Sun, 2 Sep 2007, 04:10 PM Skoal Funny Car Showdown Round 2 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

CLERMONT, Ind. - Results of round 2 eliminations in Skoal Funny Car Showdown at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 26th annual Skoal Showdown:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   33 Tommy Johnson Jr.                     711 Jack Beckman                 
E2                   0.084  7.468 120.68     ****WINNER****  0.052  4.973 314.02
 Prior rounds:
E1    (J Force     ) 0.103  4.888 284.93      (R Hight     ) 0.084  4.930 314.46
 Qualified:             #4 2,885                                #8 2,675        

3:57 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 90 degrees, relative humidity 28 percent, barometer 29.20 inches, adjusted altitude 3,062 feet, track temperature 121 degrees.

It's hot and the track just heated up two degrees in about 15 minutes.

Beckman is in his first-ever Showdown, TJ his third, and Johnson was runner-up last year. Only five drivers have won the Showdown in their first start. The final round purse is $115,000, with $100,000 to the winner. Semifinals losers get $6,000 for their efforts.

TJ lost twice in the same run, losing the Showdown and earning a DNQ for the 53rd Mac Tools U.s. Nationals, the car shaking hard and smoking the tires immediately off the starting line. Beckman's car started hazing the tires and dropping cylinders on the top end, but he got the win light anyway.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  180 Mike Ashley                            28 Ron Capps                    
E2                   0.107  4.943 316.75     ****WINNER****  0.104  4.893 318.77
 Prior rounds:
E1    (T Pedregon  ) 0.072  4.880 317.19      (G Scelzi    ) 0.096  4.880 312.93
 Qualified:             #6 2,790                                #2 2,910        

Ashley is also in his first-ever Showdown, Capps his eighth, his last of three wins coming in 2002. Capps' crew chief, Ed "The Ace" McCulloch, was in the Showdown finals 22 years ago.

This was a very good race, the two cars leaving together and never far apart most of the way down the track. Ashley lost a lot of ground before half track and never regained it. Ron Capps' incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.007), 330 ft(0.015), 660ft(0.041), 1,000ft(0.048). MOV: 0.0536 seconds (approximately 25 feet). Capps will have lane choice against Beckman in the money round.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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