Sun, 23 Aug 2009, 12:10 PM Funny Car Round 1 Eliminations

By Jim Samuel

MOHNTON, Pa. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Funny Car at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 25th annual Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    5 Tony Pedregon                        3007 Justin Schriefer             
E1   ****WINNER****  0.145  4.221 253.04                           No Time      
 Qualified:             #2  4.133 299.53                       #15  4.521 252.95

11:40 a.m. - Weather conditions: air temperature 78 degrees, relative humidity 67 percent, barometer 29.29 inches, adjusted altitude 2,858 feet, track temperature 101 degrees.

Schriefer was the 64th different driver that Pedregon has faced in NHRA competition. It was Schriefer's first NHRA start and when it came time to start up and do his burnout,t he crew pushed his car out of the way. Pedregon had the solo run and just took it down the track for the win.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    1 Cruz Pedregon                         750 Del Worsham                  
E1                   0.063  4.908 186.87     ****WINNER****  0.038  4.299 263.15
 Qualified:             #7  4.146 295.21                       #10  4.174 299.26

This was Worsham's 691st round of racing. Pedregon is here at Maple Grove for the 16th time in his career. He won here in 1992. Worsham got out of the gate first and stayed out in front. Pedregon smoked the rear tires at about 100 feet and had to back off the throttle for a bit.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    6 Ashley Force Hood                     170 Jeff Arend                   
E1                   0.070  4.334 259.96     ****WINNER****  0.078  4.359 266.42
 Qualified:             #1  4.114 301.47                       #16  5.010 232.63

Arend won here in 1996. Coming into this race, he had no round wins and had never won when he started in the 16th spot in the qualifying order. Force Hood was the number one qualifier for the fifth time this year and the eighth time of her career. She has never won from the top qualifying spot. Force Hood got off the starting block first by a few thousandths of a second. She stayed out in front the whole way down the track, but Arend was closing the gap when they ran out of track. Just as this round of eliminations ended, the announcement was made that Ashley Force Hood's car was DQed because it was light in weight at the scales. That gave the win to Arend.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    3 Jack Beckman                          767 Jerry Toliver                
E1                   0.099  4.662 204.08     ****WINNER****  0.132  4.327 258.27
 Qualified:             #3  4.134 297.68                       #14  4.289 276.52

Beckman won this race last year. This time, he led the race to 330 feet but then started smoking the tires and pedaled the car, costing him the race. Toliver hung on to take the win, his first round win after going 13 races without one.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 1777 Bob Tasca III                          28 Ron Capps                    
E1   ****WINNER****  0.076  4.261 281.48                     0.098  4.301 266.69
 Qualified:             #5  4.138 299.26                       #12  4.208 289.57

Capps had six wins and no losses in competition against Tasca coming into this race. No other driver has beaten Tasca as many times in Funny car competition. Tasca got his first win in a tight race. They were close to mid track, when Capps started losing cylinders and gave up some speed.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    4 Robert Hight                          388 Jim Head                     
E1   ****WINNER****  0.073  5.437 131.15                     0.200 10.208  74.98
 Qualified:             #4  4.137 293.66                       #13  4.214 286.13

Hight and Head have each won 5 times against the other in prior events. This is Head's 23rd time racing here at Maple Grove. Head missed a chance to get his 200th round win. Hight got to about 800 feet when his car blew the blower. If Head had been moving, he'd have had a chance to take the win but he had clicked it off early after he shook the tires and moved toward the wall. Hight got the win but gave up lane choice to Tasca in the next round.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    9 Mike Neff                               2 Tim Wilkerson                
E1   ****WINNER****  0.062  4.242 286.56                     0.067  4.264 283.61
 Qualified:             #6  4.145 299.60                       #11  4.193 287.05

Wilkerson clinched a spot in the Countdown to One when he qualified for this race. He is 8 - 3 against Neff in prior events. This was a good drag race, with Neff managing to edge out Wilkerson for the win. He'll have lane choice over Toliver in the next round. Mike Neff's incremental margins: 60ft(0.001), 330 ft(0.007), 660ft(0.017). MOV: 0.0277 seconds (approximately 12 feet).

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    7 John Force                           2814 Matt Hagan                   
E1   ****WINNER****  0.049  4.273 274.72                     0.071  4.260 279.27
 Qualified:             #8  4.159 299.00                        #9  4.167 292.14

This is the first time Force and Hagan have faced each other in eliminations. Force got this one on a holeshot. With Cruz Pedregon and Matt Hagan losing, the points going into the next round are Cruz with 801, Hagan with 770 and Hight with 763. Force will face Arend in the next round.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink