2006 NHRA CHRR

Qualifying - Session Two

Fast forward 24 hours - 2:46 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 82 degrees, relative humidity 42 percent, barometer 29.39 inches, adjusted altitude 2,512 feet. Near perfect racing weather right? Should see some killer times, right? Let's find out.

The first pair out for session two was Jim Murphy and Brendan Murry.

Murphy left good - Murry was soft.

Murphy sacrificed some pistons to improve to a 5.961 at 230.47 which would ultimately land him in the # 11 qualifying spot.

Murry continued to have problems and clicked it early to a 6.333 at 194.72 which wouldn't come close to making the show.

Brendan's car goes back to the pits for some head scratching and Murphy is off to the scales before fixing the engine for round one of eliminations that evening.

Pair two was Pete Kaiser and Ron Maroney in Steve Barcak's 389 Pontiac powered fueler. Kaiser had a trip over the centerline on Friday and Maroney was making his first and last attempt to qualify.

Maroney didn't have much going from the hit - Kaiser had a decent 60' time.

Kaiser carded a 6.022 at 248.13 which, at the end of the day, get him in the show # 15.

Even though they made their best pass ever - 6.777 at 200.13 - Maroney and Barcak would be spectators.

The third pair was Bill Dunlap and Scott Mason. Neither car was in the show.

This time neither car had problems on the bottom end.

Both cars were on good passes until the 1000' mark when Dunlap, who is no stranger to engine explosions and fires had another one. With an audible BOOM the blower belt flew up and flames flew down.

In spite of the fire bottles this fire refused to go away and Bill was getting warm.

The Safety Safari was soon all over this deal and Dunlap escaped relatively unscathed. The same couldn't be said for the engine.

Mason heads to the scales after bumping into the show with a nice 5.935 at 241.48.

Dunlap's 6.069 at 224.04 would end up # 17. They put a new bullet in hoping for a spot via the break rule but all 16 cars made the call for round one.

The next pair featured two cars that were solidly in the show trying to improve their positions. Denver Schutz and Howard Haight.

An observation on Schutz's car - the injector is not fully open and its not because Denver's foot isn't on the bell housing.

Haight served notice that Fugowie was going to consistent when he slightly bettered his first pass of 5.951 at 254.66 with a 5.945 at 256.84.

Schutz had an exciting moment in the lights but the car settled to a 5.901 at 248.96 which did not better his previous 5.86.

The fifth pair was Rick McGee and Mendy Fry.

McGee's car was soft on the bottom end indicating that Darrell Tedford and the gang was still having problems in the clutch can. There is also a camshaft question - may see that changed for the Finals.

In the other lane Fry left hard.

In the lights this one was ugly. Fry burnt nine pistons and McGee added so oil of his own. "Clean up in aisle 1, AND aisle 2".

Although it was expensive, Fry improved a ton with a 5.928 at 242.13. McGee ran another 6.054 at a slowing 229.47 which left him on the bump.

"Crazy Larry" guides the purple car back to the pits for repair.

The next pair featured the haves and the have nots. Jason Richey and Dan Rusk. Richey was solidly in the show and Rusk was sitting # 21.

No problem with Nitro Fever at the hit. Rusk's car didn't drop any holes at the hit this time but was still soft.

Richey felt something he didn't like and clicked it early to a 6.115 at 190.43 and remained in the # 2 spot. Rusk improved with a 6.706 at 167.16 but still stayed # 21.

Since several cars chose to sit out the second session there were some singles because drivers are mandated to swap lanes each session. The first such single was Rick White who was not in the show.

White had a decent launch with a lot of clutch dust - main thing, no tire smoke.

The car started wheel walking about half track ... White pedaled it a couple of time and then had no choice but to click it. His 6.464 at 218.34 would put him in the box.

Next up was Jack Harris for another single.

Whatever team Rodeck was trying it didn't work. Within one second of Jack jumping on the throttle the car went into violent tire shake. Take a good look at the tires in the photos below.

After pedaling a couple of times Harris pulled the plug and coasted to a 10.700 at just 71.38. All they learned on this one was the clutch to power ratio was way wrong.

In a parade of singles, it was Brett Harris out next.

Harris was looking to improve and he did.

Full throttle to the lights Harris cards a nice 5.895 at 259.51. That would put him in the top half of the field at # 7.

Paul Jones was on his own in Blanchard's hot rod.

It sounded like Jones double clutched the car on the leave.

Down track things really went south when the engine came apart and Jones got a big time oil bath.

It got even worse after he pulled the chute.

When it was all over Jones was soaked and so was the track. Down again - the fourth clean up of the session. To make matters worse, the carnage was for not as a 6.425 at 218.87 time slip was only good for the # 19 spot.

The wounded car heads back to the barn.

The last car to make a single was Brad Thompson.

Thompson left like a rocket and had the best 60' time of the event - how about .100

Although you can't tell here, at about the 1000' mark the car dropped a cylinder, popped the blower and you guessed it - oiled the track.

Back to thrash for first round.

The final two cars in this session were Adam Sorokin and Sean Bellemeur. This was much more than a qualifying run - it was the long awaited Top Fuel final held over from the rained out NHRR in June. On the table was a $5,000 check, a 7' tall trophy and lots of bragging rights. For Bellemeur it was a chance to win his 3rd NHRR Top Fuel title in a row.

For Bellemeur the race got off to an ominous start when there was a problem with the throttle stop and the car didn't even turn a tire on the burn-out. The concern was amplified by the fact that Sorokin was currently sitting in the # 1 qualifying spot with a 5.806 at 255.39.

With the collective tension - crews and fans - built as both cars staged - the whole deal unraveled in the blink of an eye.

Sorokin's ride blew the tires at the hit and it appeared, with his clean launch, that Bellemeur would have a cake walk to the win.

But this was a drag race and you never let your breath out until the win light come on. Although Sorokin smoked the tires at the hit he was able to recover while Bellemeur was smoking his tires down track. The end result was stunning. Bellemeur did get the win but Sorokin went by him like a freight train in the lights. Wrap your brain around these numbers - 6.838 at just 172.84 for the win and 7.070 at a stunning 246.71 to the loser.

The jubilant HSMS team heads up track to pick up Sean as the NHRA Safety Safari tend to Sorokin's oil down in the right lane.

And that - finally - ended the second and last session of qualifying.

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - Final order after 2 rounds of qualifying in Top Fuel at the 15th NHRA California Hot Rod Reunion:

Psn    Driver                   ET     Speed

1 Adam Sorokin 5.806 @ 255.39
2 Jason Richey 5.833 @ 259.81
3 Brad Thompson   5.849 @ 222.93
4 Shannon Stuart 5.867 @ 249.44
5 Denver Schutz    5.867 @ 247.45
6 Sean Bellemeur    5.868 @ 254.74
7 Brett Harris 5.895 @ 259.51
8 Mendy Fry 5.928 @ 242.13
9 Scott Mason 5.935 @ 241.48
10 Howard Haight    5.945 @ 256.84
11 Jack Harris 5.953 @ 230.71
12 Jim Murphy 5.961 @ 230.47
13 John Shoemaker    5.962 @ 253.02
14 Mark Malde 5.970 @ 244.03
15 Pete Kaiser 6.022 @ 248.13
16 Rick McGee 6.054 @ 249.65

------------ Not Qualified ------------

17 Bill Dunlap    6.069 @ 224.04
18 Brendan Murry   6.333 @ 194.72
19 Paul Jones 6.425 @ 218.87
20 Rick White 6.464 @ 218.34
21 Dan Rusk 6.706 @ 195.77
22 Ron Maroney 6.777 @ 200.13

1st Qualifying Session - Saturday Night

Final Eliminations - Saturday & Sunday

Other Winners - Random Shots

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