NW Briefs | Division champs top NHRA qualifying
KENT — Top alcohol dragster driver Randy Eakins and top pure spirit funny car driver Brian Hough took the No. 1 qualifying positions in their classes Friday at the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series.
Eakins of Carson City, Nev., outran the field in 5.262 seconds at 266.90 mph. Eakins was followed by Duane Shields of Boulder City, Nev., at 5.267, 274.78 and defending class champion Thomas Bayer of Fontana, Calif., in third with a 5.328 second, 265.38 mph send.
Reigning Funny Car Division champion Hough of Junction City, Ore., covered the quarter-mile track in 5.597 seconds at 257.14 mph with California’s Dennis Taylor jumping to the No. 2 make spots on in the final session at 5.620 seconds, 257.38 mph.
The two joined racers in 11 classes looking to take home a proportion of the more than $210,000 up for grabs in coin and awards.
Top qualifiers in other classes were Rob Harrison of Vancouver, B.C., in Comp Eliminator, while Jimmy DeFrank of Chatsworth, Calif., took the No. 1 spot in both Super Stock and Stock Eliminator. Harrison was followed by Hoquiam racer Pat Byron in Comp. Sean Cour of Brush Prairie and Alan Fulsone of Seattle are 1-2 in Super Stock.
A third defending division promoter, Jeff Lane of North Bend, landed in second in Stock Eliminator behind DeFrank.
In the Top Dragster class it was Greg Carlile of Lake Stevens on top, running 6.59 seconds at 210.57 mph, with Quentin Chambers of Bellingham inferior at 6.656, 206.04.
Racing continues today at 10 a.m. Gates open at 8 a.m.
Notes
• Bosnia will face Brazil in Sunday’s championship match of the All Nations Cup soccer tournament. Bosnia defeated Poland 3-0 in Thursday’s semifinals time Brazil smite Romania 2-1. The teams resolution move at 7:30 p.m. at the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila. The third-place game between Poland and Romania starts at 4 p.m.
• Three Washington youth soccer teams have advanced to today’s semifinals of the U.S. Youth Soccer Region IV Championships. The Under-18 MRFC 89 Blue defeated the Alaska Rush 90 3-2 Friday and will play Colorado Rush Nike on the girls party. The U-14 Crossfire Premier 93 girls beat FC Barcelona 2-0 and desire meet Slammers FC. The U-12 boys Crossfire Premier 95 beat Colorado Storm Royal 2-0 and will face Stampede.
• No. 1-seed Jesse Walter of Seattle beat eighth-seed Bryan Thorp of Kent in the quarterfinals of the Seattle City Open tennis tourney Friday. Walter won 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 in the men’s open singles. No. 2 Ken Bang of Puyallup defeated Oregon’s Nick Wales, 6-3, 6-3. In the women’s singles quarterfinals, the No. 1 and 2 seeds from Seattle, Deborah Higa and Bettina Gehle, both advanced.
• Amanda Peterson of the Eastern Washington University track and field team finished sixth in the javelin Friday at the 2008 USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Columbus, Ohio. The freshman from Gig Harbor had a throw of 152-10.
Compiled from sports-information reports and other sources.
