Sat, 27 Oct 2018, 19:01 PM Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Final Session

By Dave Rowe

LAS VEGAS - Notes from final, round 4 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 18th annual NHRA Toyota Nationals 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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Right Lane: Jeff Diehl Runs 4.911/165.11, Now #19; No Prior Run

3:10 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 86 degrees, relative humidity 19 percent, barometer 27.88 inches, adjusted altitude 4,570 feet, track temperature 108 degrees.

Diehl gets about 400 feet out and loses a cylinder. He stays with it for about 100 feet and gives up on the run.

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Left Lane: Bob Bode Runs 5.613/104.19, Now #18; Best prior run: 4.253/265.74, Was #18
Right Lane: Gary Densham No Time, Now #17; Best prior run: 4.192/273.33, Was #17

Densham hits the throttle and the engine pops. He makes it about 300 feet and pulls over to the side of the track. He puts some oil on the track and the scrubber rolls for the cleanup. Bode gets out of the groove and starts moving to the left. He gets about 400 feet out, backs off the throttle and the chutes deploy.

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Left Lane: Richard Townsend Runs 5.978/114.63, Now #15; Best prior run: 4.060/308.50, Was #15
Right Lane: Jonnie Lindberg Runs 9.369/69.51, Now #13; Best prior run: 4.050/314.24, Was #13

Townsend gets about 300 feet out and goes up in smoke. Lindberg only makes it about 200 feet and strikes the tires.

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Left Lane: Shawn Langdon Runs 3.965/319.67, Now #8; Best prior run: 3.969/321.27, Was #10
Right Lane: Ron Capps Runs 3.971/315.71, Now #12; Best prior run: 4.009/323.58, Was #12

Langdon goes down the groove with his quickest pass of the weekend and he moves up a couple of spots in the order. Capps makes a clean, straight pass but he stays in the 12th spot.

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Left Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 4.866/161.02, Now #11; Best prior run: 3.968/323.04, Was #10
Right Lane: Bob Tasca III Runs 3.924/321.65, Now #4; Best prior run: 3.970/319.52, Was #11

Pedregon was on a decent pass but he strikes the tires about 400 feet out and has to back off the throttle. Tasca goes down the groove with his quickest pass of the weekend and he moves up to the fourth spot.

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Left Lane: Matt Hagan Runs 3.949/322.65, Now #8; Best prior run: 3.966/324.36, Was #10
Right Lane: John Force Runs 3.926/330.55, Now #5; Best prior run: 3.939/330.23, Was #7

A good side-by-side here, both right down the groove with clean passes. Force makes his quickest pass of the weekend and he moves up to the fifth spot for now. Hagan makes his quickest pass of the weekend and he gets in the top half of the field in the eighth spot.

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Left Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 3.932/319.90, Now #8; Best prior run: 3.961/320.28, Was #9
Right Lane: Robert Hight Runs 3.948/326.63, Now #7; Best prior run: 3.927/328.38, Was #7

Wilkerson makes his quickest pass of the weekend and he moves back into the eighth spot. Hight made a move to the right, steers it back in the groove and makes a decent pass. He doesn't improve but will stay in the seventh spot.

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Left Lane: Courtney Force Runs 5.977/113.48, Now #6; Best prior run: 3.926/328.46, Was #6
Right Lane: Jack Beckman Runs 3.937/324.98, Now #3; Best prior run: 3.922/327.19, Was #3

Force gets about 300 feet out and strikes the tires. Beckman makes a clean pass but doesn't improve.

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Left Lane: J.R. Todd Runs 3.926/320.43, Now #2; Best prior run: 3.911/327.19, Was #2
Right Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 3.879/327.82, Now #1; Best prior run: 3.899/324.98, Was #1

Todd makes a clean, straight pass but he doesn't improve.

Johnson makes an impressive pass, the quickest pass of the weekend to solidify his hold on the number one spot.

This is Johnson's third consecutive number one qualifying start, his third this season and the 18th of his career.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink



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