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JOLIET, Ill. - Notes from final, round 3 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 13th annual United Association Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by Miller Welders 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: Left Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 4.149/279.90, Now #4; Best prior run: 5.593/135.73, Was #18 Right Lane: Justin Schriefer Runs 4.451/228.04, Now #10; Best prior run: 6.582/166.07, Was #19 5:32 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 81 degrees, relative humidity 63 percent, barometer 28.96 inches, adjusted altitude 3,422 feet, track temperature 101 degrees. Jeff Arend is on the bump spot at 4.681. "The Cruzer" not only gets in, he
jumps all the way up to the fourth spot on a nice run. Meanwhile, Schriefer got his problems sorted out enough to make a full pass
under power - nothing spectacular, but it moves him all the way to tenth. That bumped Arend and Tim Wilkerson. Now Tony Pedregon is
on the bump spot at 4.584. Left Lane: Jeff Diehl Runs 5.009/155.26, Now #19; Best prior run: 4.711/253.23, Was #19 Right Lane: Jeff Arend Runs 4.256/295.01, Now #7; Best prior run: 4.681/244.47, Was #18 Arend has struggled this weekend after his team appeared to have things pretty well figured out in the past few events. Arend's team appears to have found the problem this weekend, the car made a nice, straight run here to get in, bumping Tony Pedregon from the field. The story, however, was Diehl's rough ride in the other lane. About 300 feet off the starting line,
he had a huge engine explosion that lifted all four wheels off the track and turned the car sideways, sliding down the track on the
left rear wheel with the other three still in the air. Then the car bounced off the wall, knocking the body loose. With the body
askew on the chassis, the car slid and swerved into the other lane. Though the car was completely sideways at one point, it did not
overturn and Diehl emerged from the car when it stopped, obviously shaken, but otherwise uninjured. This one will definitely make
the highlight reel. Left Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 4.368/231.83, Now #11; Best prior run: 4.584/196.76, Was #17 Right Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 4.218/293.22, Now #6; Best prior run: 4.619/206.70, Was #18 For either of these drivers to be outside the field this late in qualifying would be surprising...for both to be in that position is a huge surprise. Wilkerson got in with ease, but it was a close call for Pedregon because his car started trailing a dense cloud of smoke well short of the finish line. But he had enough momentum to make the field, apparently with enough margin to stay there. However, he left 'stuff" on the track. That bumped Bob Tasca and Del Worsham from the field. Bob Bode is on the bump
spot at 4.512. Left Lane: Del Worsham Runs 4.225/296.50, Now #8; Best prior run: 4.569/282.07, Was #18 Right Lane: Bob Tasca III Runs 4.136/305.56, Now #3; Best prior run: 4.552/194.94, Was #17 6:14 p.m. That was a lengthy cleanup...meanwhile, these two got to sit and watch and think about their final chance to qualify for Sunday's eliminations. Jack Wyatt and Bob Bode were in the final two spots on the ladder, and they are still in the lanes, so this process could take awahile to settle out. Two nice runs and the bumping continues - Bode and Wyatt are out, Ron
Capps is on the bump spot at 4.456. Left Lane: Jack Wyatt Runs 4.536/256.26, Now #18; Best prior run: 4.488/226.01, Was #17 Right Lane: Bob Bode Runs 4.200/297.75, Now #7; Best prior run: 4.512/226.39, Was #18 Speaking of Wyatt and Bode...they were taking aim at Capps and Justin Schriefer, now occupying the final two spots in the field. Bode made a nice, strong run to bump Capps from the field, but Wyatt came up short and will not be racing tomorrow.
That puts Justin Schriefer on the bump spot at 4.451, and he has already made his third qualifying run, so either he or Capps will
race tomorrow, not both. Right Lane: Ron Capps Runs 4.172/297.75, Now #7; Best prior run: 4.456/294.37, Was #17 Capps' run will set the sixteen cars that will run tomorrow, with some shuffling still possible. Another nice
last-chance effort, putting John Force on the bump spot at 4.397. Left Lane: Matt Hagan Runs 4.128/299.40, Now #3; Best prior run: 4.142/304.53, Was #4 Right Lane: John Force Runs 6.866/93.42, Now #16; Best prior run: 4.397/259.86, Was #16 Force struck the tires about 100 feet out and he will probably run Robert Hight in round one tomorrow. Nice pass by Hagan to move up to third on the ladder, quickest of the session so far. Left Lane: Ashley Force Hood Runs 4.931/160.40, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.092/306.46, Was #2 Right Lane: Paul Lee Runs 4.414/284.27, Now #13; Best prior run: 4.270/287.84, Was #13 Force Hood started to smoke the tires before the 660-foot marker and Lee failed to improve. Left Lane: Robert Hight Runs 5.372/135.01, Now #1; Best prior run: 4.067/313.15, Was #1 Right Lane: Jack Beckman Runs 5.154/147.20, Now #6; Best prior run: 4.151/297.29, Was #6 Last pair - John Force will run one of thse two in round one tomorrow. Beckman's car headed for the centerline, then
got very sideways when he tried to lift and bring it back. Hight started smoking the tires and lifted.
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