, WJ gets lane choice over Pawuk, Gaines over Coughlin, Yates over Marnell, and Stevens over Kurt.