Sun, 16 Jul 2006, 04:33 PM Funny Car Round 2 Eliminations

By Bob Orme

MORRISON, Colo. - Results of round 2 eliminations in Funny Car at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 27th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    7 Tony Pedregon                          10 Cruz Pedregon                
E2                   0.100  6.866 137.12     ****WINNER****  0.059  5.588 268.49
 Prior rounds:
E1    (D Worsham   ) 0.076  5.268 292.77      (G Densham   ) 0.083  5.311 292.77
 Qualified:             #8  4.956 308.28                       #16  5.177 286.32

2:08 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 97 degrees, relative humidity 21 percent, barometer 24.84 inches,adjusted altitude 8,153 feet, track temperature 142 degrees.

Tony was up in smoke at about 300 feet. He stayed on the throttle until the car got sideways at half track. Cruz was trailing heavy smoke right after the finish, and it appears he left some oil in the shutdown area.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  503 Tommy Johnson Jr.                       4 Eric Medlen                  
E2   ****WINNER****  0.092  5.567 224.43                    -0.063  5.976 170.34
 Prior rounds:
E1    (M Ashley    ) 0.127  5.154 299.06      (P Burkart Jr) 0.117  5.234 303.30
 Qualified:             #3  4.907 307.37                       #11  5.019 309.42

2:20 p.m. Johnson struck the tires at about 250 feet and Medlen did the same at half track. It didn't matter because Medlen left early, his first red light start of this season.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    1 Gary Scelzi                             3 John Force                   
E2   ****WINNER****  0.106  5.284 270.54                     0.101  6.871 128.98
 Prior rounds:
E1    (S Kalitta   ) 0.108  5.092 298.21      (W Bazemore  ) 0.071  5.163 293.92
 Qualified:             #2  4.896 310.20                       #10  4.984 314.31

Force lost traction just before the 330-foot mark, and the car was shaking hard enough for a chute to deploy. Scelzi will have lane choice over TJ in round three.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    5 Robert Hight                          206 Bob Gilbertson               
E2                   0.081  6.139 179.14     ****WINNER****  0.111  5.332 289.45
 Prior rounds:
E1    (T Bartone   ) 0.121  5.148 301.07      (R Capps     ) 0.114  5.878 234.09
 Qualified:             #4  4.916 301.87                       #12  5.107 298.14

Hight was ahead until he went up in smoke just past the 330-foot mark. Bob Gilbertson's incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.038), 330 ft(-0.032), 660ft(0.130), 1,000ft(0.380). MOV: 0.7774 seconds (more than 100 feet). Gilbertson will have lane choice over Cruz Pedregon in round three.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink