Sat, 19 Jan 2002, 08:52 PM CHANDLER - National Time Trials - Saturday Wrap Up

By Dave Gerard

CHANDLER, Ariz. - The afternoon sessions are starting at about 2:00pm with high broken clouds in the skies and temperatures rising to about 55 degrees so far. The humidity is down to18% and the barometer is continuing to fall to 30.08 inches. We have had a steady stream of Pro's and TAD/TAFC all day. Periodically, the rest of the sportsman class lanes are run out and the Super Eliminator class eliminations are run. To add to the day's excitement, earlier this afternoon, we had a marriage proposal from a gentleman in the tower to one surprised lady on the starting line. She said, "YES!!"

Just an update from this morning's session, Whit Bazemore great run was thwarted when he lost a blower belt.

Along with the Pro's and the sportsman cars, the track is running Junior Dragsters and a unique "little guy" muscle powered Big Wheel trike show. Cute !!

Ashley Force has been making passes and getting experience in her new Ford powered SC dragster this weekend. About 3:15pm this afternoon, she got a little excitement, as the dragster made a move toward the centerline and she safely gathered it back up. No harm to her dragster, but hard on the 1000 foot and finish line reflectors. Nice job of not over reacting.

We had a significant delay at about 3:30pm this afternoon, with a sportsman car causing a major oil down in the left lane from near the starting line until near the finish line.

Top Alcohol Funny Car

2:24 pm Pete Swayne brings the espriTV sponsored Goodwin and Swayne TAFC to the line for their first run of the weekend. He is away quickly with the front wheels tickling the asphalt and runs to about half-track before shutting off. .981/60ft., 2.593/660ft.

2:32 Pete Rivera is making his first run of the weekend. He starts out well, but gets snaky after the 330-foot mark and has to lift. He may have been his own enemy, as there is a lot of clean up in his lane after the pass .998/60ft., 2.769/330ft.

4:32 Bil Gallio has problems and clicks it. 1.041/60ft.

Beside Gallio is Jay Payne. He suffers a "big bang" near the lights, with the burst panel flying, and can only run 5.707 and 235.39. .954/60ft., 2.498/330ft., 3.717/202.18-660ft., and 4.778/1000ft.

4:40 Dennis Taylor comes back for another try. He has a .965/60ft. and clicks it after going into tire shake.

5:34 Norm Hill is in the Fix Auto/Taylor Freezer TAFC. He makes a squirt and clicks it. 1.025/60ft.

5:50 Bil Gallio will get another pass tonight. He's a little soft, but gets it down the track to a 6.817 and 203.12. 1.143/60ft., 2.979/330ft., 4.561/167.82-660ft. and 5.725/1000ft.

6:00 Pete Rivera has the car slide into the guardrail after the 330-foot mark, flatting the headers against the body. He pulls it back into the lane and gets it off the track. .992/60ft., and 2.794/330ft.

Top Alcohol Dragster

2:30 Mark Niver in the Billet Bullet AFD has big time tire shake and has to lift. .980/60ft., 2.881/330ft.

2:45 Paul Jones in the Western Stabilization AFD has problems getting the dragster into reverse. He makes a good pass with just a few dropped cylinders near the lights to record a 5.49 at 228.92. .926/60ft., 2.421/330ft., 3.580/214.25-660ft., 4.579/1000ft.

4:27 David Baca continues to struggle with his AFD. It's lazy off the line and he clicks it. 1.030/60ft., 2.608/330ft.

5:38 pm Nark Niver is back again to improve on his prior attempt. He does so in style with a clean 5.535 and 262.53. .976/60ft., 2.503/330ft., 3.676/212.59-660ft., and 4.674/1000ft.

6:05 No joy for David Baca as he clicks it after a soft leave. 1.025/60ft.

Funny Car

2:10 pm Gary Scelzi will start off the afternoon session. He leaves hard and starts to drift slowly towards the centerline. He makes the 7-10 split this time, as he takes out the 660-foot ET and MPH reflector blocks. .889/60ft., 2.302/330ft., 3.285/255.48-660ft.

2:35 John Force makes one of his patented half-track burnouts in the Castrol GTX FC and quickly backs to the starting line. Well, that was bizarre! John hits the throttle, the car goes about five feet and the engine is quiet. He quickly pulls the car to the guardrail and jumps out. It's reported that he lost a blower belt. 1.499/60ft.

2:50 Steve Kotten in his great looking black Mustang with white, red, and yellow flames on the front make another license attempt. I met Steve and his mom and dad in the pits last night. The family is supporting his efforts to license in his FC with hand controls. The car is violent off the line and he has to lift. 1.083/60ft, 3.265/330ft.

2:58 Jerry Toliver brings the WWF Smack Down FC up for another attempt. It's a little better than yesterday, but he is up in smoke before the 330ft. mark. .905/60ft., 2.753/330ft.

3:00 pm Tony Pedregon is running one of John Force's white Castrol bodies, without the GTX on the side. He joins John in the weird run column, as the left rear wheel doesn't seem to smoke in the burnout. He brings the FC to the line and the right rear tires goes up in smoke immediately.

4:30 Whit Bazemore makes a pass with the new "spec" Goodyear tires and has to be pleased. He runs straight and true to a 4.814 and 315.19 (fast so far). .891/60ft., 2.299/330ft., 3.291/257.19-660ft., 4.108/1000ft.

Running beside Bazemore is a mystery car. We believe that it is John Patton in the Foolish Money FC. He can only muster a 5.451 and 275.28. .982/60ft., 2.509/330ft., 3.666/216.33-660ft., 4.633/1000ft.

