NHRA FMDRS: Rain halts racing at Memphis, again

MEMPHIS- The constant rain and cold that plagued Memphis Motorsports park yesterday returned and made final round qualifying impossible. The weather prevented racers in nine classes: Federal-Mogul Dragster, Federal-Mogul Funny Car, Competition, Super Stock, Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street, and Motorcycle from trying to take the quarter mile and earn valuable points towards divisional and national championships. Leading the field so far in Federal-Mogul Dragster is last years winner of this event and the driver that finished number two nationally, Jay Meyer. Meyer from Freeport, Texas ran a blistering run down the quarter mile track clocking an elapsed time of 5.394 second at 260.01 mph. Not only was his elapsed time a personal best, it was good enough to hold off the hard charging Spring, Texas native Troy Buff for the top spot after the first round. Buff, who remains in the number two position with a time of 5.450 seconds and 259.51 mph. In Federal-Mogul Funny Car, Randy Fleming of Independence, Missouri leads the field with a 5.985 second run at 245.23 mph. Fleming has the only sub six-second pass of the day in first round qualifying. The following are Saturday's results after the first round of qualifying from the NHRA Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series event at Memphis Motorsports Park:

FEDERAL-MOGUL DRAGSTER 1. Jay Meyer, Freeport, Texas, 5.394 seconds, 260.01 mph 2. Troy Buff, Spring, Texas, 5.450, 259.51 3. Shelly Howard, Tulsa, Okla., 5.566, 253.33 4. Keith, Stark, Danville, Ill., 5.620, 253.66 5. Lee Callaway, Channelview, Texas, 5.751, 248.71 6. Randy Meyer, Spring Hill, Kan., 5.784, 238.68 7. Larry Becktold, Luther, Okla., 6.664, 207.66 8. James Thompson, Vernon, Texas, 9.095, 91.93 9. Bill Reichert, Owosso, Mich., 9.278, 94.65

FEDERAL-MOGUL FUNNY CAR 1. Randy Fleming, Independence, Mo., '99 Firebird, 5.985 seconds, 245.23 mph 2. Warren Dauzat, Baton Rouge, La., '96 Achieva, 6.093, 239.10 3. Earl Johnston, Viloet, La., '99 Achieva, 6.434, 205.35 4. Jody Austin, Richland Hills, Texas, '97 Cutlass, 7.386, 132.84 5. Todd Simpson, Ponder, Texas, '99 Avenger, 7.389, 131.54 6. Ray Heffron, Fort Worth, Texas, '97 Camaro, 8.834, 133.12 7. Jackie Stidham, Chickasha, Okla., '00 Camaro, 10.868, 77.28

COMP ELIMINATOR 1. Brian Browell, Lafayette, Ind., '97 Dragster, D/D, 7.322 seconds, -0.758 under index 2. Brad Warren, Texarkana, Texas, '98 Firebird, D/AA, 7.829, -0.721 3. Don Stratton Jr., Benoit, Ohio, '34 Chevrolet, B/SR, 8.113, -0.677 4. Larry Pritchett, Clarkrange, Tenn., '98 Grand Am, E/SM, 8.323, -0.647 5. David Rampy, Piedmont, Ala., '32 Bantam, C/ED, 7.466, -0.634 6. Donald Baskin, Brighton, Tenn., '99 Olds, F/A, 8.631, -0.589 7. Rob Slavinski, Newark, Ohio, '96 Grand Prix, B/AA, 7.338, -0.582 8. Scott Benham, La Grange, Texas, '96 Lumina, D/AA, 7.990, -0.560 9. Joe Swearengin, Overland Park, Texas, '97 Oldsmobile, D/EA, 8.480, -0.550 10. Wayne Hutton, Portland, Tenn., '92 Oldsmobile, A/SM, 8.542, -0.538

SUPER STOCK Postponed until Sunday due to rain

STOCK ELIMINATOR 1. Bobby Dennis, Shorter, Ala., '82 Cutlass, U/SA, 13.712 seconds, -1.438 under index 2. Marty Woffard, Gore, Okla., '66 Nova, L/S, 11.707, -1.293 3. George Cox, Memphis, '97 Trans Am, E/SA, 10.846, -1.154 4. Amy Faulk, Memphis, '00 Firebird, F/SA, 11.006, -1.144 5. Jeff Swanson, Arlington, Tenn., '93 Mustang, K/S, 11.715, -1.135 6. Verne Buchanon, Conway, Ark., '73 Mustang, I/SA, 11.494, -1.106 7. Larry Thomason, Union City, Tenn., '74 Corvette, J/SA, 11.655, -1.095 8. Eric Wingo, Springfield, Tenn., '67 Camaro, H/S, 11.226, -1.074 9. Nathan Davis, Hernando, Miss., '00 Chevrolet, G/SA, 11.234, -1.066 10. Jerry Bennett, Mayfield, Ky., '79 Aspen, I/SA, 11.546, -1.054