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MOHNTON, Pa. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 31st annual NHRA Keystone Nationals: Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 71 Cruz Pedregon 4 Courtney Force E1 ****WINNER**** 0.052 5.426 135.50 0.073 No Time Qualified: #7 9.344 65.01 #10 9.874 66.3611:36 a.m. - Weather conditions: air temperature 62 degrees, relative humidity 57 percent, barometer 29.69 inches, adjusted altitude 955 feet, track temperature 64 degrees. Cruz Pedregon won here in 1992 and 2010. This time he launched hard, shook the rear tires and clicked it off before he reach 330 feet.
Cruz got the win anyway because Force's car got loose coming out of the gate. The tail end of the car swung around and the car went
sideways. Force pedaled the throttle and tried to correct but went too far and the rear end of the car swung out in the other
direction. The car got sideways again and took out the timing block at 330 feet, so this run was DQ'ed. Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 750 Del Worsham 3 Tommy Johnson Jr. E1 0.066 4.799 208.39 ****WINNER**** 0.064 3.941 324.44 Qualified: #6 8.172 84.23 #11 10.022 71.26Worsham came into this race as the points leader, off his back-to-back wins to start the Countdown. He has never won three races in a row. Johnson won here in 2009.
Johnson had this one from start to finish. He got out of the gate two thousands of a second before Worsham and led the whole way.
Worsham lost his chance to win three in a row when his car shook the rear tires about 200 feet out.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
9 Tim Wilkerson 72 Tony Pedregon
E1 ****WINNER**** 0.105 3.985 319.45 0.087 4.601 213.50
Qualified: #4 7.717 84.76 #13 11.080 81.39
Tony Pedregon has won here three times. That's the second most wins in the Funny Car class and trails only John Force. Wilkerson
won here in 2003.
Pedregon was first out of the gate and led at 60 feet but was then done in by tire shake. In the left lane, Wilkerson went straight
down the groove for the win. Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 28 Ron Capps 116 Paul Lee E1 ****WINNER**** 0.090 4.125 321.04 0.096 5.636 143.20 Qualified: #2 4.218 318.17 #15 No TimeIn his lone qualifying attempt yesterday, Lee took the tree and then broke, so he had no ET. Both cars shook the tires and both drivers pedaled their cars. Capps was able to get his car back under way while Lee clicked it off. Capps will have lane choice over Cruz pedregon in round two.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
5 Robert Hight 496 John Hale
E1 0.045 No Time ****WINNER**** 0.145 7.417 89.98
Qualified: #1 3.922 329.34 #16 No Time
Hight won her in 2011. He was the only Funny Car driver to make a very good run in qualifying yesterday. His 0.296 second
qualifying advantage over the number two qualifier is the second largest in drag racing history (Second only to Jack Chrisman's
0.560 second advantage over Doug Thorley at the 1967 U.S. Nationals.While Hight had the best run in qualifying last night, he had one of the worst runs in the first round of eliminations. His car shook the tires out of the gate and the rear end of the car swung around. He pedaled the throttle and tried to straighten out but the rear end swung out in the opposite direction. The rear of the car crossed the center line and took out the 330 foot timing blocks.
Hale shook the rear tires, clicked it off and coasted down the track for the win. Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 711 Jack Beckman 771 Alexis DeJoria E1 ****WINNER**** 0.071 6.625 254.90 0.096 7.468 122.56 Qualified: #3 5.440 203.12 #14 13.036 76.76Beckman won her in 2008. Both cars started shaking the rear tires as they came out of the gate. DeJoria and Beckman ran down the track almost side-by-side, pedaling and shaking, with DeJoria half a car length in front. Finally, at about 800 feet, Beckman got his car hooked up enough to pull ahead for the win. He'll face Johnson in the next round and Johnson will have lane choice.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
1 Matt Hagan 303 John Bojec
E1 0.087 5.891 273.22 ****WINNER**** 0.087 5.095 230.61
Qualified: #5 8.170 103.23 #12 10.426 69.33
Hagan is the defending event champion. His defense of the title ended right here after both he and Bojec pedaled, smoked and
shook their way down the track. Bojec will race Wilkerson in round two and Wilkerson will have lane choice.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
2 John Force 3111 Chad Head
E1 0.071 7.689 85.11 ****WINNER**** 0.102 5.328 220.26
Qualified: #8 9.594 71.07 #9 9.649 69.48
Force has been at all 31 national events here at Maple Grove Raceway, winning here seven times. His last win here came in 2013.
The runner up at that race: Chad Head.
Like most of the Funny Cars before them, Force and Head came out of the gate shaking and smoking the rear tires. They both pedaled
several times until Head got his car hooked up and took the win. Head will have lane choice over Hale in the second round.
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