2015 Alpinks Thunder Road - Labor Day Eliminations

OK guys some pics of the fields as they qualified.

Super Stock





first and last qualifiers are not pictured as that hauler pulled out before all the picture opportunities were exhausted

Gasser





again, empty spaces are cars that left early

Econo





Tom's #10 Blue Bantam qualified 4th but missed the photo op.

a couple over all pics of the qualified fields.





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first round eliminations.
please forgive that I didn't properly document all the details of the first round and so this will be a brief explanation and note of car that advances to next round.

Super Stock

pre eliminations to round out field

#14 Darryl Purple Charger 10th qualified vs #10 Tom red 69 Camaro qualified 11th.
Darryl advances


#12 Darryl green Charger qualified 8th vs #3 Dennis white Firebird qualified 9th
Darryl advances


#9 Jeff black Fairlane qualified 2nd vs #8 Mac purple Camaro qualified 6th.
Jeff advances

first full round of eliminations 8 cars


#11 Tom Yellow Coronet qualified 1st vs #14 Darryl qualified 10th.
Tom advances 1.310 ET


#4 Sam Purple 64 GTO qualified 4th vs #13 CJ brown 67 GTO qualified 5th.
CJ advances 1.448 ET

#7 Mac red Camaro qualified 3rd vs #9 Jeff black Firebird qualified 2nd.
Jeff advances 1.475 ET

#12 Darryl green Charger qualified 8th vs #2 Jeff red Vette qualified 7th
Darryl advances 1.690 ET

**** NOTE **** apparently the starting grid was FUBARED placing Jeffs #9 black Fairlane that qualified 2nd in the pre-eliminations instead of the #2 red Vette that qualified 7th.
the driver(me) red lit the #2 red Vette against Darryl green Challenger .... some other red lights have not been documented properly.
I apologize for all the errors and inconsistencies, especially the red lights. hopefully no other errors were made but if I come across them I will make a note.
also pics weren't available for all these runs and I apologize for that as well. everyone likes pics and hopefully I can provide them in the remaining coverage.
I have no excuse and certainly no justifiable reasons for the FUBARs and I take complete responsibility.

Ditto on the red lights....It's all good Al!! I know how difficult it can be keeping everything straight......trust me on that!

ECONO
pre-elimination

#3 Dennis Evil Intentions qualified 8th vs #1 Robert Blue Altered qualified 9th.
Robert advances

first round eliminations

#9 Jeff Grape Ape qualified 1st vs #1 Robert Blue Altered qualified 9th.
Jeff advances

#10 Tom Blue Bantam qualified 4th vs #16 Dale Optima rail qualified 5th.
Tom advances

#12 Darryl Furious Fueler qualified 3rd vs #14 Darryl Blue rail qualified 6th
Darryl Furious Fueler advances

#2 Jeff Amalie rail qualified 2nd vs # 4 Sam Alanabi rail qualified 7th
Sam advances

    I'm not sure what that goat has in it Sam. Guess we will see.  

Tom and I made many adjustments to a lot of cars that didn't run well and/or deslotted in qualifying.
some of the deslots were caused by excessive pick up shoe spring tension, which we could do little about.
pick up shoes were cleaned before every pass.
Tom made every effort to ensure that cars launched successfully, even if he had to dirty tires a little on cars with too much traction.
we carefully lubed when necessary. during qualifying if two cars deslotted, we didn't count that attempt, tried to make adjustments then re-ran those lanes.
I think we were successful in getting the cars to run the full 1/8 mile during eliminations even if qualifying wasn't what we OR YOU had hoped.
in some cases braids were a mess and in one case, we were worried one might become detached from the pickup shoe.
we used all our shared and individual experience to make these cars get a full pass.
there was breakage of guide pin on one car and that prevented finish in that elimination.
I aplogize for not documenting RT, ET and MPH better. I usually do that well.
pictures of car pairings in qualification will be made available via link to my PB account soon.
we did not take pictures of every pairing during eliminations nor stage the finish for pictures.
I am sorry that we did not and may have lessened your enjoyment. I fully intend on improving.
*** NEWS BULLETIN *** all future races on this track will be "two speed". after a short distance at medium voltage that is through controllers, both lanes will be powered by a separate power supply at a higher voltage.
this will give the visual illusion of the cars shifting gears and I intend to have my video techniques prepared to capture that.
Tom and I had a blast hosting this event and I thank Tom very much for his efforts, expertise, knowledge and assistance.
while this could have been accomplished alone it was much more fun with his participation.
Please shop with our Sponsors: Hairy Canary and Eagle Racing.
their contributional support allows me to reward all participants at some level
my great THANKS to them for voluntarily pledging their support and following through.
mostly, THANK all of YOU for trusting me with your cars and allowing me to have a great day running this drag meet.