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CHANDLER, Ariz. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 33rd annual NHRA Arizona Nationals: Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 156 Phil Burkart 2 Tommy Johnson Jr. E1 0.120 19.397 84.48 ****WINNER**** 0.094 3.891 327.43 Qualified: #16 5.352 165.94 #1 3.837 329.1011:33 a.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 66 degrees, relative humidity 33 percent, barometer 28.68 inches, adjusted altitude 2,268 feet, track temperature 92 degrees. Phoenix is the headquarters of Make-A-Wish foundation and Johnson really would like to make a big statement here. Johnson number one qualify pass in session four yesterday also set the track ET record at 3.837. Courtney Force had set it earlier, just 0.001 slower. He has 54% win record in round one races and won three of the four prior round one encounters with Burkart.He has won once from the top spot in FC and that was in 2007. 2016 Phoenix: Qualified No. 7, lost in second round to Courtney Force Events Wins Rup Poles W/L CAREER 399 15 24 14 337-340 Burkart has over 166 rounds of racing and a 45% win record. Weird! The car just shuttered at the green.TH butterflies snap open and then closed. He slowly motors on down the track. Broken Throttle cable? TJ was going to be hard to beat, as he makes another 3.89 pass for the easy win. Tommy Johnson Jr.'s incremental times: 60ft-0.880 sec., 330ft-2.242, 660ft-3.149/283.07
mph. Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 170 Jeff Arend 1 Ron Capps E1 0.115 11.548 83.99 ****WINNER**** 0.095 3.883 326.56 Qualified: #14 4.479 202.91 #3 3.839 333.58Capps has gone the distance at the track formerly known as Firebird in 2003, 2009 and 2013 in six final rounds. 2016 Phoenix: Qualified No. 1, lost in second round to Tim Wilkerson. He set a track record speed in the forth qualifying session of 333.58. He has won over 62% of his round one races and has 15 of the prior 18 races in round one encounters with Arend. He set the track speed record at 333.58 in the forth round of qualifying yesterday. Career at Phoenix: Wins 3 (2013, 2009, 2003); Runner-ups 3 (2005, 2000, 1998); Poles 2 (2009, 2000) Events Wins Rup Poles W/L CAREER 484 50 50 21 668-415 Arend has 308 prior rounds of racing and a 29% win record in round one matchups. Arend's Impala is up in smoke at the green and slows. Capps is long gone and hard to find, as the NAPA Charger is smooth and clean to the lights. Ron Capps' incremental times: 60ft-0.860 sec., 330ft-2.232,
660ft-3.144/283.97 mph. Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 703 Jim Campbell 6 Courtney Force E1 ****WINNER**** 0.130 4.182 273.50 0.102 6.362 104.58 Qualified: #15 4.950 167.57 #2 3.838 332.67Force was runner-up to Matt Hagan at the recently completed NHRA WinterNationals. Force has competed in five previous NHRA Arizona Nationals - all since 2012. In her career, Force has competed in 120 races, and has totaled eight victories and 134 round wins. Force has been the No. 2 qualifier for the NHRA Arizona Nationals in each of the last two seasons - 2015 and 2016. She has almost a 58% win advantage in round one races. Force has won her first-round matchup in the NHRA Arizona Nationals three times in five races. Her first-round matchup will be against Jim Campbell, whom she will now face for the third consecutive race in the first round. Campbell has only one round one win in his fifteen starts and Force has won all four of their prior encounters. UPSET! Force gets a starting line advantage and is pulling steadily ahead until right before the 330 lights, where the tires start to haze. She quickly pedals , but the car won't recover. Campbell has his own issues right before the lights, but gets his second win with a season best ET and speed. Jim Campbell's incremental times: 60ft-0.915 sec., 330ft-2.365, 660ft-3.335/266.90 mph. Courtney Force's incremental times: 60ft-0.871 sec., 330ft-2.508,
660ft-4.276/120.95 mph. Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 71 Cruz Pedregon 3 Matt Hagan E1 0.068 9.244 81.01 ****WINNER**** 0.067 3.839 332.92 Qualified: #13 4.007 294.95 #4 3.839 329.67Matt's win in Pomona was the 23rd of his career and that moves him into 18th place on the all-time nitro win list. He currently enjoys holding 5 of the 10 quickest and fastest passes in NHRA history. He has won over 70% of his first round races and five of the nine prior rond one races with Pedregon. 2016 Phoenix: Qualified No. 10, lost in second round to Robert Hight Career at Phoenix: Wins 1 (2015); Runner-ups 1 (2013); Poles 1 (2015) Events Wins Rup Poles W/L CAREER 193 23 20 27 269-166 Cruz Pedregon won here in 1993. He is 14th on the all-time nitro win list with 35. Pedregon has had 986 races to date and has won 55% of them. In round one matchups, he has a 59% win record. Pedregon's problems continue, as the tires are smoking hard at the green. Hagan was away by just 0.001 and makes the 10th quickest pass ever to seal the deal. NICE! Matt Hagan's
incremental times: 60ft-0.867 sec., 330ft-2.205, 660ft-3.109/286.32 mph.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
4 John Force 9 Tim Wilkerson
E1 0.074 6.551 103.40 ****WINNER**** 0.085 3.844 331.94
Qualified: #12 3.941 313.15 #5 3.852 329.42
Wilkerson was the 2016 winner here, defeating John Force. Only 2 Funny Car drivers (Force &
Beckman) have ever won this race in back-to-back years. For Wilkerson, the Phoenix event will be
his 447th NHRA nitro Funny Car race, with 20 wins and 17 runner-up finishes. He has finished in the
prestigious top 10 in the Funny Car standing 12 times over the course of his career, including in
each of the last nine seasons. He ran a new career best ET in his second qualifying pass. He has
over a 51% win advantage in round one. Force and Wilkerson have raced each other 54 times in their
long careers, with Force holding a 36-18 edge.
John Force has competed in the NHRA Arizona Nationals 32 times, all in succession since 1985.Force
has advanced to the final round of the Winternationals 13 times, winning seven times (1994-1997 and
1999-2001). His most recent final round matchup came last year, when he finished second to Force's
record in elimination round races for the NHRA Arizona Nationals is 59-24.Force has been the No. 1
qualifier for the NHRA Arizona Nationals eight times, most recently in 2014, and has won twice from
the No. 1 qualifying spot (1996, 1999).
John Force has 8 wins here but none since 2005. He was runner-up last year. In 33 years here this
is only the 6th time John has started from the bottom half of the field. Force has won his
first-round NHRA Arizona Nationals matchup 20 times. If Force wins his first round matchup, chances
are he'll make it to the finals. Only twice since 1994 has Force won the first-round matchup (13
times) but not made it to the finals (2013, 2014 - made it to semifinals twice). And his last
second-round loss came in 1993. In his career, Force has 147 victories and 1,265 round wins. He has
won 12 of the prior 18 round one races with Wilkerson. Wilkerson runs another career best ET and season best speed in an easy win. Force was away first, but the Camaro was way loose about 100 feet out and he had to lift. Hagan will have lane choice later. Tim Wilkerson's incremental
times: 60ft-0.864 sec., 330ft-2.225, 660ft-3.116/288.46 mph. Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 782 Gary Densham 5 Jack Beckman E1 ****WINNER**** 0.255 6.715 106.55 No Time Qualified: #11 3.938 320.36 #6 3.869 328.46Beckman has won here three times (2008, 2010, 2011) and that's as many times that he has won at any track. In 2016 Phoenix, he qualified number 6 and lost in second round to John Force. He has over a 68% win advantage in round one and has a six to one advantage over Densham. Events Wins Rup Poles W/L CAREER 253 24 25 21 333-222 Densham ran a career best ET and speed on his first qualifying pass. This will be his 704th round of racing and has won 35% of his round one races. This is the 29th Phoenix event for Gary Densham. His first was in 1985. Beckman's Charger made a weird sound on the burn out and he quickly pulled it over to the wall. Densham gets a free pass to round two, but almost gives it back, as the tires shake loose and the back end steps out. The Mustang gets almost too close to the wall, but he drives it back into the lane for the win. Capps will have lane choice next round. Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 771 Alexis DeJoria 373 J.R. Todd E1 0.093 5.829 119.55 ****WINNER**** 0.069 3.887 330.07 Qualified: #10 3.920 325.14 #7 3.889 326.63Todd has already had 290 round of racing, but this is just his second race in Funny Car. In top Fuel he won over 55% of his first round races. He was the 11th qualifier in his first race at Pomona and lost in the second round. Alexis DeJoria won here in 2014. She already was participated in 195 round of funny Car racing, with a 42% win record. She has won 41% of her round one match ups. Looked like we were going to get a race this time with just 0.002 difference at the 60 foot lights, but DeJoria's Camry knocks the tires loose about 300 feet out. Todd way away first and improves on his qualifying times to take the easy win. He will have lane choice over Campbell in round two. J.R. Todd's incremental
times: 60ft-0.875 sec., 330ft-2.248, 660ft-3.153/284.99 mph.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
8 Robert Hight 750 Del Worsham
E1 ****WINNER**** 0.099 4.699 205.82 0.112 5.188 154.16
Qualified: #9 3.897 325.45 #8 3.896 328.22
Del Worsham won here in 2002 & 2004. Today marks the second consecutive race the two will face
each other: Worsham won the last time in the season-opening Circle K NHRA Winternationals two weeks
ago at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. Hight holds a slight advantage all-time over Worsham, 17-16.
Worsham has made it to the winner's circle twice at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park. In 2002 he
beat John Force in the final round, and in 2004 he beat Tony Pedregon. In 2015 the NHRA Funny Car
champion lost to Matt Hagan in the final round. He has won over 60% of his first round races, but
only has a 46% win/loss record against Hight in their thirteen prior matchups.
Robert Hight has competed in the NHRA Arizona Nationals 12 times, and every year since 2005, the
first year he competed in the event. Hight has advanced to the final round of the Winternationals
four times, winning once. His record in elimination round races at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park
is 23-11. Hight has been the No. 1 qualifier for the NHRA Arizona Nationals once, in 2007. That
year, he advanced to the finals. Hight has won his first-round NHRA Arizona Nationals matchup 11
times in 12 attempts, including 10 times consecutively. Hight holds the quarter-mile track record
in Funny Car at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park at 4.64 seconds. In his career, Hight has 37
victories and 373 round wins. He has over a 65% win advantage in round one races.WILD! Hight gets away first and then shakes the tires loose. He is in and out of the throttle right on down the track. Worsham Lit the tires up first and then had the engine light up. 12:01 p.m. Both cars
are coasting through the finish line and Johnson will have lane choice next round.
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