Sat, 14 Nov 2009, 07:56 PM Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Final Session

By Larry Sullivan

POMONA, Calif. - Notes from final, round 4 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 45th 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: Bob Bode Runs 4.172/298.93, Now #14; Best prior run: 7.809/81.92, Was #19
Right Lane: Leah Pruett-LeDuc Runs 8.036/93.38, Now #20; No Prior Run

4:20 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 69 degrees, relative humidity 45 percent, barometer 28.87 inches, adjusted altitude 2,410 feet, track temperature 76 degrees.

Cruz Pedregon is on the bump spot at 4.312.

Pruett-LeDuc finally got an elapsed time, though the run was over almost as soon as she launched into tire smoke. Meanwhile, Bode not only bumped into the field, he got in a couple spots above the bump spot. Now Jeff Diehl is on the bump spot at 4.192.

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Left Lane: Jeff Arend Runs 4.195/298.60, Now #17; Best prior run: 4.625/186.54, Was #18
Right Lane: Grant Downing Runs 4.262/278.35, Now #18; Best prior run: 5.069/152.97, Was #19

Both drivers got to the line under power, but Downing's car was nosing over and Arend was hazing the tires. Both missed the field, Arend by just three thousandths.

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Left Lane: Jeff Diehl Runs 6.218/118.61, Now #17; Best prior run: 4.192/292.20, Was #16
Right Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 4.127/304.32, Now #7; Best prior run: 4.312/252.80, Was #19

Pedregon needed to beat Diehl's 4.192 to get in and Diehl needed to improve to try to keep that from happening.

Diehl's hopes went up in smoke about 200 feet out. He pedaled, lost traction again, and could only watch as Pedregon sailed by and all the way up to the middle of the field. That puts Jim Head on the bump spot at 4.179, but he is safely in the field because everybody else in the staging lanes is already in the field.

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Left Lane: Jim Head Runs 4.125/298.01, Now #7; Best prior run: 4.179/301.94, Was #16
Right Lane: Jerry Toliver Runs 4.145/305.29, Now #12; Best prior run: 4.162/305.49, Was #13

Nice runs in both lanes, both drivers moving up the ladder nicely.

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Left Lane: Del Worsham Runs 4.129/301.54, Now #9; Best prior run: 4.150/304.25, Was #13

Somebody skipped this round and Worsham made a solo pass. He improved nicely, but won't have lane choice in round one.

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Left Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 4.147/303.03, Now #13; Best prior run: 4.144/303.98, Was #12
Right Lane: Bob Tasca III Runs 4.142/300.13, Now #12; Best prior run: 4.154/295.08, Was #14

Solid side-by-side runs, but both teams looked unhappy with the numbers.

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Left Lane: Matt Hagan Runs 4.073/277.72, Now #3; Best prior run: 4.107/304.94, Was #6
Right Lane: Jack Beckman Runs 7.566/80.53, Now #11; Best prior run: 4.140/302.28, Was #11

Beckman's header flames went out after 200 feet, trailing tire smoke. Hagan was on a strong pace, but the header flames went out well before the stripe, his finish line speed only 7 mph faster than his 660-foot speed.

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Left Lane: Ron Capps Runs 5.439/131.51, Now #4; Best prior run: 4.076/307.65, Was #4
Right Lane: Mike Neff Runs 4.143/308.28, Now #10; Best prior run: 4.137/300.00, Was #10

This time, it was Capps who shut off after 200 feet, while Neff made a full pass, but the ET was no stunner.

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Left Lane: Robert Hight Runs 4.067/310.20, Now #3; Best prior run: 4.069/310.55, Was #2
Right Lane: Ashley Force Hood Runs 4.059/310.20, Now #1; Best prior run: 4.098/307.58, Was #6

This was a great side-by-side show by the JFR teammates and it was Ashley who ended up atop the qualifying list. Hight improved by two thousandths, lost one spot in the order.

Robert Hight's incremental times: 60ft-0.903 sec., 330ft-2.318, 660ft-3.281/266.74 mph.
Ashley Force Hood's incremental times: 60ft-0.903 sec., 330ft-2.306, 660ft-3.270/265.12 mph.

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Left Lane: John Force Runs 4.059/309.20, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.060/307.72, Was #2
Right Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 4.080/301.54, Now #6; Best prior run: 4.089/307.79, Was #6

Another great side-by-side show and Dad John matched Daughter Ashley's ET to the thousandth, but she is #1 by virtue of speed. Wilkerson got very close to the wall on the top end and his header flames went out a little earlier than Force's.

John Force's incremental times: 60ft-0.893 sec., 330ft-2.298, 660ft-3.268/265.12 mph.
Tim Wilkerson's incremental times: 60ft-0.912 sec., 330ft-2.320, 660ft-3.283/266.11 mph.

With qualifying completed, Robert Hight clinches the championship because there are not enough points left "on the table" for anyone to catch him.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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