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CHANDLER, Ariz. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 35th annual Magic Dry Organic Absorbent NHRA Arizona Nationals:
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
7 Jack Beckman 5 Tim Wilkerson
E1 ****WINNER**** 0.096 3.901 327.03 0.173 4.736 168.41
Qualified: #14 5.022 159.80 #3 3.885 325.92
11:39 a.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 59 degrees, relative humidity 39 percent,
barometer 28.91 inches, adjusted altitude 1,539 feet, track temperature 83 degrees.Tim Wilkerson has 494 races to date, with 20 wins and 22 runner-up finishes. He has 42 overall final rounds and won the race here at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in 2016. He qualified No. 15 last year and lost first round. Jack Beckman's runner-up finish in Pomona gave him 402 round wins for his career and he becomes the 28th pro driver with 400 or more round wins. His 398 Funny Car round wins (he won 4 rounds in TF) ranks 7th best among all FC drivers in history. Jack has won this race three times. As much as a 3 vs. 14 matchup would seem to be, at this race in 34 years the #14 FC qualifier is 17 - 17 in the first round. Beckman and Wilkerson have each won 18 times against the other in prior events. A number of TF'ers struggled with the left lane, but Beckman just powers right on down the track to make his first representative pass of the weekend and take a decisive win. Wilkerson's Mustang was off key on the burnout and struggled down track after a uncharacteristic late leave. Jack Beckman's
incremental times: 60ft-0.859 sec., 330ft-2.230, 660ft-3.156/280.08 mph. Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 28 Ron Capps 9 John Force E1 0.078 3.968 319.98 ****WINNER**** 0.076 3.933 317.19 Qualified: #9 3.951 315.49 #8 3.950 321.27This is the 100th meeting between the two and that's the 2nd most between and 2 FC drivers (Force & Cruz 105). The sixteen-time Funny Car world champion, John Force, has 8 wins and 6 runner-ups here and his 63 round wins in Arizona are, by far, the most for any pro driver in any class. He's made 14 final round appearances with eight spent in the winner's circle, half of which came consecutively from 1994-1997. Ron Capps won here in 2003, 2009 & 2013. Force is 59 - 40 against Capps in prior events. There was just 0.001 difference in their best qualifying times and now just 0.002 difference in their reaction times. Capps was able to get out in front briefly at the 60 foot lights, but The Prock Rocket slowly drives back out in front and pulls further ahead going down the track. A classic great race! John Force's incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.015), 330 ft(0.010), 660ft(0.029). MOV: 0.0376 seconds (approximately 18 feet). Ron Capps' incremental times:
60ft-0.874 sec., 330ft-2.269, 660ft-3.211/274.83 mph. Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 121 Terry Haddock 1 J.R. Todd E1 0.143 4.667 182.62 ****WINNER**** 0.081 4.655 215.03 Qualified: #12 4.925 167.03 #5 3.911 321.35Todd comes into today with an overall career 54% win record. This is his 198th first round appearance in both TF and FC. Haddock is making his 101st round of racing with 93 starts. Todd is 1 - 0 against Haddock in prior events. Todd was in trouble right off the line and had to pedal early. He gathers the Camry back up and takes the long way down for the win. Haddock was way late and then has issues
early and he lifts and coasts. Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 717 Jeff Diehl 2 Robert Hight E1 No Time ****WINNER**** 0.121 3.863 329.67 Qualified: #16 5.843 118.17 #1 3.867 329.91Since 2005 the #1 FC qualifier at this race is only 9 -5 in the first round. Coming off the first race of the season with a win under his belt, two-time Funny Car world champion Robert Hight, has now won in 15th consecutive seasons with 46th career victories to date. He has four final round appearances here including one in 2012 where he secured his first career win defeating then teammate Mike Neff. This is the 62nd time he has been the number one qualifier and the first time in his career that Robert has qualified #1 at the first two races of the season. he now has 460 round wins for his career and this is 6th best among all FC drivers. Jeff Diehl has lost 7 races in a row to Robert Hight. Hight is 11 - 1 against Diehl in prior events. Diehl's engine in in trouble when they tried to start it and the sign goes out for Hight to take a single. Hight makes his best pass of the weekend and will have lane choice over Force next round. Robert Hight's incremental times: 60ft-0.864 sec., 330ft-2.228, 660ft-3.129/285.11
mph. Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 156 Phil Burkart 2814 Matt Hagan E1 0.150 5.662 126.26 ****WINNER**** 0.081 3.919 324.12 Qualified: #15 5.070 229.59 #2 3.881 323.43Hagan has a 62% win record in his 544 rounds of racing. This is his 238th first round appearance. Burkart is making his 101st round one appearance with a 44% win record. Matt Hagan won this race in 2015 & 2017. Hagan is 2 - 0 against Burkart in prior events. Burkart is late off the line and has the tires shake loose around 200 feet out. Strong and straight pass for Hagan to get the easy win. Matt Hagan's incremental times: 60ft-0.862 sec.,
330ft-2.237, 660ft-3.170/278.40 mph. Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 703 Jim Campbell 3 Tommy Johnson Jr. E1 0.103 No Time ****WINNER**** 0.102 No Time Qualified: #13 5.004 151.54 #4 3.911 326.95Tommy Johnson Jr.,who has 17 career wins, is marking the 30th anniversary of his Top Fuel debut this weekend, the now Funny Car championship contender lost in the final round of the race a year ago. He won the FC title at this race in 2006. Johnson Jr. is 6 - 0 against Campbell in prior events. Wild Race! They leave within 0.001 of each other and Johnson's Make-A-Wish FC jumps out in front and starts to pull ahead. The engine goes BANG big time at around the 330 lights and suffers major body damage. Most of the pieces stay together and he fights the car to a stop. Somehow one of the rear slicks comes off the car and paces him to a stop after the finish line. Tommy Johnson Jr. was charged with an oildown, #1 for the season. That will cost 5 points and $1K. Campbell looked to have an easy win, but his Charger started a steady move toward the center line and nailed the 1000 foot reflectors. His 4.097 ET and Johnson's times are both DQ'ed. 12:00 p.m. Lots of Stuff to clean up. It's reported that Johnson's team is already pulling the backup car out of the trailer. Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 256 Blake Alexander 77 Bob Tasca III E1 0.087 5.394 133.08 ****WINNER**** 0.076 4.264 293.22 Qualified: #11 4.035 270.54 #6 3.933 322.8112:13 p.m. Back to eliminations. Tasca is making his 199th start in the Funny Car class. He has won 43% of his 338 rounds of racing. He has a first round record of 48%. This is Blake Alexander's 29th race in a Funny Car and his first since 2016. He is another TF/FC crossover. He has won six of his 23 first round FC races. Tasca III is 3 - 1 against Alexander in prior events. Tasca gets the starting line advantage, but Alexander briefly gets out in front at 60 feet. Tasca is back out in front before the 330 lights, where both cars shake the tires loose. Tasca does a quick pedal slap and powers on down the track for the easy win. He gives up lane choice to Beckman next round. Alexander was not able to recover and coasts on down. Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 71 Cruz Pedregon 333 Shawn Langdon E1 0.006 5.244 144.18 ****WINNER**** 0.067 3.911 326.24 Qualified: #10 3.960 326.32 #7 3.940 325.30Langdon has already made 480 rounds of racing in both TF and FC. He has a career 55% win record, with a 63% round one win record, but he is just 17 - 25 in the FC class. Pedregon is making his 1052nd round of eliminations with a 54% win record. He has won 300 of his first round races with a 57% win advantage. He won this race in 1993. Langdon is 2 - 1 against Pedregon in prior events. Pedregon hits the tree with a "good guess" 0.006 light and stays out in front to near the 330 lights, where the tires come loose and Langdon just flies on by for a decisive win. Langdon will have lane choice over Hagan by just 0.008 seconds. Shawn Langdon's incremental times: 60ft-0.866 sec., 330ft-2.242, 660ft-3.166/278.63 mph. 12:21 p.m.
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