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Sat, 8 Nov 2003, 04:45 PM

Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #3

By Darryl Jackman

POMONA, Calif. - Notes from round 3 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 39th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals 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: Tony Bartone Runs 10.981/86.48, Now #23; Best prior run: 8.802/94.14, Was #22
Right Lane: Stephen Neese Runs 8.767/99.27, Now #22; Best prior run: 9.553/78.89, Was #23

12:36 PM The Plastic Fantastic's get their turn to shine. Conditions are about the same as they were for the Top Fuelers but there is a bit more sun on the racing surface. Both drivers have problems here in round three of qualifying. Bartone is up in smoke almost from the hit and Neese had tire shake and clicked it off early in the run.

Left Lane: Dale Creasy Jr. No Time, Now #14; Best prior run: 5.010/303.78, Was #14
Right Lane: Dean Skuza Runs 6.676/136.30, Now #11; Best prior run: 4.931/280.37, Was #11

Neither of these drivers are qualified as well as they have been over the last few races. The track seems to be a little bit slick or the tuners were over last few events. This was really strange. When the lights came down Creasy never moved and just sat there idling. There was a big belch of flame out of the right bank of cylinders and one of his crewmen went down like a sack of potatoes. He appeared to slip in some fuel and went down hard. He's back up but the team assisted him to the wall where he sat for a couple of minutes. Skuza struck the tires and called it off.

Left Lane: Gary Scelzi Runs 4.846/328.38, Now #4; Best prior run: 15.347/67.74, Was #24
Right Lane: Bob Gilbertson Runs 4.959/308.43, Now #13; Best prior run: 5.602/180.57, Was #20

This pair gets off the schnide and into the show. Big numbers for Scelzi and he's now in the top half.

Left Lane: Jack Wyatt Runs 5.385/200.98, Now #21; Best prior run: 6.235/149.40, Was #22
Right Lane: David Benjamin Runs 10.242/92.54, Now #17; Best prior run: 5.018/294.75, Was #17

'Nasty' Benjamin was in real trouble here. He got to about 100 feet and turned completely sideways. He got off the pedal and the car was up on three wheels with the headers acting as outriggers. Wyatt was off the pedal well before the finish stripe. It was amazing that Benjamin didn't cross into Wyatt's lane.

Left Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 4.862/314.02, Now #6; Best prior run: 4.965/301.00, Was #14
Right Lane: Terry Haddock Runs 11.466/84.26, Now #15; Best prior run: 4.971/303.16, Was #15

Johnson moves into the top half of the show with a really pretty pass. I'm sure the fans are confused as the scoreboard shows 9.04/314 instead of the 4.86. The computer was right and the scoreboard is wrong. Haddock was up in smoke before the car cleared the tree.

Left Lane: Gary Densham Runs 4.749/327.43, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.457/187.16, Was #22
Right Lane: John Force Runs 4.798/320.36, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.771/321.65, Was #1

John Force racing is well represented in this pair as Gary Densham will line up across from the Boss. Still no news on the 2004 plans for Gary and JFR as of today. Everyone is still asking. Uh, Gary's in. He goes from #22 to the very top of the show. He also runs the second best speed of the event for the funnycars. Man, this track is FAST this weekend. John was just a few feet behind as they crossed the line after he had taken a long trip down the right. He must have run 1400 feet on that pass. He remains #2. Just a sidenote. John got out of the car very carefully and looked to be in a bit of pain after that pass.

Left Lane: Bob Bode Runs 4.921/309.84, Now #13; Best prior run: 5.249/231.60, Was #21
Right Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 5.638/175.59, Now #14; Best prior run: 4.929/308.57, Was #13

Cruz was on a fair pass until the car made a move towards the center stripe and he was forced to lift. Bode wasn't spectacular but he does get in the show for the moment.

Left Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 8.680/92.87, Now #11; Best prior run: 4.879/317.05, Was #11
Right Lane: Ron Capps Runs 5.810/158.28, Now #12; Best prior run: 4.912/313.58, Was #12

Wilkerson strikes the tires about 330 and has to lift. Capps was further down track but fell to tire haze and he shut off early as well. Both remain in the show due to earlier runs.

Left Lane: Grant Downing Runs 5.017/0.00, Now #19; Best prior run: 5.097/264.34, Was #21
Right Lane: Phil Burkart No Time, Now #9; Best prior run: 4.864/315.42, Was #9

Burkart crosse the center stripe and takes out the mph start cone. Downing crossed the line after him but will get the ET but not the mph on his pass. That was good news for Downing. The bad was he's still not in the show going into the final session.

Left Lane: Keith Jackson Runs 5.070/272.78, Now #21; Best prior run: 5.062/291.01, Was #21
Right Lane: Cory Lee Runs 13.430/77.63, Now #8; Best prior run: 4.864/315.71, Was #8

Cory lee strikes the tires at 400 feet and he lifted. Jackson snakes his ride down the lane but not quick enough to make the show.

Left Lane: Scotty Cannon Runs 5.101/236.13, Now #10; Best prior run: 4.872/314.31, Was #10
Right Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 4.721/326.79, Now #1; Best prior run: 4.832/318.77, Was #4

Tony steps up and ties the national elapsed time record, and the quickest run in Funnycar history currently held by his boss, John Force. Cannon was on a nice pass but there was a sudden wall of smoke and the blower belt was tumbling in in the air. The Safari is on the track and cleaning the lane behind Scotty.

Left Lane: Whit Bazemore Runs 4.774/322.34, Now #4; Best prior run: 4.802/320.58, Was #4
Right Lane: Del Worsham Runs 4.809/321.42, Now #5; Best prior run: 4.854/318.09, Was #6

Beautiful side by side qualifying pass for this pair. Bazemore is in the 4.7s and slots into the lineup as the first non JFR car. The Mustangs will finish the session 1,2,3. Worsham picks up a nickel after his first two passes were almost identical 4.85s. That's the end of a long first Pro session of the day.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink