Sat, 06 Oct 2018, 19:03 PM Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Final Session

By Dave Rowe

ENNIS, Texas - Notes from final, round 4 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 33rd annual AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals 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: Cruz Pedregon Runs 3.999/315.19, Now #7; Best prior run: 4.557/181.57, Was #15
Right Lane: Terry Haddock Runs 5.142/148.20, Now #16; Best prior run: 5.553/154.55, Was #16

5:29 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 90 degrees, relative humidity 57 percent, barometer 29.30 inches, adjusted altitude 3,786 feet, track temperature 115 degrees.

Haddock starts rattling the tires early, gets about 400 feet out and hazes the tires. Pedregon makes his quickest pass of the weekend and moves up to the seventh spot.

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Left Lane: Jeff Diehl Runs 6.371/112.69, Now #14; Best prior run: 4.140/257.38, Was #14
Right Lane: Matt Hagan Runs 4.169/255.92, Now #15; Best prior run: 4.195/250.88, Was #15

Diehl rattles the tires off the line, gets about 200 feet out and gives up on the run. Hagan drifts to the left early, he steers it back to the right, then looks like he put out a cylinder or two late in the run. He still makes his quickest pass of the weekend but stays in the 15th spot.

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Left Lane: John Force Runs 4.054/316.08, Now #10; Best prior run: 4.045/319.67, Was #10
Right Lane: Courtney Force Runs 4.079/272.28, Now #12; Best prior run: 4.080/266.58, Was #12

John goes right down the groove with a good pass but he doesn't improve. Courtney was on a good pass but had problems late and was off the throttle when she went through the lights.

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Left Lane: Shawn Langdon Runs 4.003/310.91, Now #9; Best prior run: 4.008/319.14, Was #8
Right Lane: Ron Capps Runs 3.986/317.12, Now #6; Best prior run: 4.012/317.05, Was #9

Capps goes down the groove with an good pass and he moves up to the sixth spot. Langdon makes a clean pass but doesn't improve.

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Left Lane: J.R. Todd Runs 3.990/308.99, Now #4; Best prior run: 3.962/320.05, Was #4
Right Lane: Jack Beckman Runs 3.968/316.52, Now #5; Best prior run: 3.986/312.57, Was #7

A good side-by-side, both right down the groove. Beckman makes the quickest pass of the round so far and moves up to the fifth spot in the order. Todd makes a decent pass but doesn't improve.

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Left Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 4.038/291.95, Now #3; Best prior run: 3.958/315.64, Was #3
Right Lane: Robert Hight Runs 3.979/314.83, Now #6; Best prior run: 3.984/323.43, Was #6

Hight goes down the groove with a good pass but he doesn't improve. Wilkerson was off the throttle a little early.

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Left Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 3.918/321.73, Now #1; Best prior run: 3.958/323.66, Was #2
Right Lane: Bob Tasca III Runs 7.685/81.31, Now #2; Best prior run: 3.950/322.27, Was #1

Johnson makes an impressive pass, the quickest of the weekend, and he takes the pole for the first time this year and the 16th of his career. Tasca had problems very early in the run and was off the throttle before he got 300 feet out.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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