Sun, 23 Aug 2009, 04:26 PM Funny Car Round 2 Eliminations

By Jim Samuel

MOHNTON, Pa. - Results of round 2 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
    7 John Force                            170 Jeff Arend                   
E2   ****WINNER****  0.097  4.291 287.11                     0.087  4.395 260.41
 Prior rounds:
E1    (M Hagan     ) 0.049  4.273 274.72      (A Force Hood) 0.078  4.359 266.42
 Qualified:             #8  4.159 299.00                       #16  5.010 232.63

4:09 p.m. - Weather conditions: air temperature 88 degrees, relative humidity 49 percent, barometer 29.31 inches, adjusted altitude 3,440 feet, track temperature 118 degrees.

Arend got the win in the first round when Ashley Force Hood won on the track but was disqualified when her car was found to be underweight. This is the tenth time Force and Arend have raced each other and the third time in the second round. Force won all of their previous nine races. Force staged deep and almost turned off the top bulb when he staged. Arend got out of the gate a hundredth of second before Force and had the lead at 60 feet. After that, it was Force all the way. With this round win, Force clinched a spot in the Countdown to One.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 1777 Bob Tasca III                           4 Robert Hight                 
E2   ****WINNER****  0.078  4.258 287.41                     0.102  6.815  83.04
 Prior rounds:
E1    (R Capps     ) 0.076  4.261 281.48      (J Head      ) 0.073  5.437 131.15
 Qualified:             #5  4.138 299.26                        #4  4.137 293.66

Tasca and Hight have raced each other only once before this and Tasca won that round. Tasca clinched his spot in spot in the Countdown to One with his round one win over Ron Capps. Hight shook the tires at 330 feet and his chutes came out. Tasca took his car down the groove for the win. He'll have lane choice over Force in round three.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    9 Mike Neff                             767 Jerry Toliver                
E2   ****WINNER****  0.085  4.239 275.39                     0.103 No Time      
 Prior rounds:
E1    (T Wilkerson ) 0.062  4.242 286.56      (J Beckman   ) 0.132  4.327 258.27
 Qualified:             #6  4.145 299.60                       #14  4.289 276.52

Neff is 2 - 1 against Toliver in prior events. Toliver staged deep. When the tree came down and he launched, the car made a hard lurch forward and the chutes came out. Neff's car got a little loose for the last two hundred feet or so, but he got the win and will move on to the next round.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    5 Tony Pedregon                         750 Del Worsham                  
E2   ****WINNER****  0.109  4.347 267.22                     0.049  4.780 227.88
 Prior rounds:
E1    (J Schriefer ) 0.145  4.221 253.04      (C Pedregon  ) 0.038  4.299 263.15
 Qualified:             #2  4.133 299.53                       #10  4.174 299.26

Worsham clinched a spot in the Countdown to One when he beat Cruz Pedregon in round one. Tony Pedregon and Worsham have raced each other 50 times before this, with Tony having 32 wins and 18 losses in those meetings.

Worsham got out of the gate first but spun the rear tires at 330 feet. He pedaled it once but by then, Pedregon was long gone. Pedregon got the win but gave up lane choice to Neff in round three. With this win, Pedregon now holds a 14 - 3 edge when these two meet in round two competition.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink