Sat, 4 Jun 2011, 02:46 PM Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #3

By Jim Samuel

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. - Notes from round 3 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 42nd annual NHRA SuperNationals 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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Right Lane: Mike Smith No Time, Now #18; No Prior Run

1:46 p.m. - Weather conditions: air temperature 80 degrees, relative humidity 32 percent, barometer 29.99 inches, adjusted altitude 1,783 feet, track temperature 109 degrees.

Smith lost some cylinders and got out of the groove. His car moved toward the wall at mid track, crossed the outer boundary and tagged the wall. Smith had a 4.497 second ET but this run was disqualified.

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Left Lane: Terry Haddock Runs 4.881/170.49, Now #14; No Prior Run
Right Lane: John Smith Runs 4.186/296.31, Now #10; No Prior Run

Haddock got to mid track when the blower popped and the the front wheels of his car went up in the air about a foot. When the car came down, it shut down and coasted the rest of the way. Haddock's Toyota had some body damage. In the other lane, Smith had a clean run to make it into the filed.

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Left Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 4.048/302.82, Now #1; Best prior run: 4.114/304.74, Was #4
Right Lane: Bob Bode No Time, Now #12; Best prior run: 4.280/281.01, Was #12

Pedregon took over the top spot in the order with a strong run down the groove. Bode had a 4.262 second ET, but he took out some of the foam blocks on the center line, so his time will not count.

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Left Lane: Ron Capps Runs 4.115/307.51, Now #5; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Johnny Gray Runs 4.648/283.19, Now #15; No Prior Run

Gray smoked the tires midway down the track. Capps took his car straight down the groove to move up nine spots in the order. Terry Haddock is on the bump spot at 4.881.

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Left Lane: Paul Lee Runs 7.394/90.32, Now #10; Best prior run: 4.168/294.56, Was #9
Right Lane: Mike Neff Runs 4.156/301.81, Now #9; No Prior Run

Lee got out to about 100 feet and smoked the tires. He clicked it off after that. Neff had a straight run down the groove to move into the number nine spot in the order for now.

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Left Lane: Jack Beckman Runs 4.348/220.87, Now #14; Best prior run: 4.218/292.77, Was #13
Right Lane: John Force Runs 4.209/290.82, Now #13; No Prior Run

Force had a clean run to go from outside the field to the number 13 spot in the order for now. Beckman's car trailed smoke as it crossed the finish line.

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Left Lane: Melanie Troxel Runs 4.098/306.12, Now #4; Best prior run: 4.135/307.37, Was #7
Right Lane: Matt Hagan Runs 4.142/299.86, Now #9; Best prior run: 4.300/214.52, Was #16

Both drivers had good runs down the groove and both moved up in the order. Troxel moved up three spots, Hagan moved up seven spots.

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Left Lane: Jeff Arend Runs 4.123/302.28, Now #7; Best prior run: 4.132/306.40, Was #7
Right Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 4.202/293.41, Now #12; Best prior run: 4.169/292.77, Was #12

Both runs looked okay but neither had an effect on the qualifying order. Arend was quicker than yesterday, but not quick enough to move up in the qualifying order. Pedregon did not improve on yesterday's lowest ET.

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Left Lane: Bob Tasca III Runs 4.151/304.94, Now #5; Best prior run: 4.113/305.70, Was #5
Right Lane: Jim Head Runs 4.161/301.20, Now #8; Best prior run: 4.137/300.93, Was #8

Two good runs that had no effect on the qualifying order.

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Left Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 5.012/152.43, Now #3; Best prior run: 4.094/306.33, Was #3
Right Lane: Robert Hight Runs 7.411/89.92, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.090/310.34, Was #2

Both drivers got out to mid track, both smoked the rear tires and both clicked off early.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink