Sat, 3 Nov 2001, 04:22 PM FMDRS 7-6 - Federal-Mogul Dragster Qualifying Notes, Session #2

By Larry Sullivan

LAS VEGAS - Notes from final, round 2 qualifying in Federal-Mogul Dragster at the Division Seven FMDRS Final 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:

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Left Lane: Ed Vickroy Runs 6.544/170.99, Now #14; No Prior Run

12:39 PM Vickroy didn't make a run yesterday and his A-Fueler dropped a cylinder immediately, then the engine went silent before the finish line.

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Left Lane: Tony Meredyk Runs 5.939/182.21, Now #13; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Larry Miersch Runs 5.809/239.61, Now #12; No Prior Run

Miersch and Meredyk didn't make runs yesterday either, Miersch with a problem with the wing on his new A-Fuel car. Both cars labored down the lane, Meredyk falling back on the top end.

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Left Lane: Mike Strasburg Runs 5.608/253.33, Now #5; Best prior run: 8.698/116.02, Was #19
Right Lane: Jason Howell No Time, Now #21; No Prior Run

Howell is the fourth driver who didn't make a lap yesterday, his front-engined A-Fuel altered with a fuel leak when they tried to start it. This time the car lost power on the burnout, stopping over next to the right-hand wall. Strasburg pulled a rabbit out of the hat after an aborted run yesterday, making a very nice, straight pass to get well into the top half of the field.

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Left Lane: Brian Hough Runs 5.532/257.87, Now #2; Best prior run: 8.349/97.55, Was #19

Nice effort by Hough after a busted run yesterday, jumping into the second spot on the ladder with a clean, straight, shake-free run.

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Left Lane: Steve Federlin Runs 5.624/254.76, Now #8; Best prior run: 5.987/168.98, Was #16
Right Lane: Matt Seltzer Runs 8.933/93.03, Now #19; Best prior run: 7.045/126.99, Was #19

Seltzer and Federlin also had aborted runs yesterday. Federlin found the key, making a nice, clean pass. Seltzer missed again, shaking, skating around, getting out of the groove, and lifting. That puts Meredyk on the bubble at 5.939.

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Left Lane: Kent Nuckols Runs 5.704/249.12, Now #11; Best prior run: 5.761/245.32, Was #14
Right Lane: Gary Anderson Runs 5.910/245.27, Now #16; Best prior run: 6.240/235.31, Was #17

Nuckols' car headed for the centerline off the start and he gently coaxed it back to the groove without losing much momentum. Anderson's car was shaking and skating around, but he managed to complete the run to bump Meredyk, replacing him on the bubble.

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Left Lane: Tony Bartone Runs 5.762/234.94, Now #14; Best prior run: 5.737/240.68, Was #14
Right Lane: Karl Brounkowski Runs 5.747/252.80, Now #10; Best prior run: 5.692/255.92, Was #10

Two okay runs - nothing severely wrong, but both can run better numbers.

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Left Lane: Darryl Hitchman Runs 5.756/231.99, Now #13; Best prior run: 5.732/228.85, Was #13
Right Lane: Darren Nicholson Runs 5.583/253.47, Now #3; Best prior run: 5.648/252.71, Was #9

Hitchman made an okay run (see previous pair for a definition), but Nicholson got up on the tires and made a very nice run. Hitchman was a few hundredths back by 330 feet and then steadily lost ground.

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Left Lane: Don Hudson Runs 5.608/253.95, Now #7; Best prior run: 5.707/207.08, Was #12
Right Lane: Paul Jones Runs 5.616/253.56, Now #6; Best prior run: 5.606/255.53, Was #6

Nice side-by-side runs here, both clean and straight, right down the groove.

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Left Lane: Brandon Henkelman Runs 5.875/244.96, Now #9; Best prior run: 5.609/256.16, Was #9
Right Lane: Dave Hirata Runs 18.275/50.71, Now #5; Best prior run: 5.601/253.14, Was #5

Nice matchup! However, it didn't live up to expectations, Hirata up in smoke like a Top Fuel car and Henkelman down on power from the start.

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Left Lane: Duane Shields Runs 5.429/262.49, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.489/260.46, Was #1
Right Lane: Brandon Bernstein Runs 9.118/136.00, Now #4; Best prior run: 5.592/244.87, Was #4

These two were 1-2 after the first round, but Hough and Nicholson jumped in between them in the order. Bernstein almost duplicated Hirata's tire smoker. Shields nailed the setup for the second round in a row, posting the quickest 60-foot time of the round, a 0.936, and the quickest incremental times at every marker along the way to the finish line.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink