Fri, 29 Oct 1999, 08:59 PM HOUSTON - Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #2

By Bob Orme Getting the track figured out

BAYTOWN, Texas - Notes from round 2 qualifying in Funny Car at the 3rd annual Matco Tools SuperNationals presented by Racing Champions 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:

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Left Lane: Bob Gilbertson Runs 7.907/127.35, Now #12; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Jack Wyatt Runs 12.474/72.01, Now #18; No Prior Run

7:08 PM and the Funny Cars are doing their burnouts. Both cars lost traction at around 200', with Gilbertson feathering the throttle past half track.

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Left Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 7.325/146.09, Now #10; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Dale Creasy Jr. Runs 14.091/85.90, Now #20; Best prior run: 13.604/88.17, Was #19

Creasy was up in smoke on the hit, the same for Wilkerson by the 60' mark. Wilkerson hit the throttle again, lifted the front, and pedaled it three more times on the way to the finish.

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Left Lane: Al Hofmann Runs 5.136/287.72, Now #2; Best prior run: 10.594/78.38, Was #18
Right Lane: Frank Pedregon Runs 5.083/288.03, Now #1; Best prior run: 9.613/95.60, Was #16

Both drivers keep the candles lit the full length of the track, some sparks coming out from under Pedregon's car at the finish.

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Left Lane: Kenny Sayers Runs 5.175/291.95, Now #4; Best prior run: 10.141/72.57, Was #18
Right Lane: Jim Epler Runs 6.236/146.94, Now #11; Best prior run: 9.268/96.09, Was #17

Sayers moves way up the ladder here, to the delight of the hometown crowd. Epler was off the throttle before half track, I'm not sure why.

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Left Lane: Ron Capps Runs 5.224/207.56, Now #7; Best prior run: 9.209/91.04, Was #18

Capps was on a pretty decent pass when he drifted very close to the wall at about 800', where he shut it down.

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Left Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 4.935/314.46, Now #1; Best prior run: 7.419/116.14, Was #16
Right Lane: Gary Densham Runs 5.628/253.66, Now #12; Best prior run: 7.766/111.60, Was #17

Johnson has a picture perfect pass while making the first sub five-second Funny Car run of the event. Densham lost traction at 300', pedaled it, but never really got the car back into the groove.

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Left Lane: Scotty Cannon Runs 5.160/292.65, Now #6; Best prior run: 7.001/123.45, Was #15
Right Lane: Del Worsham Runs 5.153/275.73, Now #5; Best prior run: 7.102/120.87, Was #16

Both drivers do a quick pedal of their cars, Cannon at 60', Worsham an instant later. Cannon is running an all red "test body" on the car.

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Left Lane: John Force Runs 4.811/321.12, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.257/215.41, Was #11
Right Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 5.142/227.08, Now #5; Best prior run: 6.199/150.83, Was #15

Pedregon was off the throttle at 1000', the reason not apparent from here. Force moves into a familiar position with a flawless pass.

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Left Lane: Whit Bazemore Runs 4.934/304.32, Now #2; Best prior run: 5.200/264.55, Was #11
Right Lane: Jerry Toliver Runs 21.876/39.51, Now #14; Best prior run: 5.505/193.65, Was #14

Toliver was up in smoke before he got past the tree. Bazemore improves considerably, no problems at all with this run.

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Left Lane: Dean Skuza Runs 10.032/87.15, Now #7; Best prior run: 5.148/279.27, Was #7
Right Lane: Cory Lee Runs 5.865/169.49, Now #13; Best prior run: 5.425/226.39, Was #13

Skuza blew the tires off at 200', with Lee losing traction himself at half track. After two rounds of Funny Car qualifying, John Force is on the pole with a 4.811 ET and Jim Epler rounds out the field with a 6.236 ET.




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