Sun, 7 Oct 2007, 02:56 PM Funny Car Round 3 Eliminations

By Larry Sullivan

DINWIDDIE, Va. - Results of round 3 eliminations in Funny Car at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, Second annual Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  427 Tony Bartone                            7 Gary Scelzi                  
E3                   0.109  5.303 216.13     ****WINNER****  0.088  4.974 294.43
 Prior rounds:
E2    (J Beckman   ) 0.088  4.929 303.30      (C Pedregon  ) 0.063  4.958 308.35
E1    (K Bernstein ) 0.138  5.276 207.02      (D Worsham   ) 0.105  4.944 302.48
 Qualified:            #13  4.865 315.71                        #8  4.849 319.22

2:40 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 88 degrees, relative humidity 42 percent, barometer 29.82 inches, adjusted altitude 2,296 feet, track temperature 118 degrees.

Scelzi came in with a 7-3 record against Bartone and needed a win here to ensure a spot in the Countdown. He did what he needed, hazing the tires on the top end to win against a slowing opponent. Could not see from here what happened, but there was a brown cloud of unburned fuel in Bartone's lane after leading to half track. Scelzi is in the Countdown, regardless of what Ron Capps does. Gary Scelzi's incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.017), 330 ft(-0.035), 660ft(-0.009), 1,000ft(0.128). MOV: 0.3507 seconds (more than 100 feet).

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   28 Ron Capps                             347 Tim Wilkerson                
E3   ****WINNER****  0.094  4.956 300.93                     0.051  5.040 301.13
 Prior rounds:
E2    (G Densham   ) 0.082  4.954 294.11      (T Pedregon  ) 0.052  4.917 309.42
E1    (R Hight     ) 0.093  4.886 313.37      (M Ashley    ) 0.077  4.876 304.87
 Qualified:            #15  4.901 314.61                       #14  4.890 302.08

Capps had a 17-5 record against Wilkerson coming into this round, but none of those previous meetings had the pressure of this one ebcause his chances for a title were on the line. If he lost, Jack Beckman would be in the Countdown and the early-season leader would be out.

Wilkerson had a great light, but lost a lot of ground early in the run and Capps pulled away for the win. Ron Capps' incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.013), 330 ft(0.016), 660ft(0.031), 1,000ft(0.039). MOV: 0.0413 seconds (approximately 18 feet). That puts Capps into the fourth spot in the points and bumps Beckman from the Countdown. Capps will have lane choice against Scelzi in an all-Schumacher final round.

The four Countdown to One contenders will be Tony Pedregon, Robert Hight, Capps and Scelzi. The winner of the final round will be second, Hight third, and the loser fourth.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink