Sat, 12 Oct 2002, 03:57 PM Top Alcohol Dragster Qualifying Notes, Final Session |
By Larry Sullivan |
ENNIS, Texas - Notes from final, round 3 qualifying in Top Alcohol Dragster at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 17th annual O'Reilly Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec 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:
Left Lane: Todd Datweiler Runs 13.681/88.66, Now #6; Best prior run: 5.448/250.62, Was #6
Right Lane: Bill Reichert Runs 5.471/263.23, Now #4; Best prior run: 5.394/265.72, Was #4
2:05 PM It's 77 degrees, 61 percent relative humidity, the barometer 30.11 and falling, with a track temperature of 98 degrees, under mostly cloudy skies.
The bump spot for this final session belongs to Brandon Johnson at 5.563 seconds. Datweiler was up in smoke immediately. Good lap by Reichert, right down the groove.
Left Lane: Lee Callaway Runs 5.564/256.11, Now #12; Best prior run: 5.521/257.51, Was #12
Right Lane: Tony Bartone Runs 5.745/252.45, Now #19; Best prior run: 5.627/257.65, Was #19
Bartone's new car didn't perform well in his first two shots. Make that three, the car struggling down the track. Nice run by Callaway, smooth and relatively shake-free.
Left Lane: Chris Ricketts Runs 5.446/261.62, Now #5; Best prior run: 8.286/89.23, Was #26
Right Lane: Larry Traugott Runs 5.543/256.84, Now #15; Best prior run: 5.618/252.88, Was #18
Two nice runs, bumping Johnson and James Copeland II.
Left Lane: James Thompson Runs 5.887/201.56, Now #19; Best prior run: 5.568/254.95, Was #19
Right Lane: Mark Niver Runs 17.541/68.38, Now #8; Best prior run: 5.479/257.65, Was #8
Thompson was shooting at Alan Bradshaw's 5.557. He was well on his way to doing just that until what sounded like a burst panel letting go and the engine going silent. Niver smoked the tires on the launch and shut it down.
Left Lane: Rick Santos Runs 5.418/261.70, Now #3; Best prior run: 5.353/264.08, Was #3
Right Lane: Erica Walsh-Credeur Runs 5.837/206.18, Now #21; Best prior run: 5.654/245.49, Was #21
Santos drove through a bit of shake on the launch on this pass, still a good one. Credeur's car was off the pace and then she was going too fast when she tried to make the turnoff and hit the wall. She is okay, but it will take a few minutes to get her car off the track.
Left Lane: James Copeland II Runs 5.588/256.26, Now #17; Best prior run: 5.561/255.68, Was #17
Right Lane: Shelly Howard Runs 5.456/259.74, Now #6; Best prior run: 5.446/260.04, Was #6
Howard is very consistent this weekend, making her third nice run of the event. Copeland came close, oh-so-close, but will have to settle for first alternate (or worse).
Left Lane: James Gascoyne Runs 6.389/203.85, Now #23; Best prior run: 5.671/241.28, Was #23
Right Lane: Gene Snow Runs 5.943/180.50, Now #14; Best prior run: 5.523/257.65, Was #14
gascoyne spun the tires, pedaled, then it appeared he pushed out a head gasket, with several flashes of flame from the left rear of the engine. Snow dropped a couple cylinders early in the run.
Left Lane: Ed Schmeeckle Runs 5.693/241.22, Now #22; Best prior run: 5.663/252.03, Was #22
Right Lane: Brandon Johnson Runs 5.462/257.51, Now #8; Best prior run: 5.563/256.41, Was #18
Johnson made a very nice pass to get in, bumping Bradshaw. That put Traugott on the bubble at 5.543.
Left Lane: Mitch Myers Runs 5.872/231.24, Now #12; Best prior run: 5.510/252.88, Was #12
Right Lane: David Wells Runs 9.509/85.14, Now #13; Best prior run: 5.513/256.99, Was #13
Myers dropped a couple cylinders immediately and labored down the track. Wells shook early in the run and lifted.
Left Lane: Bruce Bowler Runs 5.494/250.62, Now #11; Best prior run: 5.486/260.34, Was #11
Right Lane: Jeff Hamelink Runs 9.771/86.00, Now #27; Best prior run: 10.778/87.92, Was #27
Hamelink smoked the tires and lifted. Nice run by Bowler, almost matching his best of the weekend.
Left Lane: Alan Bradshaw Runs 5.549/254.59, Now #17; Best prior run: 5.557/256.26, Was #17
Right Lane: Larry Becktold No Time, Now #26; Best prior run: 6.449/227.15, Was #26
Becktold couldn't get the engine fired and was pushed away. Bradshaw made a good run, picked up a few thousandths, and still came up 0.006 seconds short of the bump time.
Left Lane: David Christy No Time, Now #28; Best prior run: 15.165/56.81, Was #28
Right Lane: Jason Cannon Runs 5.506/257.58, Now #10; Best prior run: 5.485/258.02, Was #10
Christy's car stopped at the end of his burnout and he climbed out of the car. Cannon made another good run, slightly slower than his first.
Left Lane: Gary Ormsby Jr Runs 5.388/226.13, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.319/256.55, Was #1
Ormsby's car was lazy off the line and was well off his usual pace, the engine going silent well before the finish line.
Left Lane: Mike Bowers Runs 6.019/232.49, Now #25; Best prior run: 5.910/210.42, Was #25
Last car of the session. Bowers' car was very sluggish off the line, with a 1.101 60-foot time.
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