Sat, 22 Sep 2001, 06:10 PM MEMPHIS - Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #3

By Dave Rowe

MILLINGTON, Tenn. - Notes from round 3 qualifying in Funny Car at the 14th annual AutoZone NHRA Nationals presented by Pennzoil 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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Right Lane: Frank Pedregon Runs 5.229/215.44, Now #9; Best prior run: 5.040/291.63, Was #9

12:35 PM Pedregon had a good run until about 1000 feet. I'm not sure what happened at the point, the engine went silent and he coasted through the lights.

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Left Lane: Johnny Gray Runs 5.191/279.38, Now #14; Best prior run: 5.210/216.62, Was #14
Right Lane: Jim Epler Runs 5.048/280.89, Now #10; Best prior run: 5.126/291.57, Was #13

Epler makes a good pass, right down the groove, and moves up three spots to tenth.

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Left Lane: Scotty Cannon Runs 5.014/291.38, Now #9; Best prior run: 5.119/281.83, Was #13
Right Lane: Bob Gilbertson Runs 4.977/299.66, Now #7; Best prior run: 7.027/123.54, Was #21

Gilbertson makes a good pass and jumps into the top half of the field. Cannon was on a good pass until just before the finish line when he hazes the tires and loses some speed.

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Left Lane: Dale Creasy Jr. Runs 6.710/128.53, Now #21; Best prior run: 6.222/150.56, Was #21
Right Lane: Vinny Arcadi Runs 5.030/295.72, Now #11; Best prior run: 5.272/284.69, Was #16

Arcadi makes his career best pass here and jumps up to the eleventh spot. Creasy drifted out of the groove about 300 feet out and went up in smoke a little past half track.

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Left Lane: Bruce Sarver Runs 5.107/282.54, Now #17; Best prior run: 6.006/167.99, Was #19
Right Lane: Del Worsham Runs 5.066/294.69, Now #14; Best prior run: 6.022/158.37, Was #20

Sarver and Worsham have qualified for every race this season but neither is qualified here. Worsham dropped a cylinder right off the line but still had enough to get in field. Sarver got off to a slow start, a .927 sixty foot time, and never picked it up.

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Left Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 4.974/294.05, Now #7; Best prior run: 5.609/171.31, Was #20
Right Lane: Dean Skuza Runs 4.982/301.00, Now #9; Best prior run: 5.083/287.23, Was #16

Johnson did a short burnout, not even smoking the tires and it seemed to work. He makes a great pass for the conditions and jumps into the top half of the field. Skuza makes his best run of the weekend and moves off the bump to the ninth spot. Worsham is now on the bump with a 5.066

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Left Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 5.141/277.89, Now #19; Best prior run: 5.292/204.76, Was #20
Right Lane: John Lawson Runs 5.208/288.09, Now #17; Best prior run: 5.071/290.13, Was #17

Wilkerson was on a good pass, a .897 sixty foot time, but then starts smoking the tires at the transition.

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Left Lane: Al Hofmann Runs 9.379/94.00, Now #12; Best prior run: 5.029/295.53, Was #12
Right Lane: Chuck Etchells Runs 8.558/96.52, Now #10; Best prior run: 5.011/303.03, Was #10

Both cars get about 300 feet out and go up in smoke.

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Left Lane: Gary Densham Runs 7.783/109.78, Now #6; Best prior run: 4.943/305.98, Was #6
Right Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 12.056/70.69, Now #5; Best prior run: 4.900/308.78, Was #5

Pedregon gets about 100 feet out and goes up in smoke. Densham gets a little further, about 300 feet, and has the same problem.

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Left Lane: Whit Bazemore Runs 5.289/201.88, Now #3; Best prior run: 4.881/313.29, Was #3
Right Lane: Jerry Toliver Runs 5.036/289.76, Now #4; Best prior run: 4.899/308.85, Was #4

Toliver starts hazing the tires about 1000 feet out but stays on the throttle for a decent pass. Bazemore starts hazing the tires about the same point and clicks it off early.

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Left Lane: Ron Capps Runs 6.741/122.72, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.858/306.12, Was #2
Right Lane: John Force Runs 4.944/303.16, Now #1; Best prior run: 4.824/302.82, Was #1

Capps had a decent pass going until halftrack, the tires then broke loose and he had to click it off. Force makes the quickest pass of the session, the car looking like it was running on the edge all the way down the track.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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