Fri, 3 Sep 2010, 07:42 PM Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #1 |
By Larry Sullivan |
CLERMONT, Ind. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 56th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:
Right Lane: Brian Thiel Runs 4.262/289.07, Now #1
6:51 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 81 degrees, relative humidity 32 percent, barometer 28.94 inches, adjusted altitude 3,094 feet, track temperature 103 degrees.
Nice, smooth opening pass for Diehl. We have no clue how that will stack up
against the rest of the qualifiers, but it's a good start for Diehl.
Left Lane: Melanie Troxel Runs 4.146/303.64, Now #2
Right Lane: Bob Bode Runs 4.109/298.14, Now #1
Bode is a fan favorite with his Brainerd win and Troxel is always a fan favorite, especially with the U.S. flag-wrapped theme on the Pro Care RX Charger.
Both teams should be pleased with these runs, Bode with a career-best ET and Troxel with a solid ET and a big speed.
Melanie Troxel's incremental times: 60ft-0.915 sec., 330ft-2.356, 660ft-3.343/259.71 mph.
Bob Bode's
incremental times: 60ft-0.893 sec., 330ft-2.309, 660ft-3.297/258.76 mph.
Looks like Bode hurt his engine on this one, the Safety Safari is busily working in the shutdown area in his lane.
Left Lane: Jim Head Runs 4.185/271.62, Now #3
Right Lane: Paul Lee Runs 4.920/162.70, Now #5
The Safety Safari took care of the problem with their usual efficiency.
Lee lost traction and shut off around the 660
marker. Almost a full pass by Head, might have been spinning the tires on the top end because he only picked up 12 mph from 660 to
the stripe .
Left Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 4.113/270.27, Now #3
Right Lane: Jeff Arend Runs 4.110/307.02, Now #2
This is the last pair of non-Countdown cars for this session - and both made very good opening runs, sliding in right behind Bode in the order, setting the bar pretty high for the championship contenders.
Cruz Pedregon's incremental times:
60ft-0.902 sec., 330ft-2.296, 660ft-3.279/260.51 mph.
Jeff Arend's incremental times: 60ft-0.910 sec., 330ft-2.350,
660ft-3.319/264.49 mph.
Left Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 4.334/214.59, Now #7
Right Lane: Del Worsham Runs 8.128/81.84, Now #9
The first pair of Countdown cars did not meet the challenge, Worsham rattling the tires and shutting off in the first 100 feet, Pedregon with lots of smoke and slowing from 660 through the finish line.
Left Lane: Ashley Force Hood Runs 4.059/310.98, Now #1
Right Lane: Bob Tasca III Runs 4.934/158.95, Now #10
Tasca's headers "went wet" at the 660-foot marker, but Force-Hood broke her own track records on a great pass.
Ashley
Force Hood's incremental times: 60ft-0.894 sec., 330ft-2.304, 660ft-3.273/265.38 mph.
Left Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 4.153/277.15, Now #7
Right Lane: Ron Capps Runs 4.149/301.40, Now #6
Looked like both cars were spinning the tires on the top end, Wilkerson worse than Capps.
Left Lane: Matt Hagan Runs 7.949/80.02, Now #14
Right Lane: Jack Beckman Runs 4.525/189.10, Now #11
Hagan rattled the tires and shut off before half track, Beckman followed suit on the top end.
Left Lane: Robert Hight Runs 4.055/310.98, Now #1
Right Lane: John Force Runs 4.058/312.86, Now #2
It will be interesting to see if the Force team shared their tuneups for this first round or took different paths to see what worked best. Ashley's run was almost perfect, and so were these two...look at the numbers!
Robert Hight's incremental times:
60ft-0.889 sec., 330ft-2.302, 660ft-3.269/265.06 mph.
John Force's incremental times: 60ft-0.902 sec., 330ft-2.317,
660ft-3.279/267.16 mph.
Hight has the track ET record and three bonus points, John has the track speed record and two bonus
points, and poor Ashley just has one bonus point. Tony Pedregon has the 12th spot in the "provisional field" but there are two more
sessions tomorrow before the top twelve get to keep their times.
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