Sun, 10 Oct 2010, 05:48 PM Funny Car Final, Round 4 Eliminations

By Jim Samuel

MOHNTON, Pa. - Results of final, round 4 eliminations in Funny Car at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 26th annual Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   71 Cruz Pedregon                        2814 Matt Hagan                   
E4   ****WINNER****  0.062  4.130 312.35                     0.084  4.242 301.13
 Prior rounds:
E3    (D Worsham   ) 0.065  4.139 306.19      (J Head      ) 0.087  4.118 300.26
E2    (T Pedregon  ) 0.075  4.151 295.34      (T Wilkerson ) 0.072  4.080 302.14
E1    (A Force Hood) 0.090  4.512 215.20      (P Burkart   ) 0.087  4.088 302.08
 Qualified:             #6  4.081 310.63                        #1  4.011 311.56

5:40 p.m. - Weather conditions: air temperature 76 degrees, relative humidity 41 percent, barometer 29.19 inches, adjusted altitude 2,469 feet, track temperature 82 degrees.

This was Hagan's seventh final round and he won three of the previous six. Pedregon's last win came at Charlotte this year.

Pedregon was quicker getting out of the gate but Hagan's 0.901 second 60-foot time put him out in front. But then Hagan's car began to lose its grip on the track and he had to pedal it to keep from getting loose. That gave Pedregon the chance to get back out in front and pull away for the win. Pedregon's win was the first time ever that the number six qualifier has gone on to win in Funny car here at Maple Grove. In contrast, over the previous eight years there have been eight different number one qualifiers here and none has gone on to win the race. Today;s result just extends that streak.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink