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POMONA, Calif. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Funny Car at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 45th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals:
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
2 Tim Wilkerson 3 Jack Beckman
E1 ****WINNER**** 0.092 4.126 300.86 0.083 4.145 306.46
Qualified: #6 4.080 301.54 #11 4.140 302.28
11:41 a.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 68 degrees, relative humidity 37 percent, barometer 29.04 inches, adjusted
altitude 2,050 feet, track temperature 86 degrees.Wilkerson has a 5-4 record against Beckman and they are evenly split at 1-1 when they have met in the first round. This was a great race to open the round, Beckman slightly quicker off the mark and Wilkerson slightly quicker after half track. Tim Wilkerson's incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.006), 330 ft(-0.003), 660ft(0.015). MOV: 0.0103 seconds (approximately 5 feet). There were some questions about the right lane during the first round
of Top Fuel, with only two of eight getting full passes, but Beckman's car was straight and clean all the way. Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 2814 Matt Hagan 5 Tony Pedregon E1 ****WINNER**** 0.096 4.139 304.05 0.082 4.478 208.20 Qualified: #4 4.073 277.72 #13 4.144 303.98Pedregon holds a 6-1 record against Hagan, but is only 2-1 in the first round. This was a close race to 660 feet, then
Pedregon's pipes went wet and Hagan won handily.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
6 Ashley Force Hood 340 Bob Bode
E1 ****WINNER**** 0.133 4.240 289.94 0.116 4.468 219.29
Qualified: #1 4.059 310.20 #16 4.172 298.93
Force Hood has a 2-0 record against Bode, 1-0 in round 1.Bode was in this race, leading to about 400 feet, then his car
dropped some cylinders on the right side and made a huge move toward the wall. From the video replays, it appears that his headers
scraped the wall, but he did not make hard contact. Force Hood's car was off her qualifying pace, moving around a bit on the top
end.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
4 Robert Hight 767 Jerry Toliver
E1 ****WINNER**** 0.091 4.842 196.64 0.093 5.195 154.35
Qualified: #3 4.067 310.20 #14 4.145 305.29
2009 champion Hight holds a 4-0 record against Toliver, 3-0 in the first round.This got exciting, both cars losing traction
about 400 feet out. Toliver pedaled, then shut off, but Hight pedaled and fought a very loose race car to get to the stripe first.
He will not have lane choice against Wilkerson in round two.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
7 John Force 10 Gary Densham
E1 ****WINNER**** 0.114 4.149 307.37 0.142 4.162 297.88
Qualified: #2 4.059 309.20 #15 4.159 294.88
Force is 33-9 against Densham, 20-3 in first rounds.Another close drag race, Force away first and quicker, but Densham wasn't
far back and his run would have won against the previous two winners. John Force's MOV: 0.0411 seconds (approximately 18
feet). Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 28 Ron Capps 1777 Bob Tasca III E1 ****WINNER**** 0.092 4.312 236.67 0.079 4.382 254.90 Qualified: #5 4.076 307.65 #12 4.142 300.13Capps enjoys a 7-2 record against Tasca, but is only 3-2 in first-round matchups. This was another wild race, both cars losing
traction about 600 feet out. Both drivers did a good job of keeping very loose cars off the walls and in their lanes. Tasca led to
the 330-foot marker, then Capps took charge to win by about a car length. Capps will not have lane choice against teammate Hagan in
the second round. Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 388 Jim Head 9 Mike Neff E1 0.108 8.478 78.55 ****WINNER**** 0.090 4.184 296.31 Qualified: #7 4.125 298.01 #10 4.137 300.00Neff holds a 3-0 record against Head, all in the first round. Head was up in smoke early in his run and Neff went right down
the groove for an easy win. Neff faces his boss, John Force, in round two and Force will choose the lanes.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
1 Cruz Pedregon 750 Del Worsham
E1 0.045 4.774 269.83 ****WINNER**** 0.035 4.595 189.90
Qualified: #8 4.127 304.32 #9 4.129 301.54
Pedregon holds an 18-11 record against Worsham, but that record shrinks to 8-7 in first round meetings.Pedregon lost traction
early in the run and Worsham looked like an easy winner, but started smoking his tires around the 660-foot marker. Meanwhile,
Pedregon pedaled and started closing the gap rapidly, but ran out of race track by a couple car lengths. Worsham gets the upset win,
but won't have lane choice against Force Hood in round two.
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