Mon, 22 Sep 2003, 12:39 PM Funny Car Round 1 Eliminations

By Rick Green

MILLINGTON, Tenn. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Funny Car at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 16th annual O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals presented by Pennzoil:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   13 Cory Lee                              347 Tim Wilkerson
E1   ****WINNER****  0.039  4.974 311.85                     0.072  4.946 312.78
 Qualified:             #9  4.915 315.71                        #8  4.912 311.70

Current weather conditions: 71 degrees, 78 percent relative humidity, the barometer 29.97 inches, with a track temperature of 86 degrees.

Lee with a big starting line advantage and the power to hold off the hard charging Wilkerson for the hole shot win. Cory Lee's incremental margins: 60ft(0.045), 330 ft(0.015), 660ft(0.013), 1,000ft(0.010). MOV: 0.0056 seconds (approximately 3 feet).

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    3 Del Worsham                           156 Phil Burkart
E1                   0.068 10.992  80.75     ****WINNER****  0.056  4.890 315.05
 Qualified:             #7  4.909 314.17                       #10  4.918 311.05

Worsham goes up in smoke as soon as he hits the throttle and Burkart blast on through the 1320 with his quickest pass of the weekend.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    2 Tony Pedregon                         503 Tommy Johnson Jr.
E1   ****WINNER****  0.085  4.825 315.78                     0.048  4.965 316.15
 Qualified:             #6  4.892 312.57                       #11  4.938 249.67

Johnson is out of the gate first and starts to rattle the tires and pedals it once and then twice and pop the burst relief panel. Pedregon with a great looking pass straight down Broadway with low E.T. of the event.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   28 Ron Capps                              71 Cruz Pedregon
E1   ****WINNER****  0.125  4.862 311.63                     0.064  4.964 313.73
 Qualified:             #5  4.857 313.15                       #12  4.984 286.25

Pedregon went in deep and then has the starting line advantage, but Capps chased him down by the 330-foot mark and takes the win by 19 feet.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    4 Gary Densham                           73 Frank Pedregon
E1   ****WINNER****  0.094  4.829 320.51                     0.122  4.919 295.08
 Qualified:             #4  4.856 311.99                       #13  4.987 296.37

Densham was out the gate first and never looked back to take the win with his quickest pass of the weekend. Densham will have lane choice over Capps in round two.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   20 Gary Scelzi                             9 Dean Skuza
E1                   0.104  4.864 318.09     ****WINNER****  0.054  4.877 312.06
 Qualified:             #3  4.837 322.42                       #14  5.074 279.79

Skuza with the big starting line advantage and the power to hold off the hard charging Scelzi to take the hole shot win. Skuza's quickest pass of the weekend. He will give up lane choice to Tony Pedregon.

Dean Skuza's incremental margins: 60ft(0.027), 330 ft(0.024), 660ft(0.038), 1,000ft(0.044). MOV: 0.0373 seconds (approximately 17 feet).

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    5 Whit Bazemore                         206 Bob Gilbertson
E1   ****WINNER****  0.044  4.875 318.99                     0.041  7.458 115.98
 Qualified:             #1  4.826 316.67                       #16  5.117 293.15

They almost leave at the same time and after that it was all Bazemore with a very nice looking pass. Gilbertson started to smoke the tires around the 330-foot mark and clicked it off. Bazemore will have lane choice over Lee in round two.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    1 John Force                            506 Jack Wyatt
E1   ****WINNER****  0.091  4.875 316.08                     0.122  5.003 265.64
 Qualified:             #2  4.826 313.37                       #15  5.090 291.45

Force with the starting line advantage and never looked back, but Wyatt was right there all the way down the 1320 if John would of stumbled. Force ran the exact same E.T. as Bazemore and just like in qualifying Bazemore was faster. Force will have lane choice over Burkart in round two.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink