POMONA 1 - Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Final Session

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Sat, 13 Feb 2016, 20:49 PM

Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Final Session

By Larry Sullivan

POMONA, Calif. - Notes from final, round 4 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 56th annual Circle K NHRA Winternationals 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: Terry Haddock Runs 4.571/194.97, Now #17; Best prior run: 11.233/74.22, Was #18
Right Lane: Bob Bode No Time, Now #16; Best prior run: 4.356/233.36, Was #16

5:07 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 77 degrees, relative humidity 40 percent, barometer 28.94 inches, adjusted altitude 2,875 feet, track temperature 82 degrees.

We just finished a stunning Top Fuel session, this could be something special as well. Bob Bode is on the bump spot at 4.356.

Bode had dead pipes on the left side and the car went steadily to the left, taking out the 660-foot timing markers. Haddock had a little flash-bang past halfway and slowed.

Left Lane: James Campbell Runs 4.163/302.41, Now #13; Best prior run: 7.213/93.10, Was #18
Right Lane: John Hale Runs 4.369/244.21, Now #16; Best prior run: 4.329/263.51, Was #15

Campbell pulled it out on his last shot and became the 379th different driver to qualify in Funny Car.

Hale failed to improve, sits on the bump spot, but there are no not-qualified cars left in the lanes so he will run the #1 qualifier tomorrow.

Right Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 4.298/210.83, Now #14; Best prior run: 4.256/225.22, Was #14

Jeff Diehl decided to skip the final round, safely in the field.

TJ made a wild run, the front wheels in the air until he backpedaled.

Left Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 3.962/320.28, Now #5; Best prior run: 4.041/312.93, Was #10
Right Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 8.147/81.98, Now #12; Best prior run: 4.124/281.07, Was #12

Pedregon lost traction about 100 feet out and he lifted. Wilkerson made his best run of the event, a nice run, moving him well into the top half of the field.

There was a slight delay to clean up fire extinguisher fluid in the shutdown area in Pedregon's lane.

Left Lane: Alexis DeJoria Runs 3.942/324.59, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.029/316.97, Was #10

Gary Densham was supposed to be alongside DeJoria, but his car is a mangled pile of pieces after the third-round trip through the sand trap.

Nice run by DeJoria, a career-best ET and her best speed of the event to move up to the second spot.

Alexis DeJoria's incremental times: 60ft-0.882 sec., 330ft-2.266, 660ft-3.192/278.06 mph.

Left Lane: Chad Head Runs 3.950/319.29, Now #6; Best prior run: 3.985/315.05, Was #9
Right Lane: Matt Hagan Runs 4.349/203.80, Now #10; Best prior run: 3.993/323.35, Was #10

Hagan's car started eating head gaskets in the middle of the run and he shut it off. Nice full pass by Head, with his best Et of the event and he moved into the top half of the field.

Chad Head's incremental times: 60ft-0.879 sec., 330ft-2.254, 660ft-3.188/273.77 mph.

Left Lane: Ron Capps Runs 3.902/324.51, Now #1; Best prior run: 3.971/322.58, Was #9
Right Lane: John Force Runs 4.205/224.55, Now #9; Best prior run: 3.964/322.34, Was #8

Force was driving a crooked route and shut it off early. Meanwhile, Capps streaked right down the groove and right into the #1 spot. That also pushed Force into the bottom half of the field.

Ron Capps' incremental times: 60ft-0.865 sec., 330ft-2.224, 660ft-3.155/277.60 mph.

Left Lane: Robert Hight Runs 3.913/322.04, Now #2; Best prior run: 3.942/322.19, Was #4
Right Lane: Del Worsham Runs 3.943/322.27, Now #5; Best prior run: 3.950/323.04, Was #6

Both drivers made very nice runs and both improved their positioning on the ladder, Hight to #2 and Worsham to #5.

Robert Hight's incremental times: 60ft-0.865 sec., 330ft-2.231, 660ft-3.162/278.06 mph.
Del Worsham's incremental times: 60ft-0.876 sec., 330ft-2.254, 660ft-3.187/277.09 mph.

Left Lane: Jack Beckman Runs 3.888/326.16, Now #1; Best prior run: 3.934/322.34, Was #3
Right Lane: Courtney Force Runs 6.419/103.26, Now #6; Best prior run: 3.945/322.88, Was #6

Last pair. How low can they go?Force started rattling the tires and lifted. Beckman closed out qualifying with an awesome run, the only driver in the eighties and he leads the list into eliminations tomorrow.

This is Beckman's 16th #1 qualifier.

Jack Beckman's incremental times: 60ft-0.862 sec., 330ft-2.217, 660ft-3.142/279.09 mph.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink