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Sat, 19 Mar 2005, 12:47 PM

Pro Stock Qualifying Notes, Session #3

By Larry Sullivan

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Notes from round 3 qualifying in Pro Stock at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 36th annual MAC Tools NHRA Gatornationals 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: Ben Watson Runs 6.861/203.48, Now #21; Best prior run: 22.114/35.32, Was #28

12:11 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 69 degrees, relative humidity 43 percent, barometer 29.98 inches, adjusted altitude 785 feet, track temperature 90 degrees.
With sunny skies and some heat in the track, we could see the quickest Pro Stock field ever before this session is over. Yesterday the cars were making awesome power, but the track was too cold to hold it, especially early in the run. The launch pad, at 90 degrees, is almost perfect for getting the kind of launch needed to make a quick run.

Watson's car made a hard move toward the centerline on the launch and that hurt his elapsed time.

Left Lane: Allen Johnson Runs 6.708/204.96, Now #9; Best prior run: 7.002/159.65, Was #24

The current points leader got the job done here on a smooth, straight pass, but with the improved track conditions, that time may not be good enough to keep him in the field.

Left Lane: Rickie Smith Runs 11.473/76.92, Now #11; Best prior run: 6.723/206.23, Was #11
Right Lane: Josh King Runs 10.333/79.37, Now #28; Best prior run: 13.871/60.02, Was #28

Both cars were loose early and both drivers lifted.

Left Lane: Mark Pawuk Runs 7.972/123.11, Now #26; Best prior run: 7.342/144.00, Was #26
Right Lane: Tony Rizzo Runs 6.789/204.82, Now #22; Best prior run: 6.977/173.91, Was #24

Pawuk's car made a hard move toward the wall on the launch and he gave it up early. Rizzo made a good run, just not good enough.

Left Lane: Dave Northrop Runs 6.709/205.33, Now #10; Best prior run: 6.742/204.31, Was #18
Right Lane: Bob Benza Runs 6.835/203.38, Now #20; Best prior run: 6.761/205.15, Was #20

Nice run by Northrop to bump Bruce Allen, putting Mark Whisnant on the bump spot at 6.731.

Left Lane: Jeg Coughlin Runs 10.386/85.37, Now #15; Best prior run: 6.727/204.68, Was #15
Right Lane: Barry Grant Runs 6.756/204.73, Now #19; Best prior run: 6.756/204.49, Was #19

Jeg's car did a very nasty dance about 200 feet out, the rear of the car fishtailing violently before he lifted. Grant duplicated his previous best run, but that's not quick enough.

Left Lane: Jim Cunningham Runs 6.934/194.93, Now #25; Best prior run: 7.398/187.81, Was #27
Right Lane: V. Gaines Runs 6.695/206.32, Now #9; Best prior run: 6.723/205.15, Was #13

Nice run by Gaines, a career-best elapsed time, to move up the ladder.

Left Lane: Erica Enders Runs 6.769/203.85, Now #21; Best prior run: 7.313/152.95, Was #26
Right Lane: Greg Stanfield Runs 6.693/206.94, Now #9; Best prior run: 6.714/206.51, Was #12

Enders improved a bunch today, but is several spots short of the field. Stanfield got down into the 6.69s, moving around Gaines on the ladder.

Left Lane: Jason Line Runs 6.672/206.56, Now #5; Best prior run: 6.877/169.10, Was #25
Right Lane: Kurt Johnson Runs 6.717/206.23, Now #4; Best prior run: 6.671/207.13, Was #4

The tractor made a couple quick laps before these two ran, cleaning up some residual "stuff" from the previous pair. Line had down-track problems on both of his first two runs, his early pace easily quick enough to qualify. No problems this time out, the car on a rope, right down the groove, bumping Whisnant. Jeg Coughlin is now on the bump spot at 6.727.

Left Lane: Ronnie Humphrey Runs 6.765/203.80, Now #22; Best prior run: 6.773/203.98, Was #23
Right Lane: Ron Krisher Runs 12.696/67.15, Now #9; Best prior run: 6.687/207.46, Was #9

Krisher's car got up on the tires and shook hard, so he lifted. Humphrey made a good-looking run, but came up short of the mark.

Left Lane: Bruce Allen Runs 6.756/204.31, Now #18; Best prior run: 6.733/204.35, Was #18
Right Lane: Larry Morgan Runs 6.697/206.46, Now #8; Best prior run: 6.683/207.03, Was #8

Allen made a good run, but not good enough. The last three cars in the field have 6.72s, the 13th car is at 6.709, so we are still three cars away from the quickest field ever.

Left Lane: Warren Johnson Runs 6.683/206.42, Now #9; Best prior run: 6.742/206.28, Was #19
Right Lane: Dave Connolly Runs 6.669/207.51, Now #4; Best prior run: 6.677/206.84, Was #7

WJ started the round on the bubble and was bumped out almost immediately. He responded by running the quickest and fastest run of his long career to get back into the field, bumping Coughlin. Nice run by Connolly in the Bullet Cavalier, moving into the top four. Richie Stevens is now on the bump spot at 6.726.

Left Lane: Richie Stevens Runs 12.111/71.75, Now #16; Best prior run: 6.726/204.96, Was #16
Right Lane: Kenny Koretsky Runs 6.705/207.27, Now #3; Best prior run: 6.660/206.28, Was #3

Stevens' run looked a lot like Coughlin's, up on the tires and shaking, but his car did not fishtail quite as badly. Good run by "Captain Chaos," clean and straight, posting a career-best speed.

Left Lane: Mark Whisnant Runs 6.710/206.04, Now #15; Best prior run: 6.731/205.33, Was #18
Right Lane: Mike Edwards Runs 6.676/206.65, Now #2; Best prior run: 6.650/207.03, Was #2

Whisnant bumped back into the field, bumping Stevens. Rickie Smith is on the bump spot at 6.723. We are still one car away from the quickest field ever, but the remaining cars are already in the field. Maybe next round?

Left Lane: Jim Yates Runs 6.686/206.46, Now #7; Best prior run: 6.672/205.76, Was #7
Right Lane: Greg Anderson Runs 6.656/207.99, Now #1; Best prior run: 6.633/208.23, Was #1

Two pretty runs close the session, Anderson with the quickest and fastest run of the round.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink