Fri, 13 Nov 2015, 16:16 PM Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By David Gerard

POMONA, Calif. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 51st annual Auto Club NHRA Finals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Left Lane: Brandon Welch Runs 15.070/60.71, Now #2
Right Lane: Tim Gibbons Runs 4.995/161.07, Now #1

12:36 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 76 degrees, relative humidity 21 percent, barometer 28.85 inches, adjusted altitude 2,663 feet, track temperature 98 degrees.

Welsh is up in smoke at the hit and clicks it off.

Gibbons left hard and then went silent down track and is coasting too.

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Left Lane: Gary Densham Runs 4.052/308.57, Now #1
Right Lane: Jeff Arend Runs 4.858/175.48, Now #2

Arend drops a cylinder early and moves out of the groove. He pulls it back in, but is not going to be happy.

Great pass for Densham to set a mark for the field. Only one chute came out and he had to work hard to get it Whoa'ed.

Gary Densham's incremental times: 60ft-0.895 sec., 330ft-2.295, 660ft-3.261/264.96 mph.

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Left Lane: Paul Lee Runs 4.503/268.44, Now #2
Right Lane: Bob Bode Runs 11.143/79.22, Now #5

Bode strikes the tires at the green.

Lee drops off the line and then loses some more down track.

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Left Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 4.128/261.17, Now #2
Right Lane: John Hale Runs 4.431/210.14, Now #3

Team Dunn is running a tribute Mooneye's wrap this weekend. The car is lazy off the line and Hale is off the throttle down track.

Pedregon's Camry is really strong off the line and then has the engine light up after the 660 lights.

Tony Pedregon's incremental times: 60ft-0.880 sec., 330ft-2.314, 660ft-3.289/264.39 mph.
John Hale's incremental times: 60ft-0.928 sec., 330ft-2.363, 660ft-3.377/234.90 mph.

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Left Lane: Chad Head Runs 5.805/117.46, Now #7
Right Lane: Courtney Force Runs 8.197/70.25, Now #8

Two strong leaves and two early lifts. Force first and Head right after that.

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Left Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 4.023/308.43, Now #1
Right Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 4.064/306.46, Now #3

A pair of great looking passes and a new top spot for Wilkerson. The engine runs clean until right in the lights, where there is fluid in the pipes on a couple of cylinders.

Pedregon chases him down the track and takes over the number three spot.

Tim Wilkerson's incremental times: 60ft-0.884 sec., 330ft-2.296, 660ft-3.245/271.84 mph.
Cruz Pedregon's incremental times: 60ft-0.894 sec., 330ft-2.309, 660ft-3.269/265.95 mph.

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Left Lane: Alexis DeJoria Runs 5.107/146.94, Now #10
Right Lane: John Force Runs 4.343/209.39, Now #5

Brandon Welch is on the bump spot at 15.070.

DeJoria gets a big advantage off the line and leads for a while. The engine gets unhappy and she lifts.

Force drives on by and then has the tires get loose. He pumps the pedal and starts to drop cylinders. He is off the pedal before the lights.

John Force's incremental times: 60ft-0.884 sec., 330ft-2.272, 660ft-3.287/228.65 mph.

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Left Lane: Robert Hight Runs 3.978/322.88, Now #1
Right Lane: Matt Hagan Runs 3.995/323.50, Now #2

Courtney Force is on the bump spot at 8.197.

OKAY! We finally get our first three second passes and big MPH's to boot.

Hagan is away first and stays there for a while. Hight drives on by and into the top spot.

Robert Hight's incremental times: 60ft-0.880 sec., 330ft-2.271, 660ft-3.220/274.00 mph.
Matt Hagan's incremental times: 60ft-0.873 sec., 330ft-2.282, 660ft-3.238/272.89 mph.

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Left Lane: Ron Capps Runs 3.951/322.04, Now #1
Right Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 7.395/81.28, Now #15

Alexis DeJoria is on the bump spot at 5.107.

Say Hello to your new Pomona track ET record holder and the latest #1 qualifier. Capp's Charger is 0.861 in sixty feet and flies on down the track on a great pass.

Johnson's Make-A-Wish Charger is up in smoke at the green.

Ron Capps' incremental times: 60ft-0.861 sec., 330ft-2.240, 660ft-3.191/273.55 mph.

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Left Lane: Jack Beckman Runs 3.964/319.29, Now #2
Right Lane: Del Worsham Runs 6.915/94.20, Now #16

Tim Gibbons is on the bump spot at 4.995.

No little points for Worsham, as the Camry overpowers the track right around the 330 lights.

Two important little points for Beckman on a clean and straight pass into the #2 spot.

Jack Beckman's incremental times: 60ft-0.874 sec., 330ft-2.254, 660ft-3.200/273.11 mph.
Del Worsham's incremental times: 60ft-0.884 sec., 330ft-2.529, 660ft-4.598/105.56 mph.

1:09 p.m. Ron Capps is number one at 3.951 and Jeff Arend is on the bump spot at 4.858.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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