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Sat, 7 Oct 2000, 09:44 PM

MEMPHIS - Pro Stock Qualifying Notes, Final Session

By Larry Sullivan

MILLINGTON, Tenn. - Notes from final, round 4 qualifying in Pro Stock at the 13th annual AutoZone Nationals presented by Pennzoil 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:

Right Lane: Roger Jenkins Runs 8.759/109.76, Now #32; Best prior run: 8.807/107.12, Was #32

7:42 PM Last shot for many of these drivers this weekend, the bump spot as we start Allen Johnson's 6.893, a tough mark to beat and a thousandth quicker than Jenkins' career-best run. His car skated to the left, started to fishtail when it got out of the groove, and he called it off.

Left Lane: Kenny Koretsky Runs 7.982/125.13, Now #31; Best prior run: 9.080/125.60, Was #33
Right Lane: Michael Holton Runs 9.399/89.23, Now #30; Best prior run: 7.329/185.95, Was #30

Holton shook early and backed off, then Koretsky's car started weaving around and he wisely threw in the towel.

Left Lane: Joel Bayless Runs 21.340/34.71, Now #32; Best prior run: 8.087/116.82, Was #32
Right Lane: Ed Heck Runs 7.703/135.70, Now #26; Best prior run: 7.056/196.70, Was #26

Bayless' car turned hard left on the launch and he shut it off quickly, the car leaning over so far that there were sparks from the suspension scraping the track. Heck had problems at half track, the car starting to get out of shape, so he gave it up.

Left Lane: Eric Shelton Runs 8.598/120.71, Now #29; Best prior run: 7.256/189.92, Was #29
Right Lane: Joe Lepone Runs 6.971/197.80, Now #24; Best prior run: 6.952/197.28, Was #24

Shelton's Dodge wiggled a few times early in the run, while Lepone waited until he was in the middle of the run and then fishtailed violently.

Left Lane: Gary Wiggins Runs 10.284/80.40, Now #28; Best prior run: 7.207/170.64, Was #28
Right Lane: V. Gaines Runs 9.748/93.21, Now #20; Best prior run: 6.923/197.39, Was #20

Left Lane: Scott Geoffrion Runs 6.809/201.43, Now #1; Best prior run: 7.037/198.96, Was #25
Right Lane: Kurt Johnson Runs 6.905/200.41, Now #20; Best prior run: 6.906/199.85, Was #19

Jeg Coughlin Jr. had a lot riding on this pass by Kurt Johnson, and Johnson came up short of the field, leaving only Ron Krisher in a position to keep Coughlin from clinching the championship. Meanwhile, Geoffrion ran under the current ET record to bump AJ and put Mike Thomas on the bubble at 6.891.

Left Lane: Tony Gillig Runs 9.988/89.64, Now #24; Best prior run: 6.943/197.39, Was #24
Right Lane: Danny Coffman Runs 11.311/76.30, Now #18; Best prior run: 6.899/198.23, Was #18

Left Lane: John Nobile Runs 6.941/199.26, Now #23; Best prior run: 6.942/197.86, Was #23
Right Lane: Allen Johnson Runs 8.488/112.67, Now #17; Best prior run: 6.893/197.94, Was #17

AJ posted a 1.014 60-foot time, but his car started to skate around in the middle of the run and he lifted.

Left Lane: Brad Jeter Runs 10.041/83.91, Now #22; Best prior run: 6.932/199.02, Was #22
Right Lane: Mike Thomas Runs 6.895/199.08, Now #16; Best prior run: 6.891/197.65, Was #16

Thomas fails to improve and stays on the bubble.

Left Lane: Ron Krisher Runs 6.839/200.92, Now #6; Best prior run: 6.903/199.55, Was #19
Right Lane: Tom Martino Runs 6.873/200.11, Now #14; Best prior run: 6.880/200.00, Was #14

Krisher is the only other driver with a remote chance of beating Coughlin for the championship. And the suspense continues, Krisher with a last-ditch run to move into the top part of the field, bumping Thomas. Now the bump time belongs to Darrell Alderman at 6.890.

Left Lane: Darrell Alderman Runs 6.880/199.79, Now #16; Best prior run: 6.890/198.99, Was #16
Right Lane: Mark Osborne Runs 8.288/117.26, Now #11; Best prior run: 6.856/198.82, Was #11

Alderman stays on the bump spot, but improves it to match the quickest field ever, at Englishtown earlier this year.

Left Lane: Bruce Allen Runs 6.856/200.32, Now #11; Best prior run: 6.879/199.40, Was #13
Right Lane: Warren Johnson Runs 6.879/201.37, Now #10; Best prior run: 6.846/200.47, Was #10

Left Lane: George Marnell Runs 15.021/54.02, Now #13; Best prior run: 6.878/199.40, Was #13
Right Lane: Troy Coughlin Runs 8.834/106.20, Now #7; Best prior run: 6.844/200.44, Was #7

Marnell had a 1.00 60-foot time, but the car veered left and he had to let up to steer away from the wall.

Left Lane: Jeg Coughlin Runs 6.824/200.89, Now #2; Best prior run: 6.845/199.67, Was #9
Right Lane: Robert Patrick Runs 12.122/70.64, Now #7; Best prior run: 6.840/200.23, Was #6

Jeg just misses the the national ET record off a 1.009 second 60-foot time. Patrick's car was loose and he called it off.

Left Lane: Rickie Smith Runs 6.859/200.35, Now #9; Best prior run: 6.845/199.85, Was #9
Right Lane: Jim Yates Runs 6.848/201.43, Now #5; Best prior run: 6.838/200.98, Was #5

Left Lane: Mark Pawuk Runs 6.840/200.26, Now #6; Best prior run: 6.839/200.56, Was #6
Right Lane: Larry Morgan Runs 13.022/64.04, Now #3; Best prior run: 6.830/200.59, Was #3

Something came out of the back of Pawuk's car for the first 200 feet or so, looked like gasoline or water.

Left Lane: Richie Stevens Runs 6.892/198.17, Now #4; Best prior run: 6.836/198.96, Was #4

The car we've all been waiting for, the last of a long, cold, busy day. The car was very squirrely for the first 200 feet, then he drove out of it, but failed to improve.