4:51 Gary Densham is in the left lane and Del Worsham in the right. Gary has smoke near the thousand-foot mark and bangs the reflector off the centerline. He slows to a 5.083 at 241.07. .902/60ft., 2.336/330ft., 3.366/243.55-660ft., and 4,230/1000ft.

Del Worsham has problems and smokes the tires. .905/60ft., 2.748/330ft.

5:08 Al Hofmann joins the weird club, as he moves about two feet and the motor goes quiet. The track crew wipes up a little oil after Al pulls the K & N funny car over to the guardrail. 2.779/60ft.

5:12 Next pair up is Tommy Johnson and Scotty Cannon. Tommy runs strong to about 1000 feet and clicks it to 4.985 and 266.90. .896/60ft., 2.342/330ft., 3.371/247.97-660ft., and 4.214/1000ft.

Cannon is up in smoke early and clicks it. He may have had additional problems, as it's reported that there is a lot of smoke from his car in the shutoff area. The fire trucks have gone down to check it out. .894/60ft., 2.677/330ft.

5:20 Another pair with Ron Capps and Cruz Pedregon. We are likely to see these two together many times this season. Capps has a bunch of tire shake and clicks it. .887/60ft., 2.988/330ft.

Pedregon runs well to mid-track and smokes the tires. .903/60ft., 2.368/330ft., 3.466/229.55-660ft.

5:32 Gary Scelzi is up in smoke at the hit. 1.054/60ft.

5:55 John Force and Tony Pedregon are up next. They leave together and shut off together. Force is away first, but Tony ends up with better numbers. Force runs 4.907 and 273.83. .870/60ft., 2.306/330ft., 3.321/252.19-660ft., and 4.150/1000ft. Pedregon runs 4.85 and 281.13. .902/60ft., 2.335/330ft., 3.316/261.12-660ft., and 4.116/1000ft.

5:57 Jerry Toliver continues to struggle with tire smoke. .900/60ft.

Top Fuel

2:20 Steve Chrisman in Gary Turner's beautiful new blue, orange, and yellow dragster is up in smoke at the hit. The crew chief is going to have to soften the package up considerably.

2:40 "Rocket Man", Gene Davis brings the big red Davis and Zook TF car to the line. The idle is too high after the burn out and the crew struggles to get the car back to the starting line. He is away in a cloud of clutch dust and clicks it before mid-track. .928/60ft., 2.422/330ft.

2:55 Tony Schumacher is next up to test. He lays one down with an impressive 1000-foot effort. He runs through with a 4.994 ET at 210.11 MPH. .849/60ft., 2.159/330ft., 3.109/261.93-660ft., and 4.007/1000ft.

4:20 We start the late afternoon group with side-by-side TF dragsters. Darrell Russell in Amato's dragster vs. Doug Herbert in the Snap-On car. They leave hard and run together to near the lights.

Herbert: .859, 2.187, 3.131/265.12, 4.072, 5.123, and 195.96

Russell: .823, 2.165, 3.194/241.28, 4.146, 5.188, and197.94

4:24 Bob Hallock car has a flash from the back of the engine after the 330ft. mark. .950/60ft., 2.434/330ft.

4:38 Larry Dixon in the Miller Lite makes a 1000ft pass to card a 4.627 and 276.07. .838/60ft., 2.158/330ft., 3.091/269.94-660ft., 3.800/1000ft.

4:45 Oyama is up in smoke immediately. 1.017/60ft.

5:04 Ken Zeal is back again for his last chance of the day in the BME dragster. He runs well to about 1000 feet and clicks it, as the car starts to drift toward the guardrail. He has a 5.341 ET and 186.25 MPH. .891/60ft., 2.286/330ft., 3.267/257.24-660ft., and 4.245/1000ft.

5:27 Kenny Bernstein brings the Budweiser TF dragster with big Number One on the wing to the line. The big red car lays one down, 4.553 and 320.89, as he almost gets too close to centerline at the top end. .848/60ft., 2.158/330ft., 3.078/272.17-660ft., and 3.863/1000ft.

5:42 Steve Chrisman in Gary Turner's TF dragster is still too violent off the line and smokes the tires instantly. 1.324/60ft.

5:45 Tony Schumacher's crew is out on the starting line with a tape measure marking with chalk where they want the car to be for the launch. It must have worked, as he makes a strong half-track pass. It's getting dark now and the header flames are over the wing. .851/60ft., 2.166/330ft., and 3.142/237.96-660ft.

6:10 Gene Davis will be the last "long car" for the evening ion the Davis and Zook dragster, as only Craig Treble is left to run in the lanes. It's an expensive run, as there are sparks and smoke out from underneath the dragster by the 330-foot mark. He lifts and continues to smoke on down the track. With all of the clutch dust off the line, it's likely to be a clutch and other toasted parts.

Pro Stock Bike

4:34 Craig Treble on the Matco Tools bike has problems on his second run and slows to 1.146/60ft., 3.190/330ft.

6:14pm Craig will be the final Pro of the day. He obviously has found his problems from his run earlier today. He cards a great 7.242 and 185.36. He has a .430 reaction time for a tight package. 1.117/60ft., 3.009/330ft., 4.615/152.04-660ft., and 6.026/1000ft.

The sportsman cars are continuing to run for a while, but we are done for today. The final day of testing will begin at 10:00am MST tomorrow.

Good night from Firebird International Raceway.