Fri, 05 Oct 2012, 14:31 PM Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Jim Samuel

MOHNTON, Pa. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 28th annual Auto-Plus NHRA Nationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Left Lane: Mike Smith Runs 4.761/178.00, Now #2
Right Lane: Blake Alexander Runs 4.189/299.93, Now #1

1:59 p.m. - Weather conditions: air temperature 79 degrees, relative humidity 52 percent, barometer 29.46 inches, adjusted altitude 2,554 feet, track temperature 104 degrees.

Smith spun the rear tires from the start before he backed off the throttle. Alexander took his car straight down his lane.

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Left Lane: Todd Lesenko Runs 4.298/270.05, Now #3
Right Lane: Jim Head Runs 4.107/301.60, Now #1

Lesenko's crew had trouble getting the body of his car down after they started the engine. By the time they got it down, Head had already made his burnout and was backing up. Lesenko made an abbreviated burnout and staged. Both drivers kept their cars straight but Lesenko's car started dropping cylinders at mid track.

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Left Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 5.219/146.48, Now #6
Right Lane: Alexis DeJoria Runs 4.165/294.95, Now #2

Pedregon got to mid track when his car started losing cylinders and trailing smoke. DeJoria took her car down the middle of her lane to move into the number two spot in the order for now.

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Left Lane: Bob Tasca III Runs 9.742/80.44, Now #8
Right Lane: Matt Hagan Runs 4.098/297.35, Now #1

Tasca's rear tires went up in smoke as soon as he launched. Hagan's car popped the blower as he crossed the finish line.

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Left Lane: John Force Runs 4.114/307.65, Now #3
Right Lane: Jeff Arend Runs 4.137/306.95, Now #4

Force and Arend had clean, straight runs to move the third and fourth spots in the qualifying order.

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Left Lane: Johnny Gray Runs 7.397/82.20, Now #11
Right Lane: Robert Hight Runs 4.113/308.92, Now #3

Gray got to mid track when he smoked the rear tires and shut it down. Hight went down the groove to move into number three.

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Left Lane: Courtney Force Runs 4.091/311.99, Now #1
Right Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 4.150/284.15, Now #7

Force took over the top spot in the qualifying order with a nice run down the track. Wilkerson's run looked okay but was only quick enough to put him into the number seven spot.

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Left Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 4.034/313.00, Now #2
Right Lane: Mike Neff Runs 4.026/315.93, Now #1

Two good runs put Neff and Pedregon in the one and two spots in the order for now. This was a career best ET for Neff.

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Left Lane: Jack Beckman Runs 4.121/308.28, Now #8
Right Lane: Ron Capps Runs 7.485/88.37, Now #17

Capps smoked the rear tires at 330 feet and clicked it off. Beckman had some tire shake but drove through it.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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