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Fri, 04 Oct 2013, 17:47 PM

Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #2

By Jim Samuel

MOHNTON, Pa. - Notes from round 2 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 29th annual Auto-Plus NHRA Nationals 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: Jeff Arend Runs 4.125/301.94, Now #10; Best prior run: 10.408/64.77, Was #18
Right Lane: Mike Smith Runs 11.394/63.38, Now #17; Best prior run: 7.254/92.94, Was #16

5:04 p.m. - Weather conditions: air temperature 85 degrees, relative humidity 50 percent, barometer 29.44 inches, adjusted altitude 3,079 feet, track temperature 102 degrees.

Neither driver was among the top 12 when this session began. Smith launched and the rear tires immediately went up in smoke. Arend had a good run going but the engine in his car blew shortly before he crossed the finish line. Arend was quick enough to move into the number 10 spot in the order for now.

Left Lane: Bob Tasca III Runs 4.081/313.00, Now #6; Best prior run: 7.393/88.62, Was #18
Right Lane: Robert Hight Runs 4.072/315.86, Now #3; Best prior run: 5.530/128.26, Was #15

Hight and Tasca both put themselves high up in the field with a pair of nice rounds.

Left Lane: Paul Lee Runs 4.345/276.58, Now #17; Best prior run: 5.703/126.90, Was #17
Right Lane: Ron Capps Runs 4.110/311.56, Now #10; Best prior run: 5.290/137.74, Was #16

Both drivers had clean runs. Capps moved up into the top 12, Lee is still not in.

Left Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 4.072/312.42, Now #4; Best prior run: 4.165/308.28, Was #14
Right Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 4.120/306.88, Now #13; Best prior run: 4.222/292.77, Was #16

A pair of good side-by-side runs here. Wilkerson moved up 10 spots, Pedregon three spots.

Left Lane: Matt Hagan Runs 4.035/319.45, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.123/303.84, Was #14
Right Lane: Blake Alexander No Time, Now #16; Best prior run: 4.167/299.06, Was #16

Hagan moved into the number two spot in the order for now with a nice run down the track. Alexander crossed over the center line and knocked out the foam blocks at mid track. His ET was DQ'ed.

Left Lane: Chad Head Runs 6.794/92.40, Now #11; Best prior run: 4.109/307.16, Was #11
Right Lane: Alexis DeJoria Runs 5.431/127.20, Now #13; Best prior run: 4.118/307.02, Was #13

Both drivers launched fine but both shook and smoked the rear tires at about 330 feet. Both shut down early and neither moved up in the order.

Left Lane: Jack Beckman Runs 4.034/318.99, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.078/313.95, Was #7
Right Lane: Johnny Gray Runs 4.067/313.29, Now #4; Best prior run: 4.097/309.91, Was #10

Both drivers moved up with two good passes straight down the groove.

Left Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 4.090/270.05, Now #8; Best prior run: 4.077/311.13, Was #8
Right Lane: Del Worsham Runs 5.640/124.98, Now #10; Best prior run: 4.084/313.37, Was #10

Worsham's car smoked the rear tires and he lost cylinders at 660 feet. Pedregon started losing cylinders just a bit after that.

Left Lane: Courtney Force Runs 4.025/329.42, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.071/318.54, Was #5
Right Lane: John Force Runs 3.987/323.50, Now #1; Best prior run: 4.032/317.12, Was #1

Courtney Force was number two in the order when this session started but was pushed down to the number five spot by the time she made her second qualifying pass. She took back the second spot with a strong run down the left lane that was her career best speed. In the other lane, John Force was the first driver to go into the threes with his career-best ET and speed.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink