Fri, 14 Mar 2003, 01:09 PM Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Rick Green

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 34th annual MAC Tools NHRA Gatornationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Left Lane: Terry Haddock Runs 7.639/117.35, Now #1
Right Lane: Todd Paton Runs 22.119/46.84, Now #2

It is 75 degrees, humidity is 69% and the barometer is 3.004 inches.

Paton didn't move five feet off the starting line before the engine went silent. Haddock went up in smoke around 330 feet and shut it off.

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Left Lane: Dale Creasy Jr. Runs 7.074/117.73, Now #2
Right Lane: Scotty Cannon Runs 5.072/300.10, Now #1

Cannon was soft on this run but got down the track without losing traction.

Creasy got loose and clicked it off.

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Left Lane: Dean Skuza Runs 4.943/305.18, Now #1
Right Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 5.484/183.48, Now #3

Pedregon launched hard, but then pitched the blower belt. Skuza with a nice pass, straight and true all the way down the quarter mile.

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Left Lane: Del Worsham Runs 4.856/307.69, Now #1
Right Lane: Gary Scelzi Runs 7.975/102.61, Now #7

Scelzi started to haze the big Goodyears around 330 feet. Worsham with a good pass hitting on all eight and the Goodyears stuck for the 1320.

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Left Lane: John Force Runs 4.882/306.12, Now #3
Right Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 4.822/311.74, Now #1

Wilkerson with a quick 0.870 60-foot time and just blasted on through the quarter mile for the number one spot. Force was right there with him until around 1000 feet and then the engine looked like it was eating itself up.

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Left Lane: Bob Gilbertson Runs 4.943/307.48, Now #4
Right Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 5.380/249.93, Now #7

Johnson Jr pedaled it around 200 feet and then it looked like it was mixing up cylinders on the top end. Gilbertson keep the candle lit and clean all the way down the quarter mile.

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Left Lane: Frank Pedregon Runs 5.694/176.26, Now #10
Right Lane: Johnny Gray Runs 4.976/307.69, Now #6

Something fell off Pedregon's car right off the starting line and then got out of the groove and close to the wall. Gray with a clean pass to start the weekend off.

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Left Lane: Whit Bazemore Runs 4.928/313.15, Now #4
Right Lane: Gary Densham Runs 8.206/100.95, Now #15

Densham struck the tires around half track and clicked it off. Bazemore with a good baseline for the weekend. Bazemore with the fastest speed of the weekend so far.

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Left Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 5.604/179.35, Now #11
Right Lane: Ron Capps Runs 9.848/82.23, Now #17

Capps blistered the tires around 200 feet and clicked it off. Pedregon got loose and close to the wall and finally clicked it off.

We end this session with Wilkerson on top.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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