Fri, 31 Oct 2014, 20:31 PM Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #2

By Dave Rowe

LAS VEGAS - Notes from round 2 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 14th annual NHRA Toyota 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:

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Left Lane: Jeff Diehl Runs 4.536/199.58, Now #12; No Prior Run

4:55 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 84 degrees, relative humidity 26 percent, barometer 27.61 inches, adjusted altitude 4,780 feet, track temperature 93 degrees.

One of the cables that control the chutes shorted out on Diehl's car before he fired the engine in the first round and the chutes came out.

Diehl hits the throttle and it looks like a cylinder is out. He gets about 600 feet out and backs off the throttle.

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Left Lane: Paul Lee Runs 4.273/279.73, Now #12; Best prior run: 7.324/85.89, Was #18
Right Lane: Bob Tasca III Runs 4.147/306.88, Now #5; Best prior run: 7.576/77.90, Was #19

Lee's chute came out early in his first attempt and he had to back off the throttle early. Tasca had problems early in his first attempt.

Tasca goes right down the groove, header flames high and steady all the way through the run. He moves up to the fifth spot for now. Lee makes a clean pass but looks like he was mixing up cylinders in the middle of the run.

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Left Lane: Jeff Arend Runs 4.145/290.69, Now #6; Best prior run: 5.865/116.29, Was #18
Right Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 4.065/311.41, Now #1; Best prior run: 6.196/105.55, Was #19

Both Arend and Johnson had traction problems about 300 feet out in the first round.

No problems for Johnson here, right down the groove with the quickest pass of the day so far to move into the top spot for now. Arend made a decent pass but was falling behind all the way through the run.

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Left Lane: Jon Capps Runs 4.790/194.72, Now #18; Best prior run: 5.042/165.42, Was #18
Right Lane: John Bojec Runs 4.415/232.51, Now #16; Best prior run: 5.203/149.78, Was #19

Capps gets about 300 feet out and looks like it pulls the wheels. The front end sets down, the car makes a wild move to the left and he backs off the throttle. Bojec lost a blower belt about 800 feet out and the car nosed over.

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Left Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 4.122/310.55, Now #3; Best prior run: 5.022/156.01, Was #19

Wilkerson goes right down the groove with a good run to move into the third spot for now.

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Left Lane: Courtney Force Runs 4.790/169.72, Now #11; Best prior run: 4.160/309.13, Was #11
Right Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 4.304/257.87, Now #14; Best prior run: 4.192/278.98, Was #14

Courtney gets about 400 feet out, makes a move to the right and loses traction. Pedregon gets about 700 feet out, starts mixing up cylinders, then backs off the throttle.

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Left Lane: Robert Hight Runs 4.089/316.52, Now #3; Best prior run: 4.155/306.81, Was #10
Right Lane: Alexis DeJoria Runs 4.076/308.35, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.175/286.32, Was #13

A good side by side here, both right down the groove, header flames high and steady on both cars. DeJoria makes her quickest pass of the day to move into the second spot, Hight moves up to the third spot.

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Left Lane: Jack Beckman Runs 4.045/318.84, Now #1; Best prior run: 4.143/309.27, Was #8
Right Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 4.200/282.72, Now #13; Best prior run: 4.164/294.05, Was #13

Beckman makes an impressive pass, the quickest of the day so far, and he takes the pole for now. Pedregon slows from his earlier attempt.

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Left Lane: Matt Hagan Runs 4.044/318.02, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.140/311.13, Was #8
Right Lane: John Force Runs 4.039/318.54, Now #1; Best prior run: 4.152/304.74, Was #11

Force goes right down the groove with an impressive pass to take the top spot for now. Hagan is right behind and gets into the second spot.

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Left Lane: Ron Capps Runs 4.058/318.62, Now #4; Best prior run: 4.121/311.34, Was #7
Right Lane: Del Worsham Runs 4.090/311.13, Now #8; Best prior run: 4.127/308.57, Was #9

Two more good runs, both right down the groove. Worsham improves and moves up a spot to eighth, Capps moves up to the fourth spot.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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