Columbus Saturday summary

REIGNING NATIONAL CHAMPION; FORMER OLYMPIAN LEAD QUALIFYING

HEBRON, Ohio. -- In the final rounds of qualifying for this weekend's NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series at National Trail Raceway reigning Top Alcohol Dragster National Champion Bill Reichert and former Olympian Marty Nothstein took the top honors.

Reichert of Owosso, Mich., is No. 1 in Top Alcohol Dragster with a pass of 5.403 seconds at 260.51 mph while Noah Condo sits in second at 5.419, 261.83 mph. Reichert currently leads both the NHRA national points chase and the North Central Division points standings picking up five wins already in the 2007 racing season.

Nothstein outran the Top Alcohol Funny Car field running 253.42 mph in 5.730 seconds in his Texas Roadhouse sponsored '07 Charger. Nothstein is a former Olympic Gold Medalists in cycling and has seven cycling world championships as well. He is looking for his third win of the year and hopes to pick up his first championship in the National Hot Rod Association this year.

Andy Bohl is second in funny car with a 5.790 second, 247.79 mph run with John Bejec right behind at 5.797 at 237.67 mph.

Jason Coan picked up a thousandth of a second to better his No. 1 qualifying time in Comp Eliminator to 8.418 seconds at 152.95 mph in his '32 roadster. The Greentown, Ind., racer is followed by Brian Russell of Lafayette, Ind., in second.

A pair of Ohio racers lead the Dart Top Sportsman class with David Roemer of Avon, Ohio, on top with a 6.850 second run at 205.19 mph. Stephen Brineger is second out of Germantown, Ohio, at 6.927, 201.55 mph. Local favorite Mike Coughlin is fifth in the 27-car field running 7.021 seconds, 198.64 mph.

In Super Stock, Joseph Franco III held on to the top spot with a 10.393 second lap in his '85 Camaro while Coughlin's brother John remained in third with Tom Plant of Rosedale, Ind., in the No. 2 spot. John Coughlin is pulling double duty this weekend, also running in the Spitzer Race Cars Top Dragster class which is led by Tom Elliott of Brooks, Ohio. Elliott clocked in at 6.509 seconds, 209.33 mph and is followed by Angela Sicilia in a '48 Fiat running 6.521 at 214.01 mph.

Bert Morgan leads the Stock Eliminator class into round one with Phil Pierce of Troy, Ohio, in the second spot and Bruce Witherspoon in third.

-credit: nhra