Sat, 1 Oct 2011, 05:16 PM Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Final Session

By Jim Samuel

MOHNTON, Pa. - Notes from final, round 4 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 27th annual Auto-Plus 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: Leah Pruett Runs 4.644/212.43, Now #16; No Prior Run

4:36 p.m. - Pruett launched,shook the tires, pedaled it, shook the tires again and clicked it off. Even with all that, she managed to edge her way into the field. She's sitting on the bump spot.

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Left Lane: Mike Smith Runs 4.696/183.52, Now #17; Best prior run: 5.799/229.08, Was #18
Right Lane: Terry Haddock Runs 9.383/88.79, Now #19; Best prior run: 7.936/88.51, Was #19

Haddock launched and his rear tires immediately went up in smoke. Smith got down to 800 feet or so when he struck the tires and clicked it off. Neither driver will be back for eliminations tomorrow.

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Left Lane: Paul Lee Runs 4.999/163.26, Now #18; Best prior run: 5.173/159.36, Was #18
Right Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 4.169/297.22, Now #13; Best prior run: 4.246/273.39, Was #14

Pruett was on the bump spot and Lee was the last driver left who could push her out of the field. Lee had a pretty good run going to mid track, then he started losing cylinders. Pedregon moved up one spot in the order. There is no one left to run who is not already in the field, so Pruett will hang on to the final spot in the qualifying order.

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Left Lane: Bob Tasca III Runs 4.106/308.85, Now #12; Best prior run: 4.142/306.95, Was #12
Right Lane: Robert Hight Runs 9.214/80.36, Now #10; Best prior run: 4.090/312.21, Was #10

Hight launched and the rear tires went up in smoke. Tasca had a good run down the groove but was not quick enough to move up in the order.

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Left Lane: Jeff Arend Runs 4.084/310.77, Now #9; Best prior run: 4.094/311.63, Was #11
Right Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 4.027/307.86, Now #4; Best prior run: 4.085/307.16, Was #9

A pair of good runs that moved Arend up two spots and Wilkerson up five spots.

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Left Lane: Mike Neff Runs 4.066/316.45, Now #8; Best prior run: 4.085/312.35, Was #10
Right Lane: Jim Head Runs 4.147/303.78, Now #9; Best prior run: 4.077/305.01, Was #8

Neff moved up two spots with a nice run that pushed Head down one spot.

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Left Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 11.197/33.63, Now #7; Best prior run: 4.060/304.74, Was #7
Right Lane: Jack Beckman Runs 4.634/177.93, Now #5; Best prior run: 4.039/317.94, Was #5

Pedregon got out about 200 feet, then he clicked it off. Right before he shut it down, it appeared that the wheelie bar broke and dragged on the tracks, leaving sparks. Beckman had a run that looked good but was not quick enough to change his place in the order.

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Left Lane: Ron Capps Runs 5.090/147.52, Now #6; Best prior run: 4.059/315.27, Was #6
Right Lane: Matt Hagan Runs 7.418/85.08, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.012/316.67, Was #2

Both drivers launched. Hagan smoked the rear tires and clicked it off at 330 feet. Capps went another hundred feet and did the same thing.

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Left Lane: Johnny Gray Runs 4.010/318.62, Now #1; Best prior run: 4.023/318.24, Was #3
Right Lane: John Force Runs 5.483/129.79, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.011/319.22, Was #1

Gray saved his career best ET for the last run to take over the top spot in the order. Force was quicker to 60 feet but then slowed and clicked it off at 500 feet.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink