Sun, 6 Jun 2010, 01:26 PM Funny Car Round 1 Eliminations |
By Larry Sullivan |
JOLIET, Ill. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Funny Car at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 13th annual United Association Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by Miller Welders:
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
5 Jack Beckman 116 Paul Lee
E1 ****WINNER**** 0.105 4.158 299.06 -0.088 10.800 79.43
Qualified: #5 4.151 297.29 #12 4.270 287.84
11:29 a.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 73 degrees, relative humidity 56 percent, barometer 29.19 inches, adjusted
altitude 2,402 feet, track temperature 99 degrees.This is the first time Beckman and Lee have faced each other in eliminations. Beckman was the only Funny Car driver to make more than one good run during qualifying, the track and weather conditions giving the crew chiefs fits during all three sessions. That probably doesn't matter much, conditions today are completely different than they were on either Friday or Saturday anyway - it's dry and sunny, with just a few scattered clouds.
Lee two-stepped the throttle on
the launch and Beckman was unchallenged, taking the new DSR chassis right down the groove with results that almost duplicated his
best qualifying run.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
8 Bob Tasca III 302 Dale Creasy Jr.
E1 ****WINNER**** 0.148 4.201 301.27 0.091 4.272 289.07
Qualified: #4 4.136 305.56 #13 4.288 283.61
This is the first time Tasca III and Creasy Jr. have faced each other in eliminations. Tasca found "his groove" in the final
qualifying session and Creasy made his best 1,000-foot run ever in that same session.Creasy led this one almost all the way,
Tasca running him down in the last few feet of the track. Bob Tasca III's incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.065),
330 ft(-0.050), 660ft(-0.018). MOV: 0.0144 seconds (approximately 6 feet). Creasy ran career-bests for ET and speed in a gallant
losing effort. Tasca lost lane choice to Beckman in round two.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
2 Ashley Force Hood 9 John Force
E1 ****WINNER**** 0.112 4.114 303.03 0.086 4.451 239.53
Qualified: #2 4.092 306.46 #15 4.397 259.86
Force is 5 - 4 against Force Hood in prior events, 2 - 1 in the first round. They ended up facing each other after Cruz
Pedregon's final qualifying run was disqualified because the car's body was too low, delaying the start of the timing
clocks.Force left first, but made his fourth bad run of the weekend while Force Hood's car made a nice run, one of the best so
far at this event.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
1 Robert Hight 3007 Justin Schriefer
E1 ****WINNER**** 0.120 4.112 302.69 -0.125 8.960 74.84
Qualified: #1 4.067 313.15 #16 4.451 228.04
Hight originally thought he would be running his boss, John Force, today, then the field was shuffled because of Cruz Pedregon's
disqualified run. Hight is 1 - 0 against Schriefer in prior events, their only prior meeting coming in the first round last season.
Schriefer took a shot at the tree and was very early, but it probably didn't matter because Hight made the quickest run of the
round so far.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 2814 Matt Hagan 6 Tony Pedregon E1 ****WINNER**** 0.088 4.184 291.32 0.087 7.324 87.14 Qualified: #3 4.128 299.40 #14 4.368 231.83Pedregon is 6 - 3 against Hagan in prior events, 2 - 2 in round one.
Both cars fired, then they were signaled to shut them off, the track crew spotting "stuff" in Schriefer's lane. Capps' car shut off cleanly, pedregon's was more stubborn, sputtering along for about 30 seconds before they finally got it stopped.
12:08 p.m. Not sure what it was, took a lot of work to clean it up.
They left together, but Pedregon started smoking the tires about 200 feet out and clicked it off.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 28 Ron Capps 170 Jeff Arend E1 0.118 4.272 262.64 ****WINNER**** 0.091 4.239 292.65 Qualified: #6 4.172 297.75 #11 4.256 295.01Capps is 7 - 1 against Arend in prior events, 6 - 0 in round one. It took both drivers three tries to get one good run in qualifying.
Arend got a small starting line advantage, then Capps took charge, but fell back on the top end. Jeff Arend's
incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(0.003), 330 ft(-0.024), 660ft(-0.020). MOV: 0.0601 seconds (approximately 23 feet).
He will not have lane choice against Hagan in round two.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed 340 Bob Bode 348 Daniel Wilkerson E1 ****WINNER**** 0.133 4.199 300.40 0.141 4.401 268.17 Qualified: #7 4.200 297.75 #10 4.243 283.91This is the first time Bode and Wilkerson have faced each other in eliminations, not surprising since Bode is a relatively new driver and Wilkerson is even newer.
Bode almost matched his qualifying effort to get the win light here, but he will not have lane
choice against Force Hood in round two.
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
4 Tim Wilkerson 7 Del Worsham
E1 ****WINNER**** 0.111 4.397 215.55 0.116 4.474 262.90
Qualified: #8 4.218 293.22 #9 4.225 296.50
Worsham is 15 - 12 against Wilkerson in prior events, 7 - 5 in round one. Both drivers struggled through the first two rounds of
qualifying before getting things sorted out yesterday.They left together, then both lost traction near the middle of the run.
Worsham started smoking the tires first, then Wilkerson, giving Wilkerson a little more momentum and the win, by just over a car
length. Wilkerson faces Hight in round 2, Hight has lane choice.
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