Mon, 3 Sep 2001, 10:49 AM INDY - Funny Car Round 1 Eliminations

By Bob Orme

CLERMONT, Ind. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Funny Car at the 47th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals:

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   4 Tommy Johnson Jr.   4.818 314.46  Q   13 Bruce Sarver        4.892 306.33
                  0.472  9.572 102.86  E1 *****WINNER***** 0.497  4.927 300.33

11:04 PM Johnson blew the tires off at the 60-foot mark. He kept his foot in it for a couple hundred feet before giving up on the run.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   2 Gary Densham        4.797 322.96  Q   15 Chuck Etchells      4.904 312.86
 *****WINNER***** 0.478  4.884 308.99  E1                  0.552 16.332  68.44

This is the first time this season that these two drivers have met in eliminations. Etchells had severe tire shake on the launch, the rear end of the car bouncing around violently.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   3 John Force          4.810 315.56  Q   14 Jim Epler           4.893 300.93
                  0.561  5.044 271.41  E1 *****WINNER***** 0.545  4.958 305.98

Force got out of the groove at half track, then smoked the tires after getting the car straightened out. The engine was going away as he passed the finish line.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   5 Ron Capps           4.822 312.35  Q   12 Tim Wilkerson       4.891 309.63
 *****WINNER***** 0.494  4.852 310.48  E1                  0.477  4.933 310.27

Capps made up the starting line disadvantage by the 60-foot marker. From there on, he steadily moved farther ahead of Wilkerson.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   1 Whit Bazemore       4.756 325.69  Q   16 Al Hofmann          4.905 305.70
 *****WINNER***** 0.504  4.940 310.13  E1                  0.531  4.950 307.02

These two drivers have met three times in eliminations this season, Bazemore with a 2-1 advantage. These two were together all the way down the track with Bazemore getting the win. Margin of victory = 0.037 seconds (approximately 17 feet).

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   6 Frank Pedregon      4.832 318.47  Q   11 Dean Skuza          4.880 311.34
 *****WINNER***** 0.487  6.117 154.69  E1                  0.534 No Time

Pedregon lost traction at 330 feet, pedaled it a couple times, but didn't get the car hooked up again. Skuza crossed the finish line more than a second ahead of Pedregon, but he crossed the centerline at 1000 feet and took out the timing cone.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   7 Tony Pedregon       4.842 313.58  Q   10 Scotty Cannon       4.852 309.20
 *****WINNER***** 0.523  4.825 322.42  E1                  0.532  5.575 181.23

Cannon blew the burst panel high into the sky at the 1000-foot mark. Pedregon's engine was going away in the traps, but it was running great up to that point.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   8 Del Worsham         4.843 316.08  Q    9 Johnny Gray         4.852 311.70
 *****WINNER***** 0.517  4.956 306.26  E1                  0.480  8.253  97.79

The cars were running evenly until Gray over powered the track at 300 feet where he had to lift. Second round pairings will be Bazemore with lane choice over Worsham, Capps with lane choice over Sarver, Tony Pedregon with lane choice over Densham and Epler with lane choice over Frank Pedregon.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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