Fri, 18 Jan 2002, 09:10 PM CHANDLER - National Time Trials Friday Wrap Up

By Dave Gerard

CHANDLER, Ariz. - The day started slow and ended up with a flurry of activity as the sun went down. Most of the racers struggled to get past the 330-foot clocks with shake and tire spin plaguing a significant number of cars.

Top Alcohol Funny Car 1:30pm Jay Payne is out first and sets the mark for the rest of the racers. 5.641 E.T, 249.76 MPH, and a .971 second/60ft 1:35pm Dennis Taylor's Cooner Wire TAFC left hard, but he had to lift after tire shake drives the car toward the centerline. .947/60ft 2:15 Jon Capps in the Jackson Racing TAFC has a soft leave and shuts it down on a license pass. 1.005/60ft, 3.003/330ft 3:40 Jay Payne is back for his second run, but it's an expensive one. He runs well to about 2/3's track and has a lot of smoke out from underneath the funny car. He still runs a 5.691 and 231.68. .975/60ft 4:50 Dennis Taylor has a repeat of his first attempt with a lot of tire shake. .988/60ft. 5:25 Jon Capps has a clean license run to near 2/3's track. .997/60ft., 2.641/330ft.

Funny Car 1:45 Tommy Johnson in the Skoal "blue car" is the first brave soul in the Pro's to make an attempt. He leave hard with a little tire shake and clicks the engine before mid-track. .891/60ft, 2.403/330ft 2:20 Tony Pedregon is up next in the first of the Force armada. He runs the car to near the lights with a 5.491, 189.47. .920/60ft, 2.386/330ft, 3.396/252.66-660ft. 2:25 Ron Capps in the Skoal "green car" is right behind Tony. He has a little better time off the line and shuts down at mid-track. .900/60ft, 2.339/660ft. 2:55 John Force is a little soft in 60 feet with a .900/60ft. He starts to smoke the tires and shuts off by 100ft. 2.688/330ft 2:55 Gary Scelzi: License pass. They are running last year's E-Moola car without lettering or decals. He does a long burn out and can't back up. The crew runs out to help, but he has to shut the engine off. 3:05 Gary Densham in the AAA Funny Car makes a strong leave, but is up in smoke before the 330ft mark. .898/60ft. 2.678/330ft 3:25 Whit Bazemore in the newly painted red and gray Matco/Oakley car. He runs hard to the 330ft mark and smokes the tires. .892/60ft, 2.467/330ft 4:20 Dell Worsham brings the red CSK funny car to the line. The launch is a little soft and moves into shake before the 330ft lights. .911/60ft., 2.727/330ft. 4:25 Gary Scelzi has better luck this time and gets the funny car in reverse first try. On this license pass, the car is a little soft off the line and motors on down the track to "pick up the spare", as he drifts to the center line and launches the 1000 foot timing reflector over the left guard rail with a 5.24 and 195.65. .921/60ft, 2.384/330ft, 3.418/243.68-660ft. 4:30 Al Hofmann and Jim Dunn's Funny Car has changed colors from a bright yellow to a bright orange. The new K&N paint looks terrific. He leaves hard and has to shut off with tire smoke. .880/60ft., 2.973/660ft. 4:45 Another license pass, but this time a significant difference! Steve Kotten is reportedly making the attempt using hand controls. He makes a safe start and shuts off as required. 1.011/60ft., 3.912/330ft. 5:02 Cruz Pedregon's new ride looks great! He has a reasonable launch and starts to smoke the tires before the 330ft. light. .901/60ft., 2.443/330ft. 5:10 Tony Pedregon is back for his second attempt of the day. He leaves hard and, like so many others, is up in smoke before the 330ft. lights. .883/60ft., 2.525/330ft. 5:30 Ron Capps makes a statement with a .877/60ft. He is straight and clean, but click it before the 330ft. lights. 2.735/330ft. 5:40 Jerry Toliver comes to the line in the WWF Smack Down funny car. Another broken pass, as he kicks the tires before the 330ft. mark. .921/60ft., 2.704/330ft. 5:44 Our first side-by-side pair, as the sun has ducked behind the Estrella Mountains. Tommy Johnson, in the left lane runs an .891/60ft. and Johnny Gray struggles to a .928/60ft. Both cars have to lift and have 2.341 and 3.083 at the 330ft. mark. One of the cars is locked up just before the last turn out and we have a short delay to free it up. 5:55 Gary Densham has his act together and makes a great 2/3 pass with header flames high in the sky. He clicks it early to a 5.158 and 217.18. .897/60ft., 2.329/330ft., 3.329/255.97-660ft., 4.207/1000ft. 5:57 Scotty Cannon in the new Schumacher team car is up in smoke at the hit. 1.086/60ft. 6:05 A big final for the day. Force and Bazemore side by side in the dark!! Whit wins bragging rights until tomorrow shutting down early with a stellar 4.810 at only 288.70. Force was right with him at the hit, but was up in smoke before the 330ft. lights. The times for Bazemore are: .884/60ft., 2.270/330ft., 3.260/256.16-660ft., and 4.082 at the 1000ft. Force had an .887/60ft. and a 2.588/330ft.

Top Fuel 2:45 Ken Zeal in Bill Miller's dragster is up in smoke right off the line .993/60ft. 2:50 Darrell Russell in the Amato dragster makes a good leave and then starts to shake the tires. .849/60ft, 2.412/330ft 3:15 Steve Chrisman is getting his license in Gary Taylor's beautiful new TF dragster. Steve is Jack Chrisman's son. He need to finish his license on this run and does so in a spectacular way. He leaves well and has shake and tire smoke. It gets worse as he lifts several times to settle the car down and is rewarded with brilliant flashes from the back of the motor each time he hits the throttle. 6.04, 185.13 .905/60ft, 2.548/330ft 3:53 Yuichi Oyama, Tokyo, Japan, comes up to make a license pass in Robert Reehl's "old car". He will have to come back again later, as he is up in smoke at the hit. 1.040/60ft. Oyama bought Reehl's entire operation and will be supported by the original team. The team is planning to run 10 races this year. Oyama was licensed for TF with IHRA in the past and ran a best of 5.10. He owns one of Bernstein's prior TF cars and a TAD that he runs in Japan. 4:00 Bob Hallock is also out to get his license. He has problems getting the dragster into reverse and the crew rocks the car vigorously to get it going. He leaves well with an .870/60ft and then joins the "smoke 'em early" club. 4:50 Local Tempe, AZ racer, Gene Davis is out to get his license in the Davis and Zook dragster. They will need to work on the tune-up, as he drive through the clutch off the line and shuts it down. There must have been a communication glitch, as he pulls both chutes and stops the car in the top end lights. 1.012/60ft. 4:54 Doug Herbert in the Snap-On dragster is up in smoke almost immediately. .869ft., 2.613/330ft. 5:05 Kenny Bernstein in the new Forever Red paint scheme joins the "up in smoke" club before mid-track, after a good leave. .852/60ft., 2.164/330ft., 3.199/208.17-660ft. 5:50 Darrell Russell has a BIG 60 foot number! He jumps away with a remarkable .817/60ft. and 2.161/330ft times. He is out of it early and runs a 3.237 and 2050.83 at the 660ft. 5:53 Tony Schumacher in the Army car is up in smoke immediately. 1.088/60ft.

That's a wrap until tomorrow. No runs are scheduled until 10:00am Mountain Standard Time.



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