Sun, 5 Jun 2011, 11:58 AM Funny Car Round 1 Eliminations

By Jim Samuel

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Funny Car at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 42nd annual NHRA SuperNationals:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   10 Tim Wilkerson                           9 Tony Pedregon                
E1   ****WINNER****  0.106  4.093 306.81                     0.054  6.072 112.53
 Qualified:             #3  4.094 306.33                       #14  4.169 292.77

11:27 a.m. - Weather conditions: air temperature 74 degrees, relative humidity 52 percent, barometer 29.99 inches, adjusted altitude 1,506 feet, track temperature 102 degrees.

Wilkerson won here in 2008. Pedregon has two wins and one runner up finish here at Englishtown. These two have raced each other 33 times before this, with Pedregon winning 21 of those battles.

Wilkerson got the win with his best run of the weekend so far. Pedregon got about 100 feet off the starting line when he smoked the rear tires and the car got loose. Wilkerson took his Mustang straight down the lane for the win.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    1 John Force                           2814 Matt Hagan                   
E1                   0.071  4.128 309.49     ****WINNER****  0.063  4.101 303.64
 Qualified:             #5  4.107 307.23                       #12  4.142 299.86

Force has won this race four times and been runner up six times, with his last win coming in 1999. He and Hagan have raced each other eight times, with Force having six wins and two losses.

Hagan got off the starting line a few thousandths ahead of Force and pulled a car length ahead by the time they crossed the finish line.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   71 Cruz Pedregon                         241 John Smith                   
E1   ****WINNER****  0.097  4.141 302.08                     0.031 15.665  63.44
 Qualified:             #1  4.048 302.82                       #16  4.186 296.31

Pedregon won here in 1995 and 2000. The only time these two have raced each other before this was a Charlotte last year, with Pedregon winning that race. Smith spun and shook the rear tires as soon as he launched and got off the throttle right away. Pedregon had a clean run to take the win and move on to the next round.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  507 Melanie Troxel                        116 Paul Lee                     
E1   ****WINNER****  0.111  4.071 310.27                     0.079  7.231  69.43
 Qualified:             #4  4.098 306.12                       #13  4.168 294.56

Lee won here in Top Alcohol Funny Car in 2004. He and Troxel have never raced each other in Funny Car competition. Troxel lost in the first round of Pro Mod last night. Lee launched and went up in smoke right away. Troxel had her quickest run of the weekend so far to move on to the next round. She will have lane choice over Matt Hagan.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    8 Robert Hight                           31 Johnny Gray                  
E1                   0.106  4.888 227.80     ****WINNER****  0.112  4.804 274.39
 Qualified:             #2  4.090 310.34                       #15  4.170 299.46

Hight won both times these two have faced each other in prior events. This time, both drivers shook the rear tires at about 60 feet and pedaled their cars. Hight's car got a more loose than Gray's, so Gray was able to get his car hooked up first and went on to take the win.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   28 Ron Capps                             388 Jim Head                     
E1   ****WINNER****  0.088  4.116 306.53                     0.099  4.565 235.51
 Qualified:             #6  4.108 305.15                       #11  4.137 300.93

This was the 29th time Head has competed here at Raceway Park. Capps has eight wins and three losses against Head in prior competition, and won the event here in 2006. Capps took his car down the groove while Head had some tire shake and smoke at mid track. Capps will race Tim Wilkerson in the next round and Wilkerson will have lane choice.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
 7701 Mike Neff                             170 Jeff Arend                   
E1   ****WINNER****  0.100  4.079 311.77                     0.065  4.173 300.46
 Qualified:             #7  4.111 306.95                       #10  4.123 302.28

Neff and Arend have raced each other five times before this, with Neff winning three of those matches. Arend got out of the gate first and led this one to 60 feet. Neff got by Arend before they reached 330 feet, then pulled ahead to win by two car lengths. Neff will have lane choice over Gray next time out.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    5 Bob Tasca III                           4 Jack Beckman                 
E1                   0.072  4.139 305.56     ****WINNER****  0.095  4.112 308.57
 Qualified:             #8  4.113 305.70                        #9  4.115 306.12

Tasca won here in Funny Car last year and won in Top Alcohol Funny Car in 2007. Beckman has won seven of the nine times these two have raced each other before this. Tasca was first off the starting line but Beckman closed the gap right away. They were almost side by side at 660 feet, but when they crossed the finish line, Beckman had the edge. He'll have lane choice over Tony Pedregon in the next round. Jack Beckman's incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.002), 330 ft(0.004), 660ft(0.001). MOV: 0.0046 seconds (approximately 2 feet).

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink