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Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #3
Sat, 26 Feb 2005, 04:03 PM
Notes from round 3 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 21st annual
Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA 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:
Left Lane: Stephen Neese Runs 5.231/287.78, Now #17; Best prior run: 5.598/237.25,
Was #17
Right Lane: Gary Densham No Time, Now #12; Best prior run: 4.920/277.72, Was #12
1:20 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 74 degrees, relative humidity 44
percent, barometer 28.83 inches, adjusted altitude 2,455 feet, track temperature 100
degrees.
The dragsters are on their way back to the pits and the Funny Cars are in line around the back
of the tower here at Firebird. Lots of sun and the track is now up to 100 degrees. Densham is
still deciding to sit out qualifying as he is currently in the #12 spot. Neese makes his career
best run for both ET and speed but that still only puts him #17 in the qualifying order. One
more chance later this afternoon.
Left Lane: Tony Bartone Runs 4.912/314.97, Now #10; Best prior run: 4.885/314.83,
Was #10
Right Lane: Jack Wyatt Runs 8.849/94.75, Now #21; Best prior run: 12.291/43.03, Was
#22
Wyatt had problems getting a hold of the racing surface so they are down to their
final try. Bartone used up a bit of lane but manages to pretty much repeat his round one
lap.
Left Lane: Phil Burkart Runs 5.430/189.58, Now #8; Best prior run: 4.814/319.67,
Was #8
Right Lane: Whit Bazemore Runs 8.001/98.45, Now #13; Best prior run: 4.953/302.55,
Was #13
Another pair falls to tire smoke. Bazemore's ride got to about 330 before the tires
rattled loose. Burkart got to around half track before suffering the same fate.
Left Lane: Terry Haddock Runs 6.522/136.21, Now #15; Best prior run: 4.981/308.07,
Was #15
Right Lane: Dale Pulde Runs 5.245/267.27, Now #18; Best prior run: 6.181/157.89,
Was #20
Haddock is already in the show and it's just as well. He shook the tires loose just
before half track and had to lift. Pulde got a full pass in Steve Plueger's Firebird but they
are well short of Bob Gilbertson's 5.066 that represents the bump.
Left Lane: Jim Head Runs 8.233/100.37, Now #14; Best prior run: 4.972/298.80, Was
#14
Right Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 4.851/317.12, Now #10; Best prior run:
4.895/301.60, Was #11
Head was running fairly well to about 330 feet. He got a bit out of the groove and
started spinning the tires. Johnson got his best run of the weekend and picks up one spot on
the field. That was really pretty and the best part for Prudhomme's team was it looked
absolutely clean.
Left Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 10.214/87.97, Now #9; Best prior run: 4.816/310.91,
Was #9
Right Lane: Frank Pedregon Runs 4.853/318.84, Now #11; Best prior run:
5.699/175.91, Was #20
Wilkerson struck the tires early and stands on his 4.816 from round two. Frank
Pedregon got the act together and makes the show well up in the order. If you had to find fault
with any part of the run it might be the very late parachute for Pedregon. The good news for he
and his team was that the runout here after the last turnout is a long ways down so he got the
Dodge stopped before going into the desert.
Left Lane: Eric Medlen Runs 4.813/317.19, Now #7; Best prior run: 4.806/278.58,
Was #7
Right Lane: Jeff Arend Runs 9.084/94.83, Now #20; Best prior run: 5.627/61.50, Was
#20
Medlen goes low for the session to this point and gets good data for his dad to
tune from. There was quite a bit of smoke in the lights but nothing landed on the racing
surface. Arend struck the tires before 60 feet and is down to his last shot to
qualify.
Left Lane: Ron Capps Runs 4.868/310.34, Now #6; Best prior run: 4.791/321.88, Was
#6
Right Lane: Bob Gilbertson Runs 4.886/311.56, Now #13; Best prior run:
5.066/288.95, Was #17
Gilbertson was bumped by Frank Pedregon so here he is to try and get back in. He
now has to go quicker than Haddock's 4.981. Gilbertson does exactly that by making his first
full run of the weekend. In the left lane it was Capps showing some consistency.
Left Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 4.930/303.98, Now #6; Best prior run: 4.780/320.66,
Was #5
Right Lane: Robert Hight Runs 4.750/328.22, Now #3; Best prior run: 11.921/86.05,
Was #22
Hight lost a run last night due to timing and scoring but they are back to day
today to get in the program. He manages that in fine style as he runs his short career best
numbers. The 328.22 MPH is also a new Funny Car Track Record. Pedregon had a nice run but was
just a bit eclipsed by Hight's pass.
Left Lane: Gary Scelzi Runs 6.044/153.58, Now #5; Best prior run: 4.770/327.66,
Was #5
Right Lane: John Force Runs 4.865/302.89, Now #4; Best prior run: 4.760/323.35, Was
#4
Fans would pay money to see this match up as a match race. They were side by side
to half track but Scelzi started spinning the tires and lifted. Force ran the Ford all they way
through but he was spinning the tires pretty hard from about 1000 feet on.
Left Lane: Del Worsham Runs 5.939/162.61, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.748/324.98,
Was #2
Right Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 5.881/161.11, Now #1; Best prior run: 4.703/325.06,
Was #1
This started out to be a really nice looking side by side but as the cars got to
half track both shook the tires loose and were up in smoke. Tony remains #1 at the end of three
sessions and Worsham is #2. That concludes round three of Pro qualifying.
Timing data courtesy of
CompuLink
By Dave Gerard
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