Sun, 1 Jun 2008, 03:48 PM Funny Car Round 3 Eliminations

By Bob Orme

TOPEKA, Kan. - Results of round 3 eliminations in Funny Car at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 20th annual O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals presented by Castrol GTX:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    3 Gary Scelzi                           347 Tim Wilkerson                
E3                   0.056  6.138 210.70     ****WINNER****  0.080  6.009 194.32
 Prior rounds:
E2    (B Tasca III ) 0.081  4.997 298.14      (J Toliver   ) 0.088  5.005 298.01
E1    (R Hight     ) 0.070  4.927 305.70      (F Hawley    ) 0.072  4.889 307.79
 Qualified:            #10  4.929 301.60                       #14  4.979 305.56

2:37 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 87 degrees, relative humidity 47 percent, barometer 28.80 inches, adjusted altitude 3,886 feet, track temperature 124 degrees.

Scelzi is 7 - 4 against Wilkerson in prior events. This is the first time they've faced each other in the third round. Both drivers struck the tires before reaching the 330-foot mark. They both pedaled it a couple times and Wilkerson made it to the finish line first. Tim Wilkerson's incremental margins: 60ft(0.034), 330 ft(0.154), 660ft(0.195), 1,000ft(0.180). MOV: 0.1051 seconds (approximately 32 feet).

Gary Scelzi's incremental times: 60ft-0.985 sec., 330ft-2.638, 660ft-4.065/183.67mph, 1,000ft-5.140
Tim Wilkerson's incremental times: 60ft-0.927 sec., 330ft-2.460, 660ft-3.846/185.43mph, 1,000ft-4.936

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   28 Ron Capps                               7 John Force                   
E3                   0.075  7.119 126.99     ****WINNER****  0.085  5.009 296.37
 Prior rounds:
E2    (M Troxel    ) 0.069  4.969 300.06      (G Densham   ) 0.094  4.980 295.34
E1    (C Pedregon  ) 0.029  4.956 307.37      (A Force     ) 0.084  4.890 291.95
 Qualified:             #4  4.911 287.17                        #9  4.921 304.39

Force is 39 - 17 against Capps in prior events, and he holds a 16 - 3 advantage in third round meetings. Capps was up in smoke just before the 330-foot mark. He tried to pedal through it, without success. Force took it straight down the groove for lane choice in the final round.

John Force's incremental times: 60ft-0.967 sec., 330ft-2.420, 660ft-3.425/253.75mph, 1,000ft-4.265

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink