Thu, 11 Nov 1999, 08:30 PM POMONA - Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Larry Sullivan One Gem, Lots of Clinkers

POMONA, Calif. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Funny Car at the 35th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Left Lane: Johnny Gray Runs 9.730/83.25, Now #1

3:56 PM The first session opens with a driver new to fuel floppers. Gray started racing in Comp, in A/Dragster with a Reher-Morrison engine and paid little attention to protecting the class index "Because I just want to go fast." He graduated to Federal-Mogul Funny Car and now he's taking the big step to nitromethane power. That should satisfy his desire "to go fast," at least once his team figures out how to keep the rear tires planted for more than a hundred feet or so. The car was soft for the first 100 feet, then lost traction violently.

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Left Lane: Larry Huff Runs 5.544/260.97, Now #2
Right Lane: Peter Russo Runs 8.602/99.35, Now #3

Huff left first, by a bunch, his car very soft and off the pace all the way through. Russo left at least a second later, puffed the tires about 100 feet out, then called it off.

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Right Lane: Wyatt Radke Runs 12.055/58.31, Now #5

Radke ran as a single, reason not given. He went about 100 feet, rattled the tires and got off the throttle. Fuel sloshed out of the tank but the trail of liquid dried quickly.

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Left Lane: Jack Wyatt Runs 10.846/83.92, Now #6
Right Lane: Glenn Mikres Runs 8.375/96.11, Now #3

Mikres had problems getting the tires to spin on the burnout, blipping the throttle three times with little in the way of tire smoke for his efforts. Both cars had problems on the run, Wyatt rattling the tires and calling it off, Mikres pedaling once and repeating the sequence before doing the same.

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Left Lane: Bob Gilbertson Runs 8.920/85.23, Now #6
Right Lane: Mitch McDowell Runs 6.204/225.64, Now #3

Gilbertson launched, shook, and shut off. McDowell started spinning the tires about 100 feet, pedaled and struggled to the finish line.

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Right Lane: Dale Creasy Jr. Runs 5.071/300.13, Now #1

Creasy comes up with as close to a good pass as we've seen so far this session with a very soft setup on the first half of the run.

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Left Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 6.844/130.33, Now #5
Right Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 7.497/117.60, Now #6

Wilkerson lost traction, pedaled, then gave it up. Pedregon went a bit further, started smoking the tires, and called it off.

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Left Lane: Gary Densham Runs 8.788/102.62, Now #10
Right Lane: Al Hofmann Runs 5.251/288.27, Now #2

The surprise announcement of the season set up the first female-owned, female-driven Funny Car team in time for the new millennium, Cristen Powell named as the driver for Helen Hofmann's team while Helen's husband drives for the Jim Dunn-owned, Mooneyes-sponsored team.

Densham went out a couple hundred feet then lost traction. The last we saw of Hofmann through the cloud of tire smoke was his Firebird tacking left and right enroute to the finish line.

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Left Lane: Jerry Toliver Runs 9.622/86.34, Now #13
Right Lane: Scotty Cannon Runs 5.593/264.08, Now #5

There has been a persistent spate of rumors here that Dale Armstrong will join Toliver's team for the 2000 season, but there have been an equal number of "Never happen." comments by knowledgeable parties. Come back next year for the rest of the story...

Toliver lost traction violently about 200 feet out. Cannon pedaled twice to salvage his run.

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Left Lane: Cory Lee Runs 5.379/245.09, Now #4
Right Lane: Ron Capps Runs 4.868/309.34, Now #1

Capps is now tuned by Ed McCulloch, looks like a happy marriage (or at least a happy honeymoon) with Capps' second-quickest run ever, just 0.004 seconds slower than his best. Lee pedaled his way through tire spin, sacrificing an engine in the lights.

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Left Lane: Cory Lee Runs 5.379/245.09, Now #4

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Left Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 14.294/68.96, Now #20
Right Lane: Jim Epler Runs 4.990/308.07, Now #2

Another strong rumor has Brad Anderson buying Joe Gibbs' Funny Car operation so Randy can rejoin the tour next year - again, just a rumor. It still seems a shame to shut down the second-most-successful Funny Car team at the height of their success.

Not so successful this time, however, the big green machine up in smoke before going ten feet. Epler made a good opening pass, conservative, one the team should be able to tune from.

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Left Lane: Del Worsham Runs 5.220/252.14, Now #5
Right Lane: Dean Skuza Runs 5.082/308.85, Now #4

Worsham ran out of steam on the top end and shut it off well before the finish line. Skuza pedaled at least once to save his run, about 300 feet out.

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Left Lane: Frank Pedregon Runs 15.279/79.03, Now #23
Right Lane: Whit Bazemore Runs 17.838/66.68, Now #24

Synchronized, instant tire smoke here, both cars with 60-foot times in the 1.30-second range.

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Left Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 4.957/314.31, Now #2
Right Lane: John Force Runs 19.504/61.44, Now #26

The final pair (they run them in reverse points order for the first session) sees the two Castrol Mustangs square off with Force up in smoke instantly (a rare sight) while Tony's car goes right down the middle of the lane.

Force has named the "test driver" for his "third car," by the way - Gary Ormsby Jr. Force has often expressed his admiration for Ormsby's father and he feels that the younger Ormsby has many of the same attributes.

That brings an ugly round to a close, Ron Capps on the pole with a fine 4.868, only three cars in the fours, and the bump spot too slow to make the Pro Stock field, Peter Russo's 8.602




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