Sun, 14 Nov 1999, 07:15 PM POMONA - Pro Stock Truck Round 3 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

POMONA, Calif. - Results of round 3 eliminations in Pro Stock Truck at the 35th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals:

  
 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   2 Steve Johns         7.539 178.85  Q    3 Mark Osborne        7.552 178.66
   (S Perin     ) 0.458  7.559 178.26  E1   (C Eaton     ) 0.449  7.568 178.33
   (B Jeter     ) 0.456  7.569 178.52  E2   (J Lingenfelt) 0.471  7.588 178.24
 *****WINNER***** 0.456  7.574 178.10  E3                  0.504  7.615 177.72

4:04 PM These four trucks have been sitting in the pits since yesterday afternoon, waiting to finish eliminations. That makes this more like a first round then the semifinals because the track has changed a lot since yesterday.

Johns' truck made a darting move to the left, but Johns showed his driving skill by smoothly reining it in without losing momentum and went on to win by a margin of victory = 0.089 seconds (approximately 23 feet).

  
 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   1 Bob Panella Jr      7.491 178.92  Q    4 Greg Stanfield      7.570 177.46
   (M Whisnant  ) 0.447  7.532 178.50  E1   (M Coughlin  ) 0.439  7.565 177.49
   (R Daniels   ) 0.438  7.530 178.26  E2   (T Patterson ) 0.462  7.576 176.84
 *****WINNER***** 0.401  7.514 178.24  E3                  0.419  7.601 177.81

How do you beat the quickest truck on the grounds when he cuts a 0.401 light? The answer is, you don't. The margin of victory = 0.105 seconds (approximately 27 feet) and Panella will have lane choice against Johns in the final round.