Sun, 30 Mar 2008, 01:32 PM Funny Car Round 1 Eliminations

By Rick Green

BAYTOWN, Texas - Results of round 1 eliminations in Funny Car at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 21st annual O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Pennzoil:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  729 Jerry Toliver                         750 Del Worsham                  
E1                   0.104 12.697  77.25     ****WINNER****  0.079  4.922 313.22
 Qualified:            #13  4.961 314.09                        #4  4.881 313.66

Weather conditions: air temperature 74 degrees, relative humidity 82 percent, barometer 29.96 inches, adjusted altitude 1,902 feet, track temperature 92 degrees.

worsham making his best start since Dallas last year. Worsham is 9 - 6 against Toliver in prior events. toliver is up in smoke as soon as he hits the throttle and the race is over. Worsham with a good clean pass to move into round two.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  347 Tim Wilkerson                          28 Ron Capps                    
E1   ****WINNER****  0.063  4.870 319.37                     0.090  4.953 309.27
 Qualified:            #12  4.939 301.40                        #5  4.886 310.05

Wilkerson won his first professional round of competition here in 1996. Capps is 18 - 5 against Wilkerson in prior events. Wilkerson with the starting line advantage and never looked back. Wilkerson with his best pass of the weekend. He will have lane choice over Worsham in round two.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 1777 Bob Tasca III                         427 Tony Bartone                 
E1                   0.095  7.767 191.87     ****WINNER****  0.165  6.327 261.88
 Qualified:            #15  4.986 307.93                        #2  4.839 305.08

Bartone with his best starting position since Englishtown 2006. Tasca is up in smoke as soon as he hits the throttle and then Bartone starts to lose traction. That is when Tasca got back on the throttle and Bartone pedaled it. they both lost traction and pedaled dit a couple more time and Bartone took the win light.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    3 Gary Scelzi                            71 Cruz Pedregon                
E1                   0.064 13.823  72.29     ****WINNER****  0.023  4.937 304.74
 Qualified:            #16  5.052 296.57                        #1  4.834 314.97

Pedregon is the only Funny Car driver to have qualified in the top half of the field this season. Scelzi still holds the Track ET record here in Top Fuel. Scelzi is up in smoke as soon as the light turned green. Pedregon is straight down the groove and into the next round.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    1 Tony Pedregon                        7701 Mike Neff                    
E1   ****WINNER****  0.043  4.904 304.80                     0.064  4.896 319.45
 Qualified:            #14  4.977 310.63                        #3  4.875 316.23

This is the first time Pedregon and Neff have faced each other in eliminations. Pedregon is out of the gate first and never looked back and had the power to hold off the hard charging Neff for the hole shot win. Tony Pedregon's incremental margins: 60ft(0.029), 330 ft(0.039), 660ft(0.045), 1,000ft(0.057). MOV: 0.0132 seconds (approximately 6 feet).

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  206 Bob Gilbertson                         10 Ashley Force                 
E1                   0.115  4.977 311.27     ****WINNER****  0.138  4.921 316.30
 Qualified:            #11  4.928 310.34                        #6  4.890 319.29

Gilbertson is 1 - 0 against Force in prior events. Gilbertson with a slight starting line advantage, but Ashley had the difference made up by 150 feet and took the win light by 15 feet. She will give up lane choice to T. Pedregon in the next round.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   33 Tommy Johnson Jr.                     782 Gary Densham                 
E1   ****WINNER****  0.072  6.088 217.63                     0.113 13.512  83.49
 Qualified:            #10  4.913 303.16                        #7  4.904 312.42

Johnson Jr. is 12 - 9 against Densham in prior events. Densham boiled the hides as soon as he hit the throttle. Johnson Jr. started to smoke the tires around 300 feet and he pedaled a couple times and got it down the quarter mile for the win. He will have lane choice over Bartone in the next round.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    7 John Force                              5 Jack Beckman                 
E1   ****WINNER****  0.073  4.924 313.95                     0.059  6.188 147.28
 Qualified:             #9  4.913 312.71                        #8  4.906 314.31

Beckman is 4 - 3 against Force in prior events. Beckman with the starting line advantage and then his car struck tires just before half track and Force was straight down Broadway for the win. He will have lane choice over C. Pedregon in the next round.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink