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Fri, 6 Oct 2000, 08:34 PM

MEMPHIS - Pro Stock Qualifying Notes, Session #2

By Larry Sullivan

MILLINGTON, Tenn. - Notes from round 2 qualifying in Pro Stock at the 13th annual AutoZone 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:

Right Lane: Joe Lepone Runs 6.962/198.50, Now #17; No Prior Run

6:47 PM Lepone left before the tree in the first session, so this was his first official qualifying pass for the event. He just missed the 6.943 bump time - but based on the truck session just completed, that bump time (Tony Gillig) can be ignored because the field will be severely shuffled before this session is over.

Left Lane: Joel Bayless Runs 8.087/116.82, Now #27; Best prior run: 17.722/44.29, Was #32
Right Lane: V. Gaines Runs 6.949/194.10, Now #17; No Prior Run

Greg Anderson made one pass in Gaines' car in the first session, then withdrew - Gaines was unable to get here for that session and they wanted a tuning pass. Gaines was all over the lane, a very loose run.

Left Lane: John Nobile Runs 6.942/197.86, Now #16; Best prior run: 13.202/57.10, Was #31
Right Lane: Roger Jenkins Runs 10.328/86.92, Now #32; Best prior run: 16.448/47.82, Was #33

Nobile went about 1,500 feet on this one, all over the lane, the car bobbing and weaving all the way down the lane. Jenkins slowed immediately.

Left Lane: Brad Jeter Runs 6.932/199.02, Now #14; Best prior run: 9.640/93.14, Was #31
Right Lane: Michael Holton Runs 7.329/185.95, Now #28; Best prior run: 15.293/50.86, Was #33

Jeter gets in, moving the bump time to Tom Martino's 6.941. Holton slowed at half track.

Left Lane: Kenny Koretsky Runs 9.080/125.60, Now #32; Best prior run: 9.596/94.54, Was #32
Right Lane: Larry Morgan Runs 6.918/198.90, Now #13; Best prior run: 8.163/119.93, Was #31

Koretsky's Camaro was all over the lane and he wisely lifted. Morgan made a strong effort, but is very close to the bump spot - now belonging to Richie Stevens at 6.939.

Left Lane: Ron Krisher Runs 6.903/199.55, Now #10; Best prior run: 8.074/126.23, Was #30
Right Lane: Jim Cunningham Runs 8.568/130.73, Now #27; Best prior run: 7.164/196.10, Was #26

Krisher's car turned right on the launch and was headed for the centerline - and he drove through it! Now the bump is Brad Jeter's 6.932.

Left Lane: Eric Shelton Runs 7.256/189.92, Now #29; Best prior run: 7.290/189.42, Was #29
Right Lane: Ed Heck Runs 7.056/196.70, Now #26; Best prior run: 7.082/195.03, Was #26

Shelton somehow ended up with the active competition number assigned to Vince Khoury - so that's what came up on the screen and the printouts for the first session. The car is reported to be the former Motown Missile car

Left Lane: Gary Wiggins Runs 15.297/52.57, Now #28; Best prior run: 7.207/170.64, Was #28
Right Lane: Danny Coffman Runs 6.899/198.23, Now #10; Best prior run: 7.042/196.79, Was #25

Wiggins' car turned right and was headed for the Christmas tree, so he shut it down. Coffman made a very nice run with a 1.011 60-foot time and a smooth, straight pass. Now the bump belongs to Kurt Johnson at 6.930.

Left Lane: Scott Geoffrion Runs 13.762/60.48, Now #25; Best prior run: 7.037/198.96, Was #25
Right Lane: Mike Thomas Runs 9.567/90.22, Now #24; Best prior run: 6.987/195.79, Was #24

Geoffrion's car launched, wiggled several times, then slowed. Thomas was on a strong run to 330 feet, then something came out of his car, sparks shooting across both lanes.

Left Lane: Tony Gillig Runs 6.956/198.35, Now #21; Best prior run: 6.943/197.39, Was #21
Right Lane: Tom Martino Runs 6.898/199.14, Now #9; Best prior run: 6.941/198.32, Was #19

Gillig made what looked like a good run, but he was too slow to get back in the field. Martino got back in with ease. Now the bump is Larry Morgan's 6.918.

Left Lane: Richie Stevens Runs 6.836/198.96, Now #1; Best prior run: 6.939/197.08, Was #19
Right Lane: Kurt Johnson Runs 6.906/199.85, Now #14; Best prior run: 6.930/199.11, Was #17

These two were just bumped from the field. Both got back in, but Stevens used a career-best ET to do it while KJ just squeaked back in, very close to the bump time - which is now George Marnell's 6.908.

Left Lane: George Marnell Runs 13.101/64.10, Now #17; Best prior run: 6.908/198.96, Was #16
Right Lane: Mark Osborne Runs 6.872/199.43, Now #4; Best prior run: 6.916/198.06, Was #17

Marnell had the better of the two 1.01 60-foot times in this pair, but slowed almost immediately while Osborne ran a career-best ET to reset the field once again. Now Robert Patrick is on the bump at 6.907.

Left Lane: Jeg Coughlin Runs 6.845/199.67, Now #2; Best prior run: 6.899/199.05, Was #12
Right Lane: Robert Patrick Runs 6.894/199.11, Now #11; Best prior run: 6.907/198.61, Was #16

These two moved away from the bump spot very nicely, putting KJ on the bubble at 6.906.

Left Lane: Darrell Alderman Runs 11.508/74.82, Now #10; Best prior run: 6.890/198.99, Was #10
Right Lane: Allen Johnson Runs 6.928/197.51, Now #12; Best prior run: 6.895/197.86, Was #12

This is a very quick field, but still a long way from the record bump of 6.880. These two were fortunate to already be in the field, Alderman slowing very quickly and AJ failing to improve.

Right Lane: Mark Pawuk No Time, Now #9; Best prior run: 6.888/198.70, Was #9

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Left Lane: Mark Pawuk Runs 6.880/199.91, Now #8; Best prior run: 6.888/198.70, Was #9
Right Lane: Warren Johnson Runs 6.846/200.47, Now #3; Best prior run: 6.881/200.59, Was #7

WJ doesn't usually record impressive 60-foot times, but this one was a 1.008, very quick - yet the ET didn't pick up as much as one would expect from that. Pawuk moves up one rung on the ladder.

Left Lane: Rickie Smith Runs 6.845/199.85, Now #2; Best prior run: 6.882/199.52, Was #9
Right Lane: Troy Coughlin Runs 7.072/192.22, Now #6; Best prior run: 6.868/200.08, Was #5

Good 60-foot times here, 1.01 and 1.02, but Coughlin slowed on the top end of the run while Smith capitalized on his strong launch to move into second spot.

Left Lane: Bruce Allen Runs 8.435/112.21, Now #8; Best prior run: 6.879/199.40, Was #8
Right Lane: Jim Yates Runs 6.838/200.98, Now #2; Best prior run: 6.859/199.58, Was #5

Yates almost reeled Stevens in, but came up 0.002 seconds short with a career best run, both ET and speed. Allen launched hard, drove smoothly through one early excursion toward the centerline, then called it a day.

That's it - after two sessions Richie Stevens is on the pole at 6.836 and Kurt Johnson is on the bubble at 6.906.