Fri, 3 Jun 2011, 05:34 PM Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Jim Samuel

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 42nd annual NHRA SuperNationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

---

Left Lane: Terry Haddock Runs 5.272/140.05, Now #1
Right Lane: Mike Smith Runs 6.561/100.73, Now #2

4:51 p.m. - Weather conditions: air temperature 81 degrees, relative humidity 26 percent, barometer 29.92 inches, adjusted altitude 1,841 feet, track temperature 124 degrees.

Smith shook the tires and clicked it off before he reached mid track. Haddock got out about 100 feet, then started smoking the rear tires. He shut down his car. shortly afterward.

---

Left Lane: Melanie Troxel Runs 7.799/79.27, Now #4
Right Lane: Bob Bode Runs 4.280/281.01, Now #1

Troxel smoked the rear tires at a hundred feet and shut down. Bode went down the middle of his lane.

---

Left Lane: Paul Lee Runs 4.168/294.56, Now #1
Right Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 4.976/155.22, Now #3

Lee took his car down the groove. Pedregon had a nice pass going to mid track, when he started trailing some smoke and slowed.

---

Left Lane: Tim Wilkerson No Time, Now #4
Right Lane: Jim Head Runs 4.253/288.39, Now #2

Wilkerson's car started trailing smoke at mid track and slowed. Head took his Toyota down the groove. Wilkerson oiled the track so his 4.603 second ET will not count.

---

Left Lane: Ron Capps Runs 4.942/154.49, Now #5
Right Lane: Johnny Gray Runs 5.995/115.63, Now #8

Both drivers smoked the tires at mid track, and both backed off the throttle.

---

Left Lane: Bob Tasca III Runs 4.145/302.89, Now #1
Right Lane: John Force Runs 5.136/180.26, Now #8

Force smoked the tires at mid track. he stayed on the throttle and the back end of his car started swinging from side to side. Tasca took his car straight down the groove into the top spot in the order.

---

Left Lane: Jeff Arend Runs 4.741/172.12, Now #6
Right Lane: Matt Hagan Runs 6.979/85.57, Now #13

More tire smoke from this pair of drivers. Hagan went up in smoke at 330 feet, Arend went up in smoke a hundred feet or so later.

---

Left Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 4.114/304.74, Now #1
Right Lane: Robert Hight Runs 4.153/302.01, Now #3

Both drivers went right down the groove. Pedregon moved into the top spot in the order for now, Hight is number three.

---

Left Lane: Jack Beckman Runs 4.218/292.77, Now #5
Right Lane: Mike Neff Runs 5.108/145.83, Now #12

Neff's car started trailing smoke at mid track. Beckman's car let out a lot of smoke as he crossed the finish line.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink