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Sat, 31 May 2008, 04:56 PM

Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Final Session

By Bob Orme

TOPEKA, Kan. - Notes from final, round 4 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 20th annual O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals presented by Castrol GTX 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: Mike Neff Runs 5.228/273.00, Now #18; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Scott Kalitta Runs 8.800/93.63, Now #19; Best prior run: 7.637/93.51, Was #18

3:14 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 85 degrees, relative humidity 58 percent, barometer 28.79 inches, adjusted altitude 3,917 feet, track temperature 118 degrees.

Gary Densham is on the bump spot at 5.100. Kalitta stuck the tires just before the 330-foot mark. Neff wasn't running on all eight cylinders, and he failed to qualify for the first time as a Funny Car driver.

Left Lane: Gary Densham Runs 5.042/287.90, Now #16; Best prior run: 5.100/263.36, Was #16
Right Lane: Del Worsham Runs 5.695/211.59, Now #17; Best prior run: 5.124/288.39, Was #17

Densham did a "no burnout" burnout. His pass looked pretty clean. Worsham over-powered the track at about 500 feet. He pedaled it once and lost traction again.

Gary Densham's incremental times: 60ft-0.951 sec., 330ft-2.419, 660ft-3.438/247.57mph, 1,000ft-4.290
Del Worsham's incremental times: 60ft-0.939 sec., 330ft-2.410, 660ft-3.591/202.94mph, 1,000ft-4.705

Left Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 4.965/301.20, Now #13; Best prior run: 4.988/298.27, Was #15
Right Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 5.012/292.84, Now #15; Best prior run: 4.988/298.27, Was #14

Nothing spectacular here, but also no obvious problems for either driver.

Cruz Pedregon's incremental times: 60ft-0.938 sec., 330ft-2.404, 660ft-3.405/256.50mph, 1,000ft-4.214
Tony Pedregon's incremental times: 60ft-0.935 sec., 330ft-2.397, 660ft-3.414/249.30mph, 1,000ft-4.262

Left Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 5.036/284.56, Now #14; Best prior run: 4.979/305.56, Was #14
Right Lane: Ashley Force Runs 4.920/296.24, Now #8; Best prior run: 4.934/295.79, Was #9

No apparent problems for either driver.

Tim Wilkerson's incremental times: 60ft-0.931 sec., 330ft-2.391, 660ft-3.418/245.05mph, 1,000ft-4.218
Ashley Force's incremental times: 60ft-0.923 sec., 330ft-2.361, 660ft-3.355/257.04mph, 1,000ft-4.185

Left Lane: Jack Beckman Runs 4.984/303.43, Now #12; Best prior run: 4.940/306.12, Was #12
Right Lane: Robert Hight Runs 6.233/145.13, Now #7; Best prior run: 4.917/292.27, Was #7

Hight started mixing up and dropping cylinders beginning at about 400 feet. A good looking pass for Beckman.

Jack Beckman's incremental times: 60ft-0.938 sec., 330ft-2.398, 660ft-3.407/250.60mph, 1,000ft-4.251
Robert Hight's incremental times: 60ft-0.911 sec., 330ft-2.363, 660ft-3.495/194.32mph, 1,000ft-4.807

Left Lane: Gary Scelzi Runs 4.929/301.60, Now #9; Best prior run: 4.938/295.40, Was #11
Right Lane: Jerry Toliver Runs 4.946/296.57, Now #6; Best prior run: 4.917/298.27, Was #6

A good looking side-by-side drag race.

Gary Scelzi's incremental times: 60ft-0.943 sec., 330ft-2.383, 660ft-3.369/256.50mph, 1,000ft-4.199
Jerry Toliver's incremental times: 60ft-0.942 sec., 330ft-2.387, 660ft-3.374/256.94mph, 1,000ft-4.206

Left Lane: John Force Runs 4.921/304.39, Now #9; Best prior run: 4.936/302.28, Was #11
Right Lane: Melanie Troxel Runs 5.120/258.57, Now #5; Best prior run: 4.912/304.53, Was #5

Troxel may have a cylinder out early, as her performance numbers started to be less than desirable at the 330-foot mark. Force ran just good enough to face his daughter Ashley in the first round of eliminations, if there are no more changes to the middle of the ladder.

John Force's incremental times: 60ft-0.917 sec., 330ft-2.363, 660ft-3.364/255.77mph, 1,000ft-4.193
Melanie Troxel's incremental times: 60ft-0.942 sec., 330ft-2.419, 660ft-3.461/245.54mph, 1,000ft-4.317

Left Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 5.056/293.73, Now #11; Best prior run: 4.933/304.32, Was #11
Right Lane: Ron Capps Runs 4.942/303.57, Now #4; Best prior run: 4.911/287.17, Was #4

Lit candles and hooked tires all the way down the track for both drivers.

Tommy Johnson Jr.'s incremental times: 60ft-0.941 sec., 330ft-2.418, 660ft-3.452/245.18mph, 1,000ft-4.294
Ron Capps' incremental times: 60ft-0.933 sec., 330ft-2.373, 660ft-3.374/252.43mph, 1,000ft-4.212

Left Lane: Frank Hawley Runs 4.976/300.40, Now #3; Best prior run: 4.907/311.63, Was #3
Right Lane: Bob Tasca III Runs 4.983/287.60, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.901/305.91, Was #2

A good looking pair to end Funny Car qualifying.

Frank Hawley's incremental times: 60ft-0.934 sec., 330ft-2.390, 660ft-3.403/251.25mph, 1,000ft-4.241
Bob Tasca III's incremental times: 60ft-0.935 sec., 330ft-2.391, 660ft-3.394/252.85mph, 1,000ft-4.236

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink