Sun, 28 Oct 2001, 05:01 PM LAS VEGAS 2 - Federal-Mogul Dragster Round 3 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

LAS VEGAS - Results of round 3 eliminations in Federal-Mogul Dragster at the Inaugural AC Delco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals:

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   5 Brian Hough         5.519 253.90  Q    1 Duane Shields       5.397 258.07
   (T Meredyk   ) 0.600  5.501 254.95  E1   (B Bernstein ) 0.535  5.471 257.58
   (B Henkelman ) 0.513  5.536 255.92  E2   (M Niver     ) 0.527  5.513 260.21
 *****WINNER***** 0.460  5.526 257.48  E3                  0.491  5.499 258.27

1:51 PM Hough stole this one at the starting line, barely holding off Shields' top end charge. Margin of victory = 0.004 seconds (approximately 18 inches).

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   7 David Wells         5.555 249.72  Q    6 Mike Strasburg      5.547 254.95
   (B Reichert  ) 0.467  5.587 252.95  E1   (S Cantrell  ) 0.498  5.512 253.99
   (D Hitchman  ) 0.488  5.539 253.09  E2   (P Jones     ) 0.466  5.526 255.15
 *****WINNER***** 0.407  5.583 251.81  E3                  0.470  5.522 255.15

These two were just 0.007 seconds apart last round, so reaction time figured to be a factor. However, nobody expected Wells to pull off a psychic launch. Another holeshot win, this one even closer, the margin of victory = 0.002 seconds (approximately 9 inches). Great stuff! Hough has lane choice against Wells in the final round - it could come down to who will have the better reaction time.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink