Sun, 11 Nov 2001, 03:07 PM POMONA 3 - Funny Car Round 1 Eliminations

By Darryl Jackman

POMONA, Calif. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Funny Car at the 37th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals:

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   7 Dean Skuza          4.818 314.24  Q   10 Frank Pedregon      4.826 317.27
 *****WINNER***** 0.501  4.851 313.07  E1                  0.486  4.876 320.20

11:33 AM Just a little bit of clean up after the final Top Fuel pair and we'll be back in business. That call is out to fire the next pair. This runs the chance of being the final time that Pedregon will climb into the CSK Blue car as it was announced his he is moving on. Skuza gets a new Dodge body for 2002 and will soldier on. Fantastic race. Pedregon gets the lead at the hit but Skuza was catching him up at every mark. At the stripe it was Skuza. Margin of victory = 0.010 seconds (approximately 5 feet).

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   5 Gary Densham        4.805 318.62  Q   12 Scotty Cannon       4.851 310.63
 *****WINNER***** 0.544  4.773 324.98  E1                  0.523  5.573 179.97

The Grand Marshall of the event is in the left lane and he will face Scotty Cannon, soon to be with Schumacher racing. Densham was second off the line and it appeared that Cannon was pulling away from him slightly. After half track the Cannon machine goes silent and Densham gets the round win and takes back the track speed record from Bazemore.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   2 John Force          4.788 318.32  Q   15 Jerry Toliver       4.877 311.63
 *****WINNER***** 0.515  4.750 317.87  E1                  0.499 13.922  68.04

Well, that's two of the Force armada that has run in the .70's in this session. Toliver smokes the tires and John had the ol' houn dog hooked up and ready to rock and roll! Oops. Sorry I think I've caught something.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   3 Tony Pedregon       4.793 317.12  Q   14 Al Hofmann          4.861 309.49
 *****WINNER***** 0.494  4.801 316.67  E1                  0.496 10.457  91.07

Well, not all of the Force cars run in the seventies. Tony just misses. It was an even start but Hofmann's ride fell silent at about 300 feet and Tony streaked away for the win. Pedregon's Ford appeared to mix up some cylinders in the last 100 feet.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   1 Whit Bazemore       4.741 322.27  Q   16 Bob Gilbertson      4.889 295.27
 *****WINNER***** 0.527  4.759 323.43  E1                  0.494  8.254 110.06

Bazemore lays down another fantastic pass. I can't believe how many times in a row Beard has tuned this car into the 4.70's. Incredible. Gilbertson had something go wrong in the motor and fell silent at about 330.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   4 Tommy Johnson Jr.   4.797 316.67  Q   13 Tim Wilkerson       4.860 311.41
 *****WINNER***** 0.505  4.819 318.32  E1                  0.492  4.859 316.01

The Funny Cars are really close. This one was 0.027 seconds (approximately 13 feet). Johnson gets the win but the crew will have some work to do. Neither chute came out and he buried the car in the sand trap fairly deep. We had some rain this morning and the sand looked pretty heavy. They may have to change the body after that one. Wilkerson was game but just fell a tad short.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   8 Johnny Gray         4.825 315.27  Q    9 Bruce Sarver        4.826 319.07
 *****WINNER***** 0.484  4.882 314.02  E1                  0.500  5.261 208.65

Sarver starts smoking the tires after half track. It appeared on the replay that they rattled loose and when they started to spin he clicked it off. Gray gets the win but will not have lane choice when he meets Bazemore the next round.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   6 Ron Capps           4.814 313.29  Q   11 Del Worsham         4.846 318.84
                  0.498 11.380  87.94  E1 *****WINNER***** 0.516  5.604 244.43

Capps started smoking the tires at the hit and his race was over. Worsham started spinning the tires at about 300 feet and he pedaled the car to the finish as he didn't know where Capps was. Tony Pedregon will have choice when he meets Worsham.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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