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Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #1
Fri, 1 Aug 2003, 07:29 PM
Notes from round 1 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 16th annual
FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in
order following run:
Left Lane: Keith Jackson Runs 5.753/169.47, Now #1
3:45 PM Current weather conditions: 79 degrees, 46 percent relative humidity, the
barometer 29.98 inches and falling. Keith Jackson opens the session with a left lane single. We
get daylight header flames at the hit and Jackson rattles the tires loose at about half track.
He stops his Firebird on the track and the Safari comes out to get him off the racing surface
and do a quick inspection. The track is clean so the call is 'Fire the next pair.'
Left Lane: Arnie Karp Runs 5.893/233.48, Now #3
Right Lane: Jack Wyatt Runs 5.427/213.84, Now #1
Karp and Wyatt are the next pair to try the surface here at Infineon Raceway.
Wyatt's pass looked better thatn it was as Karp was having problems in the other lane. This time
it both cars stopped on the racing surface and having to get help. There is a real up hill haul
after the finish and a lot of the fuel cars have problems making the turnout.
Left Lane: Dale Creasy Jr. Runs 6.705/129.68, Now #5
Right Lane: Bob Gilbertson Runs 5.329/246.57, Now #1
Creasy's burnt up racer is the display car at the Craftsman booth this weekend.
Guess we know where the current body came from on the race car. Creasy shakes the tires loose at
half track and clicks it. Gilbertson has no outward problems but he clicks it early as well. For
a short period of time he's the top qualifier.
Left Lane: Scotty Cannon Runs 5.415/228.19, Now #2
Right Lane: Dean Skuza Runs 6.419/137.75, Now #6
Cannon and Skuza make their first appearance of the weekend. This is the first
weekend that Cannon is going to be doing the tuning on his own racer. Both cars kick the tires
loose at half track but Cannon pedals and gets back on the throttle. He had the best short time
of the session to this point of .891. Skuza called off his runs when the tires went
square.
Left Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 5.152/282.30, Now #2
Right Lane: Gary Scelzi Runs 5.035/304.25, Now #1
Scelzi gets by the half track problems and sticks the car all the way to the finish.
Wilkerson was with Scelzi to half track but started to haze the tires at that point and it only
got work as he crossed the stripe. That does put the pair #1 and #2 after nine cars have
run.
Left Lane: Frank Pedregon Runs 5.048/295.85, Now #2
Right Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 6.411/134.79, Now #9
A battle of the brothers here in the first round of qualifying. Frank wins this
battle of the Pedregons and moves to the second spot. Cruz was right with his brother but
started hazing the tires at the usual spot on the track. Frank had smoke at the finish of his
run and it got worse in the shutdown area. I think there were some hurt pistons inside the
hemi.
Left Lane: Johnny Gray Runs 6.102/155.02, Now #10
Right Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 4.986/296.11, Now #1
Johnny Gray has a new paint job on the car this weekend and the blue and white has
been replaced by yellow, red and black. Nice looking car. He has less luck on the run as the car
fell silent at about half track. TJ stayed with his run all the way and he is now the top dog.
First '4' of the weekend for the funnies.
Left Lane: Ron Capps Runs 8.097/113.32, Now #15
Right Lane: Gary Densham Runs 5.076/295.85, Now #4
Capps is up in smoke before half track in the Skoal Green racer. Densham made a full
pull but the car seemed to be just a bit on the soft side. He has no parachute but still manages
to stop well before the last turnout.
Left Lane: Del Worsham Runs 5.012/303.43, Now #3
Right Lane: John Force Runs 4.893/314.61, Now #1
No one is hotter in Funny Car than John Force after the last few weeks. Here he not
only out runs Del, but the entire rest of the field. His 4.893 is a new track record here at
Infineon. Worsham trailed Force but his 5.012 is still good for the #3 position.
Left Lane: Whit Bazemore Runs 5.038/299.46, Now #5
Right Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 5.213/226.89, Now #9
Will Tony snap out of his funk here in wine country? We're about to find out. He and
Bazemore are paired here in the first session as the two top drivers in the points race. Not yet
for Tony. The car started mixing cylinders at around 1000 feet and it only got worse from there.
By the time the Mustang hit the stripe there was a wall of smoke behind the car and a 5.213 on
the board. Bazemore was in a little better shape but still only musters the #5 spot. That's all
for Funny Car and we move into Top Fuel.
4:22 PM
Timing data courtesy of
CompuLink
By Darryl Jackman
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