Sat, 9 Oct 2010, 01:58 PM Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #3

By Jim Samuel

MOHNTON, Pa. - Notes from round 3 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 26th annual Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time/top speed this round, position in order following run, best prior elapsed time/speed, and position in order prior to run:

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Left Lane: Phil Burkart Runs 7.181/91.48, Now #14; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Justin Schriefer Runs 6.738/95.47, Now #13; No Prior Run

1:26 p.m. - Weather conditions: air temperature 78 degrees, relative humidity 40 percent, barometer 29.36 inches, adjusted altitude 2,429 feet.

Both drivers launched and immediately shook the rear tires. Burkart just clicked it off. Schriefer pedaled once but shook the tires again and gave up on this run.

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Left Lane: Ashley Force Hood Runs 4.125/304.46, Now #10; Best prior run: 4.150/293.09, Was #10
Right Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 4.119/296.31, Now #9; No Prior Run

Pedregon got himself into the field with a nice pass down the track. Force Hood had her quickest run of the weekend so far and it moved her up one spot in the order.

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Left Lane: Jeff Arend Runs 4.271/292.46, Now #14; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Melanie Troxel Runs 7.590/92.84, Now #17; No Prior Run

Troxel shook the rear tires hard at about 60 feet. She tried to pedal it but the car started to go sideways so she clicked it off. Arend had some tire shake coming out of the gate but drove through it to put himself into the field for now.

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Left Lane: Dale Creasy Jr. Runs 4.181/295.46, Now #13; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Paul Lee Runs 4.089/308.14, Now #7; Best prior run: 4.160/303.78, Was #12

Creasy's car started burning up cylinders at the end of the track but he still had his career best speed and missed equaling his career best ET by just 0.001 seconds. Lee had his career best ET and speed to move up four spots in the qualifying order.

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Left Lane: Jim Head Runs 4.121/300.73, Now #11; Best prior run: 4.131/297.35, Was #12
Right Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 7.108/93.15, Now #8; Best prior run: 4.094/306.12, Was #8

Wilkerson looked fine coming out of the gate but by the time he reached midtrack, his car had shut down. Head's run looked better and moved him up in the order by one spot.

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Left Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 5.301/137.19, Now #14; Best prior run: 4.191/277.26, Was #14
Right Lane: Bob Tasca III Runs 4.933/159.21, Now #6; Best prior run: 4.085/306.95, Was #6

Both drivers launched together and ran side-by-side to 330 feet. After that, both cars started smoking the rear tires together and Pedregon and Tasca shut their cars down together.

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Left Lane: Del Worsham Runs 4.154/302.08, Now #9; Best prior run: 4.096/309.20, Was #9
Right Lane: Ron Capps Runs 4.096/305.91, Now #5; Best prior run: 4.068/307.02, Was #5

This was a nice pair of nice looking runs that did nothing to change either drivers place in the qualifying order.

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Left Lane: Robert Hight Runs 5.447/130.52, Now #3; Best prior run: 4.060/304.94, Was #3
Right Lane: Jack Beckman Runs 6.795/98.05, Now #4; Best prior run: 4.068/308.00, Was #4

They launched together, they smoked the tires at 330 feet together and they shut their cars off together.

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Left Lane: Matt Hagan Runs 4.082/302.08, Now #1; Best prior run: 4.011/311.56, Was #1
Right Lane: John Force Runs 5.159/143.26, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.057/311.27, Was #2

Force got about 500 feet out and started smoking the rear tires. Hagan had a clean trip down the track but was not as quick as yesterday. He'll stay in the top spot in the order and Force will stay in the number two spots.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink