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NHRA: Thunder Valley Results

26 September 1999


NHRA FEDERAL-MOGUL DRAG RACING SERIES
THUNDER VALLEY RACEWAY PARK
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1999

WENDLAND, SWAYNE TOP QUALIFIERS AT THUNDER VALLEY

NOBLE, Okla.- Rob Wendland and Pete Swayne took the pole positions in
Federal-Mogul Dragster and Funny Car respectively at the O'Reilly Thunder
Valley Autumn Classic.  Swayne, driving the Goodwin & Swayne Pontiac Funny
Car recorded passes of 5.081 and 5.082 seconds at 249.23 mph. Swayne out of
Orange, Calif. is looking to wrap up the NHRA Pacific Division Funny Car
Championship this weekend.  Swayne can score out-of-division points here in
the NHRA South Central Divison toward the championship in his home
division.

        "Win or loose, if we make it to the final, we'll win the division.
We're feeling real good right now," said Swayne. "My driving has come back
around this weekend, I don't want to let the crew down. 

        "That last pass should have been a .72 (5.72 seconds pass)" replied
Randy Goodwin, the car owner. "I could see Pete move toward the centerline
then back toward the guardwall. The car was starting to spin the tires, if
not for that, we would have had the .72."

Jackie Stidham, of Chickasha, Okla., goes into tomorrow's eliminations qualified 
sixth in funny car while other locals Ron Morrison and Ron Rice, both of 
Oklahoma City, failed to make the show.  Morrison missed the making the field 
by less than a tenth of a second recording a best pass of 6.278 seconds at 
226.13 mph.

Rob Wendland has been on a terror in the dragster category recording two 
divisional wins and national event victories at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill. 
and at the Sears Craftsman Nationals in Madison, Ill. Wendland recorded a 
first run of 5.717 seconds, then bettered it, qualifing on the pole with a 
5.667 second pass at 247.24 mph.  Wendland is followed by four Texans including 
Darrell Russell and Troy Buff who are both in a points battle with Shelly 
Howard from Tulsa, Okla. 

Howard had a wild ride in the first qualifying session when her dragster got 
out of shape and headed for the opposite lane. Howard got the car straightened 
out but slowed to a non-qualifying 8.666 second run.  However, she covered the 
quartermile in 5.835 on her second attempt and locked up the number five 
qualifying position and a first round match-up with points leader Russell.

Other racers sharing in the $2,500 Winston Top Qualifier award money are
Joey Tanksley in Comp Eliminator and Alabama resident Bob Dennis in Super
Stock.  Tanksley's '92 dragster recorded a pass of 7.084 seconds while
Dennis was clocked at 14.033 seconds. Ronnie Cardwell currently sits in the
number one spot in Stock Eliminator with one more qualifying session later
tonight.

The following are final qualifying results and first round pairings
from the NHRA Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series event at Thunder Valley
Raceway Park, Noble, Okla.:

FEDERAL-MOGUL DRAGSTER
First Round Pairings
1. Rob Wendland, Lawrence, Kan., 5.667 seconds, 252.24 mph vs. 8. Kent
Nuckols, Albuquerque, N.M., 5.901, 240.00
2. James Tompson Jr., Vernon, Texas, 5.674, 249.34 vs. 7. Lee Callaway,
Channelview, Texas, 5.837, 237.27
3. Darrell Russell, Cypress, Texas, 5.691, 249.37 vs. 6. Shelly Howard,
Tulsa, Okla., 5.835, 245.43
4. Billy Bybee, McLean, Texas, 5.791, 243.37 vs. 5. Troy Buff, Spring,
Texas, 5.795, 246.10
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9. Sergio Recio, El Paso, Texas, 5.992, 236.46
10. Jay Meyer, Freeport, Texas, 6.007, 235.29
11. Gene Snow, Ft. Worth, Texas, 6.054, 212.91
12. Brian Ratliff, Tahlequah, Okla., 6.110, 233.64
13. Larry Traugott, Woodward, Okla., 6.136, 232.31
14. Gerald Grossman, Garden City, Kan., 6.384, 209.64
15. Larry Becktold, 6.599, 205.38
16. Bill Ancona, Mansfield, Texas, 7.286, 173.21
17. David Wells, Le Mars, Iowa, 12.565, 61.62

FEDERAL-MOGUL FUNNY CAR
First Round Pairings
1. Pete Swayne, Orange, Calif., '98 Pontiac Firebird, 5.801, 249.23 vs. 8.
Richard Shaver, San Antonio, Texas, '98 Avenger, 6.186, 225.05
2. Jimmy Jones, Cleburne, Texas, '97 Chevrolet, Camaro, 5.828, 245.23 vs.
7. Doug Gordon, Paso Robles, Calif., '99 Pontiac, 6.066, 237.78
3. Tate Branch, Artesia, N.M., '98 Dodge Avenger, 5.934, 226.81 vs. 6.
Jackie Stidham, Chickasha, Okla., '98 Oldsmobile Achieva, 6.052, 238.47
4. Randy Fleming, Independence, Mo., '99 Pontiac, 5.966, 239.17 vs. 5. Todd
Simpson, Ponder, Texas, '99 Avenger, 6.015, 211.66
___________________________________________________________________________
_____
9. Kurt Prososki, Bellevue, Neb., '96 Dodge, 6.270, 230.59
10. Ron Morrison, Oklahoma City, Okla., '97 Oldsmobile Cutlass, 6.278,
226.13
11. Douglas Markham, Midwest City, Okla., '98 Cutlass, 6.401, 206.89
12. Jason Rupert, Placentia, Calif., '98 Camaro, 6.570, 224.71
13. Bob Alberty, Muskogee, Okla., '97 Firebird, 6.735, 134.00
14. Skater George Chambers, Del City, Oklahoma, '93 Dodge, 7.951, 173.37
15. Ray Heffron, Ft. Worth, Texas, '97 Camaro, 8.398, 115.75
16. Ron Rice, Oklahoma City, Okla., '96 Dodge Daytona, 8.876, 177.33
17. Ben Harper, Arroyo Grande, Calif., '97 Pontias, 13.395, 61.69 

COMP ELIMINATOR
1. Joey Tanksley, Baton Rouge, La., B/ED '92 dragster, 7.084 seconds,
-0.526 under index
2. David Cook Jr., Houston, Texas, B/D '96 dragster, 6.988, -0.512
3. Pete Carbery, Odessa, Texas, B/A '89 Cutlass, 7.36, -0.509 
4. John Linton, Tonkawa, Okla., C/ED '97 dragster, 7.513, -0.477
5. Andy Manna Jr., Corona, Calif., D/EA '90 Pontiac, 8.545, -0.455
6. Bill Kent, Midland, Texas, C/D '95 dragster, 7.251, -0.439
7. R. Bryan Morrison, Chino Hills, Calif., B/SM '92 Camaro, 8.933, -0.437
8. Charlie Stewart, Arlington, Texas, A/ED dragster, 6.935, -0.435
9. John Fairleigh, Scott City, Kan., B/A '97 Firebird, 7.441, -0.429
10. Greg Williams, Carthage, Texas, D/SM '90 Firebird, 8.354, -0.416

SUPER STOCK
1. Bob Dennis, Shorter, Ala., GT/MA '97 Firehawk, 11.033 seconds, -1.017
seconds under index
2. Terry Emmons, Pasadena, Texas, SS/JA '96 Pontiac, 10.349, -0.951
3. Randall Klein, Lincoln, Neb., SS/NA '56 Nomad, 11.504, -0.946
4. Gary Stinnett, Eporia, Kan., GT/IA '99 Pontiac, 10.565, -0.935
5. Brent, Johnson, Lecompte, La., SS/NA '66 Impala, 11.533, -0.917
6. Ronnie Cardwell, Ruston, La., GT/HA '95 Oldsmobile, 10.502, -0.846
7. Ron Taylor, Lincoln, Neb., SS/MA '57 Chevrolet, 11.306, -0.844
8. Tony DeFrank, Tarzana, Calif., GT/GA '98 Pontiac, 10.383, -0.817
9. Bob Shahan, Little Rock, Ark., SS/C '66 Corvette, 9.564, -0.804
10. Jeffrey Miller, Pearlan, Texas, GT/AA '97 Firehawk, 9.610, -0.790

STOCK ELIMINATOR
1. Ronnie Cardwell, Ruston, La., K/SA '90 Pontiac, 12.018 seconds, -0.932
under index
2. Jim Cimarolli, Sulphur, Springs, Texas, C/SA '70 Chevrolet, 10.797,
-0.903
3. Billy, Lynn, Searcy, Ark., K/SA '79 Malibu, 12.091, -0.859
4. Martin Burke, Flower Mound, Texas, C/SA '69 Mustang, 10.877, -0.823 
5. Barron Gill, Winnsboro, La., C/S '70 Nova, 10.906, -0.744
6. Bob Dennis, Shorter, Ala., U/SA '82 Cutlass, 14.431, -0.719
7. Sharla Jeffrion, Belle Rose, La., G/SA '98 Camaro, 11.582, -0.718
8. Pat Jeffrion, Belle Rose, La., F/SA '98 Chevrolet, 11.440, -0.710
9. Jeff Hefler, Mansfield, Texas, F/SA '97 Pontiac, 11.458, -0.692
10. Mike Wenke, Conway Springs, Kan., B/SA '69 Mustang, 10.862, -0.688