Sun, 12 Oct 2003, 03:09 PM Funny Car Round 2 Eliminations

By Dave Rowe

ENNIS, Texas - Results of round 2 eliminations in Funny Car at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 18th annual O'Reilly Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    5 Whit Bazemore                           3 Del Worsham
E2                   0.058  4.831 319.94     ****WINNER****  0.046  4.819 321.88
 Prior rounds:
E1    (T Johnson Jr) 0.058  4.850 320.28      (J Wyatt     ) 0.119  4.810 321.65
 Qualified:             #5  4.867 319.94                        #4  4.865 321.19

1:52 PM Current weather conditions: 72 degrees, 67 percent relative humidity, the barometer 30.08 inches, with a track temperature of 91 degrees.

Worsham decided to switch lanes after an oil down in the left lane. Worsham comes off the line first and starts pulling away. Bazemore starts to close the gap at the 330-foot mark, then starts falling behind again. Worsham never looked back from half-track and went on to take the win. Del Worsham's incremental margins: 60ft(0.021), 330 ft(0.015), 660ft(0.019), 1,000ft(0.021). MOV: 0.0246 seconds (approximately 12 feet).

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    1 John Force                            156 Phil Burkart
E2   ****WINNER****  0.096  4.833 320.05                     0.075  4.943 313.91
 Prior rounds:
E1    (C Lee       ) 0.056  4.861 318.69      (S Cannon    ) 0.090  4.849 316.34
 Qualified:             #1  4.814 322.11                        #9  4.922 311.63

Burkart comes off the line first but Force quickly drives around. Force starts pulling away, the car never missing a beat, and he drives on through for the win. He will give up lane choice to Worsham in the next round.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    2 Tony Pedregon                           4 Gary Densham
E2   ****WINNER****  0.085  4.862 313.80                     0.101  6.363 147.58
 Prior rounds:
E1    (R Capps     ) 0.043  4.873 315.78      (B Gilbertson) 0.025  4.874 298.30
 Qualified:             #6  4.894 300.00                        #3  4.832 323.39

Pedregon gets the hole-shot and never gives up the lead. Densham was on a decent pass, then started pumping raw fuel out of the left side header. He stays with it until half-track, then gives up on the run.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   20 Gary Scelzi                             9 Dean Skuza
E2                   0.093  4.935 306.74     ****WINNER****  0.044  4.959 304.67
 Prior rounds:
E1    (D Creasy Jr ) 0.097  4.879 321.65      (T Wilkerson ) 0.067  4.968 287.35
 Qualified:             #2  4.828 323.97                       #10  4.936 305.81

Skuza gets the hole-shot and makes it stick. Scelzi starts reeling him in and caught Skuza at the 330-foot mark, then Skuza starts pulling away and never looks back. Dean Skuza's incremental margins: 60ft(0.021), 330 ft(0.003), 660ft(0.010), 1,000ft(0.025). MOV: 0.0259 seconds (approximately 12 feet). Pedregon will have lane choice over Skuza in the next round.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink