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Fri, 1 Oct 1999, 09:36 PM

TOPEKA - Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #2

By Bob Orme

Right lane blues

TOPEKA, Kan. - Notes from round 2 qualifying in Funny Car at the 11th annual Advance Auto Parts Nationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time/top speed this round, position in order following run, best prior elapsed time/speed, and position in order prior to run:

Left Lane: Jack Wyatt Runs 5.905/166.66, Now #13; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Dean Skuza Runs 15.423/49.96, Now #19; Best prior run: 15.531/47.05, Was #18

7:30 PM and the Funny Cars are ready for round two qualifying. Skuza's second pass is identical to his first, up in smoke immediately. Wyatt was off the throttle at about 900', perhaps by design to give his crew chief some data to work with.

Left Lane: Del Worsham Runs 5.021/306.40, Now #4; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 16.373/71.38, Now #19; Best prior run: 10.296/79.28, Was #18

Wilkerson boils the hides before moving two feet. Worsham has a trouble-free run here.

Left Lane: Ron Capps No Time, Now #18; Best prior run: 9.885/80.02, Was #18
Right Lane: Dale Creasy Jr. Runs 7.348/112.54, Now #16; Best prior run: 7.905/118.91, Was #16

Capps shut it off at the line, not sure why. Creasy moved toward the centerline at mid track, straightened it out, then lost traction, overloading the engine. He left a little oil on the track so we have a break for clean up.

Left Lane: Gary Densham Runs 13.540/78.49, Now #17; Best prior run: 9.715/96.46, Was #17
Right Lane: Al Hofmann Runs 12.555/65.79, Now #10; Best prior run: 5.339/270.05, Was #10

The break lasted a little longer than expected (22 minutes) as NHRA officials determined the starting line needed scraping. Both cars are up in smoke, Densham at about 20' and Hofmann at 100'.

Left Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 4.894/305.01, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.498/197.25, Was #13
Right Lane: Jerry Toliver Runs 20.202/47.64, Now #8; Best prior run: 5.156/299.66, Was #7

Pedregon tears up the track, and his left front tire. It was almost flat when he got the car stopped. He said steering the car was "different" on this pass. Toliver smokes'em immediately and clicks it off.

Left Lane: Larry Huff Runs 5.564/216.13, Now #13; Best prior run: 5.444/237.55, Was #13
Right Lane: Jim Epler Runs 21.453/23.72, Now #7; Best prior run: 5.117/275.96, Was #7

Epler moved 20 feet before losing traction. Huff was mixing up the cylinders from 1000', on down, with a flash coming from the rear of the car at the finish.

Left Lane: Frank Pedregon Runs 5.148/283.97, Now #8; Best prior run: 5.285/285.35, Was #10
Right Lane: Whit Bazemore Runs 18.590/58.52, Now #6; Best prior run: 5.099/287.11, Was #6

Bazemore only moved a few feet before the tires got loose. The right lane is not being kind to many drivers tonight. Pedregon had no apparent problems, but Jim Dunn was probably looking for a better ET than they got.

Left Lane: Cory Lee Runs 5.793/197.74, Now #10; Best prior run: 5.165/299.80, Was #10
Right Lane: Cristen Powell Runs 5.490/188.70, Now #3; Best prior run: 4.971/263.56, Was #3

Lee lost traction at 330' then pedaled through it. Powell was on a good pass when the candles went out at about 800'.

Left Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 5.900/161.79, Now #4; Best prior run: 5.012/295.14, Was #4
Right Lane: John Force Runs 5.282/225.18, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.920/303.84, Was #2

Force pedaled it at 330' and I couldn't see if he had visible problems at the top end of the track, due to Johnson smoking the tires big time at half track. That completes round two of Funny Car qualifying with Tony Pedregon on the pole with a 4.894 second ET and Dale Creasy Jr. on the bump with a 7.348 second ET.