Sat, 31 May 2008, 02:18 PM Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #3

By Bob Orme

TOPEKA, Kan. - Notes from round 3 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 20th annual O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals presented by Castrol GTX 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: Scott Kalitta Runs 7.637/93.51, Now #14; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Gary Densham Runs 5.100/263.36, Now #13; No Prior Run

12:30 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 86 degrees, relative humidity 44 percent, barometer 28.81 inches, adjusted altitude 3,766 feet, track temperature 117 degrees.

Heavy smoke from Densham's car at the finish. Kalitta blew up with a large fireball just past the 330-foot mark. There are a number of GMC trucks on the track, mostly in Densham's lane, so we'll be down for a while as clean up is completed.

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Left Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 5.010/295.79, Now #13; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 4.988/298.27, Now #18; No Prior Run

12:45 p.m. Both cars were flirting with the wall at the finish line.

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Left Lane: Del Worsham Runs 5.124/288.39, Now #17; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Mike Neff No Time, Now #16; No Prior Run

Both cars moved left past half track. Worsham was close to the wall at the finish, and Neff took out the 1000-foot timing cone, disqualifying his pass for this round.

Del Worsham's incremental times: 60ft-0.931 sec., 330ft-2.413, 660ft-3.480/238.05mph, 1,000ft-4.349

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Left Lane: Ashley Force Runs 4.934/295.79, Now #9; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 5.014/294.95, Now #13; Best prior run: 4.979/305.56, Was #12

No problems for either driver.

Ashley Force's incremental times: 60ft-0.920 sec., 330ft-2.367, 660ft-3.365/256.99mph, 1,000ft-4.196
Tim Wilkerson's incremental times: 60ft-0.946 sec., 330ft-2.401, 660ft-3.417/248.66mph, 1,000ft-4.266

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Left Lane: Robert Hight Runs 4.934/293.09, Now #7; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Jack Beckman Runs 7.223/113.75, Now #12; No Prior Run

Beckman hazed the tires at about 300 feet and he shut it off. A good looking pass for Hight.

Robert Hight's incremental times: 60ft-0.904 sec., 330ft-2.328, 660ft-3.336/251.11mph, 1,000ft-4.183

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Left Lane: Jerry Toliver Runs 5.026/292.71, Now #6; Best prior run: 4.917/298.27, Was #6
Right Lane: Gary Scelzi Runs 4.967/298.01, Now #11; Best prior run: 4.938/295.40, Was #11

Toliver was to the right of the groove on the top half of the track. No problems for Scelzi until after the finish line where he had a small fire.

Jerry Toliver's incremental times: 60ft-0.955 sec., 330ft-2.434, 660ft-3.433/254.47mph, 1,000ft-4.275
Gary Scelzi's incremental times: 60ft-0.937 sec., 330ft-2.393, 660ft-3.388/253.61mph, 1,000ft-4.226

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Left Lane: Melanie Troxel Runs 9.328/86.73, Now #5; Best prior run: 4.912/304.53, Was #5
Right Lane: John Force Runs 5.015/304.60, Now #10; Best prior run: 4.936/302.28, Was #10

Troxel struck the tires at about 250 feet. No apparent problems for Force.

John Force's incremental times: 60ft-0.929 sec., 330ft-2.407, 660ft-3.442/246.89mph, 1,000ft-4.288

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Left Lane: Ron Capps Runs 5.793/166.25, Now #4; Best prior run: 4.911/287.17, Was #4
Right Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 6.027/155.45, Now #8; Best prior run: 4.933/304.32, Was #8

Both drivers were off the throttle shortly after half track.

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Left Lane: Bob Tasca III Runs 5.002/298.34, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.901/305.91, Was #2
Right Lane: Frank Hawley Runs 4.945/301.27, Now #3; Best prior run: 4.907/311.63, Was #3

A good looking pass for both drivers to end this qualifying round.

Bob Tasca III's incremental times: 60ft-0.934 sec., 330ft-2.400, 660ft-3.418/250.04mph, 1,000ft-4.263
Frank Hawley's incremental times: 60ft-0.931 sec., 330ft-2.378, 660ft-3.380/253.85mph, 1,000ft-4.214

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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