Sun, 30 Jul 2006, 09:13 PM Funny Car Final, Round 4 Eliminations

By Darryl Jackman

SONOMA, Calif. - Results of final, round 4 eliminations in Funny Car at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 19th annual FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    7 Tony Pedregon                           4 Eric Medlen
E4                   0.088  5.021 271.62     ****WINNER****  0.076  4.854 316.30
 Prior rounds:
E3    (M Ashley    ) 0.097  4.910 314.39      (W Bazemore  ) 0.080  4.922 314.53
E2    (S Kalitta   ) 0.095  4.909 311.34      (J Force     ) 0.071  4.898 312.42
E1    (T Johnson Jr) 0.054  4.910 315.56      (C Pedregon  ) 0.092  4.885 315.78
 Qualified:             #5  4.816 319.75                        #2  4.801 323.81

6:05 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 82 degrees, relative humidity 34 percent, barometer 30.07 inches, adjusted altitude 1,570 feet, track temperature 117 degrees.

Tony Pedregon comes into the final here this weekend with 32 career wins in Funny Car. This is his forth final of the season and he's won the first three. Medlen has four total career wins, the most recent being Memphis in 2005. This is his first final of the season. Pedregon holds a slight lead in the head to his with a 7-6 record. The pair did meet in one final, Pomona 2 in 2005 and Pedregon got the win. Ok, now the final count goes to 1-1. Medlen was away first and didn't trail at any point on the track. I'm certain all three Force Racing teams will celebrate this win.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink