Sun, 18 May 2008, 04:18 PM Funny Car Round 1 Eliminations

By Dave Rowe

BRISTOL, Tenn. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Funny Car at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, Eighth annual O'Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals presented by Q:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  347 Tim Wilkerson                         782 Gary Densham                 
E1   ****WINNER****  0.114  4.823 311.77                     0.119  5.685 183.87
 Qualified:             #4  4.802 318.24                       #13  4.880 310.27

12:26 p.m. Wilkerson is 12 - 7 against Densham in prior events, 7-4 in round one match-ups.

Densham gets about 100 feet out, pedals once, then gets to half-track and loses traction again. No problems for Wilkerson, the car under full power all the way through the run.

Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  388 Jim Head                              729 Jerry Toliver                
E1   ****WINNER****  0.103  4.834 319.29                     0.088  6.482 128.57
 Qualified:             #2  4.785 323.89                       #15  4.901 298.80

1:11 p.m. and we're back from a short rain delay

Toliver is 1 - 0 against Head in prior events. Head qualified number two for the fifth time in his career, his best qualifying position.

Toliver gets about 200 feet out, has to pedal, then pulls the wheels high into the air about 400 feet out before giving up on the run.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   10 Ashley Force                            3 Gary Scelzi                  
E1   ****WINNER****  0.079  4.791 316.23                    -0.078  4.857 318.54
 Qualified:             #3  4.792 324.98                       #14  4.896 313.22

This is the first time these two have met in competition. This is the fourth time Force has qualified number three, the most of her young career.

Scelzi makes his quickest pass of the weekend but lost it at the starting line with only the third foul of his career, his first since Dallas in '05.

Force makes a great pass, her quickest of the weekend, to take the win.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 7701 Mike Neff                             427 Tony Bartone                 
E1   ****WINNER****  0.087  4.877 310.98                     0.053 13.215  69.40
 Qualified:             #1  4.783 321.04                       #16  4.904 288.52

This is the first time Neff and Bartone have faced each other in eliminations. Neff is the 85th driver to qualify number one in this class.

This is Bartone's 85th start, his 13th from the 16th spot. He has three round wins when going in qualified 16th.

No number one qualifier has ever won this race.

Bartone shakes the tires right off the line, makes a hard move to the left, then backs off the throttle. Neff makes a clean run, not his best effort this weekend, but enough to move into the next round.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    2 Robert Hight                          750 Del Worsham                  
E1   ****WINNER****  0.094  4.746 320.28                     0.086  4.790 327.43
 Qualified:             #5  4.803 311.63                       #12  4.842 322.65

A good side-by-side here, both right down Broadway, header flames high and steady on both cars. Worsham makes his quickest pass of the weekend but Hight makes an impressive pass, the quickest of the race so far.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    7 John Force                             71 Cruz Pedregon                
E1                   0.119  9.004  84.24     ****WINNER****  0.021  4.898 316.82
 Qualified:             #7  4.821 308.78                       #10  4.831 313.29

3:50 p.m. Hopefully we're back for a while. A light rain has been coming down intermittently, just enough to stop the racing. Tony Pedregon and Troxel have fired the cars twice during the delay only to be shut down after the burnout.

Force is 50 - 22 against Pedregon in prior events. He is 18-4 in the last 22 match-ups. He holds a 10-4 advantage in first round match-ups.

A little progress, the burnouts are complete, the cars are staging. Pedregon gets a huge hole-shot, then Force pedals once about 200 feet out, then goes up in smoke and has to give up on the run. Pedregon goes right down the groove and moves on to the next round.

Head will have lane choice over Pedregon in round two.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 1777 Bob Tasca III                          28 Ron Capps                    
E1                   0.080  4.923 313.88     ****WINNER****  0.087  4.827 316.52
 Qualified:             #8  4.823 318.02                        #9  4.831 317.79

Capps is 1 - 0 against Tasca III in prior events.

These two leave the line together. Capps starts to pull away and slowly extends his lead all the way through the run.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    1 Tony Pedregon                         507 Melanie Troxel               
E1                   0.093  4.827 319.90     ****WINNER****  0.092  4.816 319.29
 Qualified:             #6  4.821 316.90                       #11  4.839 318.62

This is the first time Pedregon and Troxel have faced each other in eliminations.

These two leave the line together. Pedregon stays with Troxel for the first 60 feet, then Troxel starts to pull away. Troxel starts moving left, getting close to the center-line, then she steers it back to the right. the rear of the car is swaying back and forth. She makes another move toward the center-line, then she starts mixing up cylinders on the left side just as she goes through the lights. This is Troxel's first round win in a Funny Car.

In the next round it will be Capps with lane choice over Neff, Hight vs. Worsham, Head vs. Cruz Pedregon, and Ashley Force vs. Troxel.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink