Australian drivers Jamie Noonan and Shane Tucker both made it through the first round of competition at the NHRA Carolina Nationals at Charlotte’s zMAX Dragway.
Noonan was taking part in his first ever NHRA national event in his Top Alcohol Dragster, after making an appearance at a divisional event last weekend. The team found the sweet spot in Q2 and ran a 5.293/272mph to qualify 11th.
In the first round Noonan faced tough opponent Shane Conway, but the race became anyone’s win light when both drivers went up in smoke on the hit. Noonan managed to recover first for a 6.33/254mph round win. He then faced Canadian Dan Mercier in the quarter finals and while the tyres stayed stuck this time, Mercier’s 5.17 defeated Noonan’s personal best 5.27/276mph.
Tucker meanwhile slotted into 14th place in the Pro Stock field with a 6.595/209mph. That put him up against the formidable Jason Line in round one. But Tucker was not intimidated and welded Line to the tree with a .005 to .123 holeshot, allowing Tucker’s 6.574 to defeat Line’s 6.544.
Tucker faced Aaron Stanfield in round two but this time left second with a .03 light to Stanfield’s .016, as both drivers clocked 6.56 second runs at the finish line.
