Sat, 10 Nov 2001, 08:58 PM POMONA 3 - Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Final Session

By Darryl Jackman

POMONA, Calif. - Notes from final, round 4 qualifying in Funny Car at the 37th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals 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: John Lawson Runs 6.418/139.80, Now #22; Best prior run: 5.167/291.01, Was #22
Right Lane: Dale Creasy Jr. Runs 11.195/79.53, Now #24; Best prior run: 10.440/85.91, Was #24

4:50 PM Both of these drivers are looking for anything to get them into the final Funny Car field of the 2001 season. Lights go green and between the two we have tire smoke and blower belts coming off. Wait until February.

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Left Lane: David Benjamin Runs 5.148/282.30, Now #20; Best prior run: 5.090/277.54, Was #20

Nasty has run his career best today but still needs another two tenths. Nope. The car seemed lazy in the middle and there was a wall of smoke as the Firebird neared the finish stripe. Just for information, the lights are on and the track temperature is down to 73 degrees.

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Left Lane: Bob Bode Runs 4.921/310.63, Now #16; Best prior run: 4.999/305.01, Was #18
Right Lane: Terry Haddock No Time, Now #21; Best prior run: 5.154/243.81, Was #21

Bode resets his career best for both ET and mph. He makes the field on the bump and will have to wait out the final few cars that can bump him. Toliver, Burkart and Sweet will be the cars that can bump Bode from the field. Haddock had his hands full of Funny Car. The crossed the center line around half track and took out two markers before he could drag it back into his own lane.

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Left Lane: Phil Burkart Runs 5.297/207.43, Now #19; Best prior run: 4.980/305.29, Was #18
Right Lane: Jerry Toliver Runs 4.877/311.63, Now #13; Best prior run: 5.063/288.58, Was #19

Here's two of the cars that can bump Bode out of the field. They are on a hold until the Budweiser Beer wagon, carrying Larry Dixon, clear the starting line area. Don't want to spook the Clydesdales. The pair leaves side by side and stay that way until half track. The flames go out on Burkart's ride, but Toliver stays with it to the finish. Nice pass! Toliver is in and Bode is out.

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Left Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 4.797/316.67, Now #4; Best prior run: 4.897/310.13, Was #16
Right Lane: Louis Sweet Runs 5.250/160.96, Now #18; Best prior run: 4.946/284.99, Was #18

Sweets been bumped and Johnson is on the bubble. Well, not anymore! From the bump to the #4 spot. Sweet looked good but smoked the tires and his weekend was over. Sarver is now on the bump with a 4.896. I've been told that this is now the quickest Funny Car field in history.

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Left Lane: Bob Gilbertson Runs 8.743/105.33, Now #16; Best prior run: 4.889/295.27, Was #15
Right Lane: Bruce Sarver Runs 4.826/319.07, Now #9; Best prior run: 4.896/314.75, Was #16

Sarver gets himself off the bump in grand style. Gilbertson's racer made a move towards the center and he clicked it. Gilbertson in on the bump at 4.889.

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Right Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 4.860/311.41, Now #13; Best prior run: 4.865/314.75, Was #14

Wilkerson singles and moves up one position in the field.

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Left Lane: Frank Pedregon Runs 4.903/313.51, Now #10; Best prior run: 4.826/317.27, Was #10
Right Lane: Scotty Cannon Runs 14.282/65.62, Now #12; Best prior run: 4.851/310.63, Was #12

Cannon smokes the tires and will settle for #12. Pedregon seemed to be a bit short of clutch as he only recorded a .909.

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Left Lane: Johnny Gray Runs 15.217/74.95, Now #8; Best prior run: 4.825/315.27, Was #8
Right Lane: Del Worsham Runs 8.916/90.19, Now #11; Best prior run: 4.846/318.84, Was #11

Tire smoke ends any chance for this pair to improve.

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Left Lane: Ron Capps Runs 14.563/80.68, Now #6; Best prior run: 4.814/313.29, Was #6
Right Lane: Dean Skuza Runs 10.179/81.20, Now #7; Best prior run: 4.818/314.24, Was #7

Another pair falls to tire smoke. Could this track have gotten to cool? Next two pairs will tell the story.

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Left Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 5.026/230.21, Now #3; Best prior run: 4.793/317.12, Was #3
Right Lane: Gary Densham Runs 4.939/312.50, Now #5; Best prior run: 4.805/318.62, Was #5

It wasn't tire smoke but there were little sparkling things coming out of the headers all the way down. Tony clicked it early. Densham just seemed a bit soft all the way down. 4.93, soft? Today it is.

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Left Lane: John Force Runs 5.129/234.74, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.788/318.32, Was #2
Right Lane: Whit Bazemore Runs 4.744/324.67, Now #1; Best prior run: 4.741/322.27, Was #1

This one was Bazemore's race all the way. John fired and fell back before the finish and appeared that he might have crossed the center. Couldn't really see. It's dark through the windows. Schumacher's team goes into Sunday with a lot of confidence. Every run he made this weekend has been in the 4.7s. Also, this is Whit's 9th top qualification in the last 12 events. Tomorrow should be lots of fun.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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