Fri, 27 Oct 2000, 09:02 PM HOUSTON-2 - Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #2

By Darryl Jackman

BAYTOWN, Texas - Notes from round 2 qualifying in Funny Car at the 4th 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: Whit Bazemore Runs 22.493/68.49, Now #24; Best prior run: 10.241/88.51, Was #24
Right Lane: Todd Paton No Time, Now #25; Best prior run: 11.790/78.55, Was #25

7:02 PM The Pro Stockers picked up a bunch in the last few minutes and the weather has improved as well. This could be a good fuel session in the crews can overcome the transition problems. Both cars encounter problems before 60 feet and shut off. Bazemore started to smoke the tires and he clicked it. Paton just had the fire go out. I really couldn't see what the problem was from the tower.

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Left Lane: Cory Lee Runs 8.731/104.02, Now #17; Best prior run: 9.841/89.67, Was #22
Right Lane: Del Worsham Runs 5.335/186.58, Now #11; Best prior run: 9.946/83.63, Was #23

Cory Lee got close to the centerline and shuts the car down. Worsham was on and off the throttle from half track as he started hazing the tires. Not impressive so far.

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Left Lane: Jerry Toliver Runs 5.893/156.90, Now #14; Best prior run: 9.670/84.22, Was #23
Right Lane: Gary Densham Runs 9.289/96.11, Now #22; Best prior run: 9.179/100.02, Was #21

I could read the name on Toliver's car from the tower at half track. He decided that was enough and clicked it. Densham got a good launch but also fell to tires smoke in the NEC car.

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Left Lane: Frank Pedregon Runs 5.651/175.84, Now #14; Best prior run: 9.416/86.96, Was #23
Right Lane: Louis Sweet Runs 11.229/69.80, Now #22; Best prior run: 9.136/89.56, Was #21

Frank Pedregon manages to stay on the throttle father than most during this session but some strange looking header flames cause him to shut off early. Sweet smoked the tires in the other lane.

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Left Lane: Cristen Powell Runs 9.436/88.80, Now #21; Best prior run: 9.114/90.91, Was #21
Right Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 9.702/87.11, Now #20; Best prior run: 9.070/89.45, Was #20

You can only say smoke so many ways.

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Left Lane: Jim Epler Runs 4.917/264.86, Now #1; Best prior run: 8.526/92.84, Was #18
Right Lane: Scotty Cannon Runs 5.708/172.56, Now #14; Best prior run: 5.371/226.24, Was #13

Epler makes a nice pass right up until the lights. Either a blower or a belt parted from the car near the finish. It was a blower as the burst panel went sky high on the replay. Cannon finally lifted as the car was loose almost from the start to the finish.

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Left Lane: Johnny Gray Runs 5.085/295.40, Now #9; Best prior run: 7.933/105.45, Was #18
Right Lane: Dale Creasy Jr. Runs 12.760/95.21, Now #11; Best prior run: 5.231/273.27, Was #10

Gray gets the first full pass of the session. It was a nice pass down the middle and the header flames were several feet over the roof of the car. Creasy gave the throttle a courtesy slap at about 100 feet but it didn't help as the tires went loose as soon as he was back on the pedal.

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Left Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 5.193/223.50, Now #11; Best prior run: 5.343/209.65, Was #14
Right Lane: Phil Burkart Runs 5.117/269.35, Now #10; Best prior run: 5.093/302.01, Was #10

Both drivers had to pedal their way to the finish. Both were on and off the throttle from about 900 feet on.

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Left Lane: Bob Gilbertson Runs 5.138/260.01, Now #11; Best prior run: 5.256/245.54, Was #13
Right Lane: Al Hofmann Runs 5.143/286.98, Now #7; Best prior run: 5.059/295.98, Was #7

An even side by side pass for these drivers. Both kept the candles lighted all the way to the finish. Gilbertson started mosquito abatement just before the finish as the engine put out a wall of smoke. Buster called for a close inspection of the lane but nothing was found. Fire the next pair.

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Left Lane: Dean Skuza Runs 6.034/157.61, Now #8; Best prior run: 5.061/302.08, Was #8
Right Lane: Ron Capps Runs 10.469/76.83, Now #4; Best prior run: 5.007/275.00, Was #4

Again smoke claims a pair of runs.

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Right Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 5.023/279.32, Now #3; Best prior run: 4.948/304.39, Was #3

Pedregon gets a single and fails to improve. The Mustang was looking good until just before the lights when the header flames turned an ugly shade of green. It appeared that there was a sacrifice to the aluminum gods.

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Left Lane: John Force Runs 5.036/247.52, Now #5; Best prior run: 5.024/296.31, Was #5
Right Lane: Bruce Sarver Runs 9.575/88.29, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.945/308.85, Was #2

That was a Frankenstein type of run for Force. It looked about the same as Tony's as the tires began to smoke about 1000 feet and the engine started to labor badly. Sarver tried to rotate the earth and had as much luck as the reset of the field. That was the last pair of Funny Cars and we end with Frank Pedregon on the bubble with a 5.651. Let's see of the Top Fuel cars can find the handle.




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