Sat, Mar 20, 06:11 PM GAINESVILLE - Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Final Session

By Ed Dykes There's a New Sheriff in Town

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Notes from final, round 4 qualifying in Funny Car at the 30th annual Mac Tools Gatornationals, 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: Jim Epler Runs 9.995/ 90.93 Now # 8, (Best prior run: 4.994/287.11 Was # 8)
Right Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 4.890/307.51 Now # 2, (Best prior run: 4.972/261.27 Was # 6)

5:01 PM; the sun is getting low in the Florida sky. The clouds are shading the track about half the time, so the crew chiefs are making their adjustments accordingly. In Pedregon's case, that means Wes Cerny went for it, and the result is that he gets his first 'eighty of the weekend, and moves right in behind Force in the order. From the top end, we hear Cruz say that's the first time he's been able to hold it all the way to the finish line.

---

Left Lane: Al Hofmann Runs 5.218/262.33 Now #12, (Best prior run: 5.053/301.27 Was #12)
Right Lane: Bob Gilbertson Runs 8.689/ 91.01 Now #19, (Best prior run: 7.096/123.37 Was #19)

Hofmann shook and smoked, got completely off the throttle and continued. It was an exercise in futility, as far as bettering his qualifying position, but he did get some valuable pedalling practice... as if his last couple decades weren't enough.

---

Left Lane: Cory Lee Runs 5.038/284.21 Now #11, (Best prior run: 5.145/280.95 Was #16)
Right Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 5.817/164.37 Now # 5, (Best prior run: 4.929/294.75 Was # 5)

That was quite a driving job by Cory Lee, he was so close to the wall that the heat from the headers could have scorched the paint on the wall. But he got the job done, and moves up the ladder, making this the quickest-ever Funny Car field. You can always count on Gainesville for records, and we just broke yet another!

---

Left Lane: Whit Bazemore Runs 4.856/307.58 Now # 1, (Best prior run: 4.949/299.26 Was # 6)
Right Lane: Phil Burkhart Runs 5.063/301.67 Now #14, (Best prior run: 5.091/266.11 Was #14)

The General turned all the right screws, and Bazemore vaults right to the top of the ladder, moving Force and everybody else down one notch. It was a really nice run, straight down the center of the groove. And best of all, Force is up next so he got a great view of the run, so he knows what he has to do now.

---

Left Lane: John Force Runs 4.993/301.27 Now # 2, (Best prior run: 4.872/316.52 Was # 2)
Right Lane: Gary Densham Runs 5.644/180.84 Now # 9, (Best prior run: 5.036/299.46 Was # 9)

And Force fails to take back the top slot. The tip-off was that both Force and Densham had so-so mid-nineties for short times, indicating that they had their clutch setup a bit too conservative for the low 'eighties we were looking for.

---

Left Lane: Scott Weis Runs 11.620/ 64.99 Now #17, (Best prior run: 5.351/278.98 Was #17)
Right Lane: Dean Skuza Runs 10.270/ 84.34 Now # 5, (Best prior run: 4.895/303.91 Was # 5)

Both cars up in smoke, right off the bat. And that's all there is to say.

---

Left Lane: Bob Weickgenannt Runs 9.367/ 88.37 Now #20, (Best prior run: 8.307/102.69 Was #20)
Right Lane: Frank Pedregon Runs 4.975/296.11 Now # 7, (Best prior run: 5.036/294.31 Was #10)

Weickgenannt never had a chance, his Avenger driving left toward the wall as soon as he hit the throttle. But the elder Pedregon advances, jumping into the top half of the show, and ahead of Toliver, Epler, and Densham. That was Frank's first-ever four-second pass, too.

---

Left Lane: Terry Haddock Runs 6.733/136.68 Now #18, (Best prior run: 5.448/276.52 Was #18)
Right Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 4.860/316.52 Now # 2, (Best prior run: 4.895/312.71 Was # 4)

When we said this was Haddock's first appearance last round, we meant here this weekend, not ever in a Funny Car. He did, after all, run a couple races last year. Here he suffered the same fate as the previous car in that lane, the car drove left right off the line. Meanwhile, Pedregon was driving past his boss, into the second slot. That comes from being able to utilize what they learned on Force's run earlier in this round. Haddock lost the engine on this pass, sending the Safety Safari trucks scurrying, and putting the action on hold.

---

Left Lane: Jerry Toliver Runs 4.997/307.72 Now # 8, (Best prior run: 4.993/307.16 Was # 8)
Right Lane: Scotty Cannon Runs 5.892/163.39 Now #16, (Best prior run: 5.099/290.57 Was #16)

Cannon fails to improve, and now he has to keep his fingers crossed that Ron Capps and the Cope crew will not manage to find their way into this show. There's only two more cars left in line, with the other being the already-qualified Del Worsham. Hats off to Rob Flynn and the rest of the WWF crew, as they put Toliver right back in the same numbers they ran earlier today; that sort of consistency is what wins races.

---

Left Lane: Ron Capps Runs 5.013/304.87 Now #10, (Best prior run: 8.549/ 94.59 Was #21)

So Capps gets in, and Cannon is out. Ron earned his money on this one, the car losing grip early and the young pilot pedalling his way to the finish. But this is a 'whatever it takes' sport, after all, and the Cope crew has proven they have what it takes today.

---

Left Lane: Del Worsham Runs 5.482/190.22 Now #16, (Best prior run: 5.095/257.28 Was #16)

This is the final car of the round, and the day, and the weekend, at least as far as qualifying is concerned. And so it's Whit Bazemore on top of the pack, facing off against Del Worsham tomorrow morning.




NHRA: 10 Most Recent Entries [ top ]

Apr 09- POMONA 1 - Thursday Schedule
Apr 08- Hood Scoops Set to Return to NHRA Pro Stock Category in 2027
Apr 07- PowerEdge Returns as Presenting Sponsor of DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway
Apr 07- GESi Pro Stock No. 1 Qualifier Award Returns for 2026 Season
Apr 06- POMONA 1 - Funny Car Preview
Apr 02- Revchem Composites Plays Critical Role in Ron Capps Motorsports' Continued Success
Apr 01- Second Wave of NHRA 75th Anniversary Commemorative Tickets Include Wealth of Legends
Mar 30- CHARLOTTE - Event Preview
Mar 30- BELLE ROSE - Super Gas Round 5 Eliminations
Mar 30- BELLE ROSE - HEMI Chootout Round 3 Eliminations