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Sun, 01 Nov 2015, 14:58 PM

Funny Car Round 1 Eliminations
By Dave Rowe





LAS VEGAS - Results of round 1 eliminations in Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 15th annual NHRA Toyota Nationals:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   72 Tony Pedregon                         711 Jack Beckman                 
E1                   0.060  9.913  82.26     ****WINNER****  0.081  4.002 319.60
 Qualified:            #13  4.031 302.48                        #4  3.940 324.28
11:29 a.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 82 degrees, relative humidity 28 percent, barometer 27.90 inches, adjusted altitude 4,333 feet, track temperature 99 degrees.

Beckman is 16 - 5 against Pedregon in prior events.

Pedregon has won this race twice.

Beckman was in the left lane but after seeing Brittany Force go up in smoke he decided to swap lanes.

It looks like it may have been a good move on Beckman's part. Pedregon hits the throttle and goes up in smoke instantly. Beckman goes right down the groove with a clean pass to take the win.


 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  116 Paul Lee                                4 Courtney Force               
E1                   0.046  4.007 317.94     ****WINNER****  0.074  3.952 325.53
 Qualified:            #15  4.076 315.27                        #2  3.933 325.77
Lee and Force have each won 1 times against the other in prior events.

We have another lane swap, Force was lined up in the left lane and made the decision to move to the right lane.

Lee doesn't have any problems with the left lane, getting out of the gate first, then going right down the groove with the quickest pass of his career. he stayed in front of Force past the 330 foot mark, then drove around Lee and pulled away for the win.

Courtney Force's incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.026), 330 ft(-0.014), 660ft(0.008). MOV: 0.0276 seconds (approximately 13 feet).


 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  340 Bob Bode                                3 Tommy Johnson Jr.            
E1                   0.082  9.484  92.63     ****WINNER****  0.096  4.014 310.98
 Qualified:            #16  4.136 303.03                        #1  3.931 320.43
This is the 12th time that Tommy Johnson has been the top qualifier in Funny Car. It's his 3rd this year and that is the first time in his career that he has three top spots in the same year.

This is the 19th time that Bob Bode has started from the 16th spot in the field.

Johnson Jr. is 1 - 0 against Bode in prior events.

Bode hits the throttle and goes up in smoke instantly. Johnson goes right down the groove with a decent pass to take the win.


 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  782 Gary Densham                            5 Robert Hight                 
E1                   0.142  4.508 204.94     ****WINNER****  0.076  4.035 318.54
 Qualified:            #14  4.050 311.41                        #3  3.937 314.90
Hight is 12 - 0 against Densham in prior events.

Densham has a cylinder out at the hit and starts drifting to the left. He gets about 700 feet out and has to back off the throttle. Hight was out in front from the start and extended his lead all the way through the run.


 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   71 Cruz Pedregon                          28 Ron Capps                    
E1                   0.074  4.077 292.46     ****WINNER****  0.083  3.998 320.28
 Qualified:            #12  4.017 310.05                        #5  3.967 323.12
Cruz Pedregon won this race in 2008.

Ron Capps has 36 wins against Cruz and that is tied for the most wins against any opponent Ron has faced (tied with Del Worsham).

Capps is 36 - 25 against Pedregon in prior events.

Pedregon gets out of the gate first but Capps went around him quickly and started pulling away. Pedregon gets about 800 feet out, starts mixing up cylinders and slows.

Capps will have lane choice over Beckman in the next round.


 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    9 Tim Wilkerson                        3111 Chad Head                    
E1                   0.087 10.500  85.92     ****WINNER****  0.079  4.028 314.24
 Qualified:            #10  3.992 315.05                        #7  3.976 310.77
Wilkerson is 4 - 1 against Head in prior events.

Wilkerson goes up in smoke as soon as he hit the throttle and had to give up on the run. Head was off the line first and quickly pulled away.

Courtney Force will have lane choice over Head in the next round.


 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  771 Alexis DeJoria                          2 John Force                   
E1   ****WINNER****  0.134  4.004 314.90                     0.071  4.261 307.02
 Qualified:             #9  3.984 319.22                        #8  3.980 321.50
Force is 15 - 7 against DeJoria in prior events.

Force has won this race three times.

Force gets out of the gate first but starts drifting to the left. he has to pedal the car once, then DeJoria goes around him and pulls away for the win.

Alexis DeJoria's incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.047), 330 ft(0.049), 660ft(0.150). MOV: 0.1941 seconds (approximately 87 feet).

DeJoria will have lane choice over Johnson in the next round.


 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    1 Matt Hagan                            750 Del Worsham                  
E1                   0.085  4.773 167.59     ****WINNER****  0.051  3.977 322.19
 Qualified:            #11  4.010 322.58                        #6  3.969 325.92
Del Worsham has won here in both Top Fuel and Funny Car. He is the defending event champion. Only one Funny Car driver, Ron Capps, has ever won this race in back-to-back years.

Matt Hagan can help himself and his teammate, Jack Beckman, if he could beat Del. Matt has won 35 rounds this year and Del has won 34.

Hagan is 8 - 7 against Worsham in prior events.

Worsham gets out of the gate first and starts to pull away. Hagan starts hazing the tires early, then goes up in smoke and has to back off the throttle early. Worsham goes right down the groove and takes the win.

Del Worsham's incremental margins: 60ft(0.029), 330 ft(0.041), 660ft(0.267). MOV: 0.8306 seconds (more than 100 feet).

Worsham will have lane choice over Hight in the next round.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink




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