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NHRA Drag Racing: Bowling Green, Friday qualifying

28 August 1999


REICHERT SETS RECORD, LEADS DRAGSTERS

        BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - In the first rounds of qualifying at the NHRA
Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series event at Beech Bend Raceway Park, Owosso,
Mich.'s Bill Reichert and Marc White of Glendale Heights, Ill., are early
leaders in the Dragster and Funny Car categories, respectively.
        Reichert erased Jeff Wilson's two-year-old dragster track record of
5.623 seconds with a run of 5.609 seconds at a speed of 252.85 mph.
"The run was better than I expected," said Reichert, the defending NHRA
North Central Division Federal-Mogul Dragster champion.  "Like all runs,
you could find fault, and if I had to criticize anything it was that I
shifted a little early because [the car] felt like it was going to shake
the tires.  And by shifting early that meant the clutch slipped and the
probably cost a hundredth of a second.  But I'm not going to complain, it
was a good run."
        Reichert is chasing Michigan neighbor Shawn Bowen for this year's
NHRA division title.  Bowen, of Montrose, Mich., slowed to a 5.822-second
run at just 189 mph when the supercharger drive belt on his dragster broke
at mid-track.
        "It looked like Shawn was on a real good run then," agreed
Reichert, who trails Bowen by 43 points, the equivalent of two rounds of
racing.  "If the [supercharger] belt hadn't broke I'm sure he would have
run a low 5.60 or high 5.50."
        The points spread in Federal-Mogul Funny Car is much closer as
White leads Joliet, Ill.'s John Lawson by just 11 points.  White's 5.832
second run was enough to lead Lawson's 5.913.
        Qualifying resumes in all categories Saturday at 9:00 a.m., with
Federal-Mogul Dragster and Federal-Mogul Funny Car scheduled to complete
their qualifying attempts at 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m.


        The following are Friday's qualifying results from the NHRA
Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series event at Beech Bend Raceway Park, Bowling
Green, Ky.:

FEDERAL-MOGUL DRAGSTER
1. Bill Reichert, Owosso, Mich., 5.609 seconds, 252.85 mph
2. Jeff Wilson, Winfield, Mo., 5.642, 250.04
3. Bill McCornack, Lexington, Ky., 5.703, 244.60
4. Shawn Bowen, Montrose, Mich., 5.822, 189.90
5. Mike Miller, Okemos, Mich., 10.434, 73.05
6. Gary Ward, Cincinnati, Ohio, 13.853, 52.02
7. Randy Bayne, Elwood, Ind., 16.312, 61.47

FEDERAL-MOGUL FUNNY CAR 
1. Marc White, Glendale Heights, Ill., '99 Firebird, 5.832 seconds, 245.94
mph
2. John Lawson, Joliet, Ill., '99 Firebird, 5.913, 244.60
3. Kim Fritts, Greenup, Ill., '98 Firebird, 5.917, 236.88
4. Danny Townsend, Muncie, Ind., '97 Firebird, 6.170, 199.14
5. Chuck Cheeseman, Galena, Ohio, '98 Firebird, 6.839, 144.71

COMP ELIMINATOR
1. Joey Tanksley, Baton Rouge, La., B/ED dragster, 7.088 seconds
(0.532-second under Index)
2. David Rampy, Piedmont, Ala., B/ED dragster, 7.113 (-0.507)
3. Ed Bennett III, Carleton, Mich., AA/A '63 Corvette, 7.163 (-0.487)
4. Wayne Henderson, Indianapolis, Ind., A/ED dragster, 6.891 (-0.479)
5. Gary Merrick, Youngstown, Ohio, B/ED dragster, 7.144 (-0.476)
6. Mike Farrell, Louisville, Ky., A/EA '32 Chevrolet, 7.574 (-0.456)
7. Michael Johnson, Lowell, Ark., C/ED dragster, 7.545 (-0.445)
8. Steve Ambrose, Woodhaven, Mich., I/A '23-T Ford, 8.050 (-0.440)
9. Larry Mayes, Greenwood, Ind., D/SM '96 Achieva, 8.335 (-0.435)
10. Robert Book, Frankfort, Ind., A/D dragster, 6.670 (-0.430)

SUPER STOCK
1. Jeff Sexton, Fairborn, Ohio, SS/AX '84 Chevrolet, 8.999 seconds
(1.001-seconds under Index)
2. Brent Johnson, Lecompte, La., SS/NA '66 Chevrolet, 11.525 (-0.925)
3. Mike Cates, Milan, Tenn., SS/M '64 Mercury, 10.975 (-0.925)
4. Randy Wilkes, Zanesville,Ohio, GT/GA '89 Chevrolet, 10.318 (-0.882)
5. Steve Matukas, Alvaton, Ky., SS/HA '67 Chevrolet, 10.021 (-0.879)
6. Joey Wilkes, Zanesville, Ohio, GT/FA '92 Chevrolet, 10.226 (-0.874)
7. Dave Dupuis, Baton Rouge, La., SS/BM '97 Oldsmobile, 8.847 (-0.853)
8. Robin Brown, Madisonville, Ky., SS/K '66 Chevrolet, 10.451 (-0.849)
9. Don O'Malley, Decatur, Ill., SS/KA '64 Chevrolet, 10.709 (-0.841)
10. Tony Matracea, Memphis, Tenn., GT/B '91 Oldsmobile, 9.564 (-0.836)

STOCK ELIMINATOR
1. Gary Russell, East Sparta, Ohio, L/S '94 Ford, 11.768 seconds
(1.232-seconds under Index)
2. Jennifer Dziorny, Wixom, Mich., CT/SA '94 Dodge, 12.258 (-1.092)
3. George Widuch, Hermitage, Tenn., K/SA '78 Plymouth, 11.877 (-1.073)
4. Woodro Josey, Byron, Ga., D/SA '98 Pontiac, 10.814 (-1.036)
5. Judy McCormack, Milford, Mich., DT/SA '99 Dodge, 12.484 (-1.016)
6. Al Provoast, Whittemore, Mich., N/SA '79 Buick, 12.289 (-1.011)
7. Bill Rink, Naperville, Ill., L/SA '74 Pontiac, 12.023 (-0.977)
8. Verne Buchanan, Conway, Ark., J/SA '73 Ford, 11.786 (-0.964)
9. James Penta, Greenville, R.I., D/S '98 Pontiac, 10.860 (-0.940)
10. Jerry Mulkey, Burbank, Wash., N/S '91 Chevrolet, 12.313 (-0.937)


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