Sat, 4 Nov 2000, 04:06 PM DALLAS-2 - Federal-Mogul Funny Car Round 2 Eliminations

By Michael L. Jex

ENNIS, Texas - Results of round 2 eliminations in Federal-Mogul Funny Car at the 15th annual O'Reilly Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec:

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
  10 Tate Branch         5.941 248.84  Q   15 Todd Simpson        8.130 113.28
   (M Littlefiel) 0.457  5.866 249.76  E1   (C Cheeseman ) 0.440  5.771 248.34
                  0.460  8.352 101.00  E2 *****WINNER***** 0.434  5.946 245.18

2:43 PM Branch got out of the groove, he made a hard right turn towards the centerline and had to lift. Simpson pedaled once to stop some tire shake.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
  11 Richard Shaver      5.997 242.63  Q        Bye
   (V Moats     ) 0.799  6.454 180.96  E1
 *****WINNER***** 0.557  5.865 246.30  E2

Shaver will race Simpson in the next round. He'll need to run better than 5.96 for lane choice. Shaver drifted over towards the centerline, but ran out to the finish line before getting too close to it. He'll have lane choice in the semi finals.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   8 Jason Rupert        5.928 236.96  Q   16 Scott Palmer       10.450  71.19
   (T Veney     ) 0.492  5.890 235.39  E1   (T Bartone   ) 0.533 11.511  66.99
                  0.429 10.055  86.11  E2 *****WINNER***** 0.439  6.278 187.83

Rupert is running the "Chetillac" the unique Chet Herbert designed motor with horizontal pushrods. Here Rupert got sideways almost immediately, giving the photographers at good shot of the side of the car. He managed to keep things in his lane, but had to lift.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
  12 Jackie Stidham      6.609 155.90  Q    4 Jay Payne           5.796 249.72
   (R Fleming   ) 0.458  5.816 244.60  E1   (K Williams  ) 0.483  5.962 230.45
 *****WINNER***** 0.519  5.752 245.09  E2                  0.460  5.862 247.38

2:52 PM Palmer also left some stuff on the track, so we're down for a cleanup. Stidham has a large scoop placed on the front of the Whipple supercharger, complete with red flames. Neat! Both cars go straight down the middle of their lanes, but all eyes are on Stidham with the best run of the day. He'll face Palmer in the semis and Stidham will get lane choice. 2:58 PM