Sun, 13 Oct 2002, 04:35 PM Pro Stock Round 3 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

ENNIS, Texas - Results of round 3 eliminations in Pro Stock at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 17th annual O'Reilly Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec:

Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   2 Jeg Coughlin        6.854 201.47  Q    6 Jim Yates           6.865 200.13
   (G Marnell   ) 0.421  6.817 202.06  E1   (T Hammonds  ) 0.462  6.810 201.74
   (G Anderson  ) 0.422  6.813 202.47  E2   (M Edwards   ) 0.420  6.813 202.02
 *****WINNER***** 0.416  6.863 202.15  E3                  0.324  6.848 201.97

3:22 PM It's 63 degrees, 60 percent relative humidity, the barometer 30.38 and falling, the track temperature 81 degrees, under overcast skies. In other words, almost perfect conditions for Pro Stock except for the humidity.

This was a huge matchup for the 2002 championship, Jeg leading Yates by 68 points and having a virtual lock if he won here. Jeg staged first and Yates flinched, so Jeg is now 5-0 against Yates this year and well on his way to the POWERade championship.

Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   5 Kurt Johnson        6.865 202.24  Q    8 Gene Wilson         6.870 201.11
   (L Nance     ) 0.440  6.792 203.94  E1   (T Lee       ) 0.449  6.840 202.06
   (B Jeter     ) 0.457  6.785 204.03  E2   (S Schmidt   ) 0.416  6.833 202.11
                  0.438  6.822 203.11  E3 *****WINNER***** 0.419  6.840 202.06

On a holeshot, Wilson goes to his second final round of the year. KJ had a better 60-foot time, but Wilson took a small lead by 330 feet and then held on to win a close one. His incremental margins: 60ft(-0.003), 330ft(0.004), 660ft(0.006), 1,000ft(0.004). MOV: 0.0017 seconds (approximately 6 inches). Wilson will have lane choice against Coughlin in the final round.