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KENT, Wash. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 30th annual NHRA Northwest Nationals:
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
6 Courtney Force 71 Cruz Pedregon
E1 ****WINNER**** 0.129 3.919 327.19 0.050 17.596 54.30
Qualified: #4 3.943 325.14 #13 4.006 311.49
11:25 a.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 78 degrees, relative humidity 57 percent,
barometer 29.61 inches, adjusted altitude 2,324 feet, track temperature 98 degrees.Courtney Force has competed in five races at Pacific Raceways and every race, since 2012, her first race at the track. Force earned her first career Funny Car victory at Pacific Raceways in 2012. That was also her only finals appearance at the track. In 2017, Force has a 15-14 record in elimination rounds and six No. 1 qualifiers. In her career, Force has eight victories, 144 elimination-round wins, and 16 No. 1 qualifiers. Cruz Pedregon has been runner-up here twice. This will be his 605th round of eliminations and he has a 54% win record. He was a 58% advantage in round one match ups, but has only won two of the six prior round one matchups with Force. Force and Pedregon have each won 6 times against the other in prior events. It's all over before 60 feet, as Pedregon's Camry goes no where at the green. The car hits the tires hard and then is coasting. Force makes her best run of the weekend on a straight and clean pass to the finish line. Nice! Courtney Force's incremental times: 60ft-0.873 sec., 330ft-2.248, 660ft-3.173/277.60
mph.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
8 Robert Hight 717 Jeff Diehl
E1 ****WINNER**** 0.080 3.897 314.90 0.150 4.460 204.11
Qualified: #1 3.883 329.34 #16 5.998 120.28
Hight is 7 - 1 against Diehl in prior events. This is Robert Hight's 4th #1 spot this year,
second in a row and 53rd of his career. He has not won from the top spot in his last ten tries.
Hight's most recent No. 1 qualifying effort - 2017 NHRA Sonoma Nationals in Sonoma, Calif. In his
career, Hight has 38 victories, 395 elimination-round wins, and 52 No. 1 qualifying spots. Hight is
11-12 in 23 elimination rounds at Pacific Raceways.
Jeff Diehl is running his fifty-ninth round of eliminations and has three first round wins.Hight makes the third three eighty run of the weekend to take a easy win and advance to round two. He may have been off the pedal a little early, as the Camaro only runs 314.90 MPH. Still a great run! Diehl ran to near the 660 lights and then started to coast. Robert Hight's incremental
times: 60ft-0.862 sec., 330ft-2.233, 660ft-3.150/281.95 mph.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
3 Matt Hagan 782 Gary Densham
E1 ****WINNER**** 0.094 3.920 330.47 0.132 3.965 319.37
Qualified: #2 3.930 328.54 #15 4.238 286.92
Hagan is 3 - 1 against Densham in prior events. Matt Hagan won here in 2013 and was also
runner-up in 2012. He is already a three time winner in 2017.
Events Wins Poles DNQ W/L
CAREER 207 25 23 4 294-178
This is Gary Densham's 4th race this year and the 479th of his career. Gary started from the 15th
spot here in 2014 and went to the final round. He is making his 609th round of eliminations this
morning and has a career 37% win record. He is 35% in round one pairings.Hagan gets a big lead at the green and powers on down the track to run the fastest pass of the weekend and gets the forty foot win. Densham makes a great looking pass tt00, hi best of the weekend, but just catch match Hagan. Matt Hagan's incremental times: 60ft-0.883 sec., 330ft-2.256, 660ft-3.179/280.54
mph.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
2 Tommy Johnson Jr. 703 Jim Campbell
E1 ****WINNER**** 0.098 3.953 325.92 0.082 4.372 206.48
Qualified: #3 3.930 324.05 #14 4.064 302.35
Tommy Johnson won here in Top Fuel in 1993 and in Funny Car in 2015. He clinched a spot in the
Countdown to the Championship here this weekend.
Events Wins Poles DNQ W/L
CAREER 413 16* 15 44 359-353
*14 FC / 2 TF
Jim Campbell is making his thirty-third first round appearance with only five wins to date. Johnson
Jr. is 3 - 0 against Campbell in prior events. Campbell gets a small starting line advantage and stays with Johnson to after the 330 lights and he slows. Just 0.006 behind at the 330 lights. Johnson was straight and clean from start to finish for the easy win with his best speed of the weekend. Tommy Johnson Jr.'s incremental times: 60ft-0.874 sec., 330ft-2.267,
660ft-3.201/276.69 mph.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
5 Jack Beckman 750 Del Worsham
E1 ****WINNER**** 0.086 3.926 325.69 0.104 4.033 319.52
Qualified: #5 3.943 323.35 #12 3.995 318.84
Del Worsham has won here in both fuel classes. This will be Del's 1,045th round of racing
moving him past Kenny Bernstein and into 6th place on the all-time professional list. Del has been
runner-up in each of the last two years in Seattle.
Jack Beckman won this race in 2007. He has won over 60% of the 692 rounds he has run, with a near
70% round one history.
Events Wins Rup Poles DNQ W/L
CAREER 267 26 27 21 7b 357-234
Beckman is 21 - 11 against Worsham in prior events. Beckman is away first and makes his quickest and faster pass of the weekend to take the decisive win. Worsham was chasing hard and makes his second quickest and fastest run to no avail. Jack Beckman's incremental times: 60ft-0.863 sec.,
330ft-2.244, 660ft-3.175/277.83 mph. Courtney Force will have lane choice in round two.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
1 Ron Capps 9 Tim Wilkerson
E1 ****WINNER**** 0.104 3.901 326.00 0.096 4.232 226.32
Qualified: #6 3.956 317.34 #11 3.990 322.04
Tim Wilkerson has three wins here and that's the most for him at any event on tour. He was the
runner up at Sonoma last weekend with his brand new Mustang Funny Car. In session three, his ride
got a little toasty, as the fuel injector blew the end out of the barrel valve and there was a
massive fire. He quickly got the fire out, but decided to sit out session four to be sure
everything was safe and ready for round one this morning. He was the No. 1 qualifier here in 2011.
Tim Wilkerson and John Force are the only Funny Car drivers to have won here in back-to-back years.
He is currently No. 8 in Funny Car standings. Career: 460 races, 20 wins, 19 runner-up finishes, 39
overall final rounds, 19 No. 1 qualifier awards.
Ron Capps has won here in both Top Fuel and Funny Car. He is the defending event champion and is
the current 2017 point leader.
Events Wins Rup Poles DNQ W/L
CAREER 498 56* 52 21 19 661-423
* 55 FC/1 TF
Capps is 36 - 19 against Wilkerson in prior events. Wilkerson is away first and leads to after the 330 lights, where the car gets loose and he slows. Capps finally gets the pass they were looking for and powers on past Wilkerson for the win. That will ensure lane choice over Johnson in the next round. Ron Capps' incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.012), 330 ft(-0.010), 660ft(0.084). MOV: 0.3231 seconds (more than 100 feet). Ron Capps' incremental
times: 60ft-0.873 sec., 330ft-2.235, 660ft-3.155/279.85 mph. Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 771 Alexis DeJoria 801 Jonnie Lindberg E1 ****WINNER**** 0.088 3.931 327.90 0.093 3.999 322.81 Qualified: #7 3.963 324.05 #10 3.988 296.37This is the first time DeJoria and Lindberg have faced each other in eliminations. Alexia DeJoria is making her 202nd round of racing with over a 42% career win record. She already has fifty-three round one wins and is #14 in points after taking several races off earlier in the year. Jonnie Lindberg is making his first appearance her in Funny Car. He is the 2016 Top Alcohol Funny Car Champion. He already has nine round wins in his twenty rounds of racing, with five in round one. A great drag race! They leave close together, with a small advantage for DeJoria. She slowly pulls steadily ahead down the track for the win. Lindberg makes his second quickest and fastest pass of the weekend trying to chase her down. Alexis DeJoria's incremental times:
60ft-0.881 sec., 330ft-2.255, 660ft-3.183/278.17 mph. Hagan ill have lane choice next
round.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
4 John Force 373 J.R. Todd
E1 ****WINNER**** 0.078 3.939 327.03 0.072 4.884 193.60
Qualified: #8 3.973 307.23 #9 3.981 325.22
J.R. Todd won here in Top Fuel in 2015. When he won in Sonoma he became the 91st driver to win
an NHRA national event in the Funny Car class. Of that total 30 drivers only won one race in their
Funny Car career.
John Force's eight wins in Seattle are the most for any pro driver. John has met 142 drivers in his
career and Todd is one of eight drivers that John has never beaten. Ok, so J.R. is 1 - 0 against
John, but still. John Force has competed in 30 races at Pacific Raceways and qualified for every
race since 2009. He competed in his first Funny Car race at Pacific in 1988. Force has eight
victories at the track - 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2003, 2004 and 2014. He has been to 10
finals overall. Force is 55-20 in 75 elimination-round races at Pacific Raceways.
Todd is 1 - 0 against Force in prior events. Todd won't get his second win against Force, as after just a 0.006 starting line advantage, the tire are smoking before the 330 foot lights. Force makes his quickest and fastest pass of the weekend for the win, but will give up lane choice to team-mate, Hight, in round two. John Force's incremental times: 60ft-0.906 sec.,
330ft-2.280, 660ft-3.194/282.54 mph. 11:57 a.m.
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