Fri, 30 Apr 2010, 06:18 PM Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Rick Green

MADISON, Ill. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 14th annual AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Right Lane: Dale Creasy Jr. Runs 8.625/77.60, Now #1

Weather conditions: air temperature 74 degrees, relative humidity 69 percent, barometer 29.11 inches, adjusted altitude 2,768 feet, track temperature 84 degrees.

After a 1/2 hour delay for some sprinkles...Creasy with a lot of tire shake and shuts it off.

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Left Lane: Jeff Diehl Runs 21.461/52.97, Now #3
Right Lane: Paul Lee Runs 4.343/274.72, Now #1

Diehl's car didn't move when the light turned green and then it coasted on through the 1000 feet...Lee with a clean pass and clicked it off early.

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Left Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 4.399/253.28, Now #2
Right Lane: Jeff Arend Runs 4.641/186.18, Now #3

Arend started to drift out of the groove and then smoked the tires. Pedregon was off the throttle early.

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Left Lane: Bob Tasca III Runs 8.684/75.79, Now #6
Right Lane: Robert Hight Runs 4.581/184.47, Now #3

Tasca with problems as soon as the light turned green. Hight made it to about half track before he started to lose traction and was real loose before he clicked it off.

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Left Lane: Del Worsham Runs 4.274/293.60, Now #1
Right Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 7.970/85.47, Now #6

Wilkerson with tire shake as soon as he let the clutch out and clicked it off. Worsham launched hard and was straight down the groove with a real nice pass. He goes to the number one spot...Tim Wilkerson's incremental times: 60ft-0.958 sec., 330ft-2.803, 660ft-5.222/086.95 mph.

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Left Lane: Jack Beckman Runs 4.364/298.01, Now #3
Right Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 9.756/47.22, Now #10

Beckman shook and pedaled it, and was able to get it to hook back up and goes to the number three spot. Jack Beckman's incremental times: 60ft-0.920 sec., 330ft-2.491, 660ft-3.543/249.58 mph. Pedregon shook right off the starting line and then must of banged the burst panel and the chutes automatically deployed.

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Left Lane: Ron Capps Runs 4.262/297.02, Now #1
Right Lane: Ashley Force Hood Runs 4.640/186.36, Now #7

Force Hood started to shake and clicked it off. Capps with a nice looking pass, straight down the groove into the number one spot. Ron Capps' incremental times: 60ft-0.908 sec., 330ft-2.411, 660ft-3.440/252.05 mph.

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Left Lane: Matt Hagan Runs 8.409/79.54, Now #11
Right Lane: John Force Runs 4.103/307.23, Now #1

Hagan shook right off the starting line and clicked it off...Force launched hard and had a little wiggle at half track, but still blasts to the number one spot with a great pass. John Force's incremental times: 60ft-0.915 sec., 330ft-2.343, 660ft-3.313/264.60 mph.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink