Fri, 31 May 2013, 20:19 PM Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #2

By Jim Samuel

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. - Notes from round 2 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 44th Toyota NHRA Summernationals 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: Mike Smith No Time, Now #19; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Jack Beckman Runs 4.074/308.35, Now #1; Best prior run: 6.650/92.05, Was #15

7:36 p.m. - Weather conditions: air temperature 87 degrees, relative humidity 46 percent, barometer 29.92 inches, adjusted altitude 2,614 feet, track temperature 101 degrees.

Smith did not make a run in the first qualifying session. SMith left before the tree was activated. Beckman had to wait for Smith to clear the track before he could go. The wait appeared to pay off as Beckman had a clean run down the track to take over the top spot in the order for now.

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Left Lane: Robert Hight Runs 5.352/135.21, Now #15; Best prior run: 10.440/69.25, Was #18
Right Lane: John Force Runs 4.132/291.63, Now #3; Best prior run: 6.581/97.92, Was #15

Hight got out to about 600 feet when he clicked it off. Force went further under power and moved into the number three spot in the order for now.

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Left Lane: Jeff Arend Runs 4.159/296.83, Now #5; Best prior run: 7.338/85.31, Was #18
Right Lane: Tony Pedregon No Time, Now #17; Best prior run: 5.508/131.81, Was #16

Pedregon was late getting to the lanes after thrashing away on the car between sessions. He pulled into place just in time to make this run. He did his burnout, backed up and then had trouble with his car and had to shut it down. Arend had a strong run down the groove to move into the number five spot in the order for now.

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Left Lane: Blake Alexander Runs 4.259/292.46, Now #11; Best prior run: 7.338/90.93, Was #18
Right Lane: Ron Capps Runs 4.155/300.40, Now #5; Best prior run: 4.861/163.67, Was #15

Capps moved up ten spots in the order with a solid pass, Alexander moved up seven spots.

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Left Lane: Terry Haddock Runs 8.287/83.03, Now #15; Best prior run: 4.658/203.92, Was #15

Haddock launched, shook the rear tires and shut it down right away.

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Left Lane: Del Worsham Runs 4.074/312.78, Now #1; Best prior run: 4.270/289.63, Was #13
Right Lane: Paul Lee No Time, Now #16; Best prior run: 4.743/184.52, Was #16

Worsham and Lee completed their burnouts and staged. But when the tree went green, Lee's car just sat there and did not move. Worsham took his car straight down the groove to take over the top spot in the order for now.

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Left Lane: Bob Tasca III Runs 4.099/309.42, Now #3; Best prior run: 4.268/286.62, Was #13
Right Lane: Chad Head Runs 4.236/236.05, Now #12; Best prior run: 4.317/235.39, Was #14

Tasca had a good run to move up 10 spots in the order. Head's car moved around a lot on the track, moving to the left,m then right, then back left again before he reached the finish line. Even with all of that, he managed to move up two spots in the order.

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Left Lane: Matt Hagan Runs 4.050/315.64, Now #1; Best prior run: 4.183/297.88, Was #10
Right Lane: Alexis DeJoria Runs 6.719/98.54, Now #13; Best prior run: 4.249/287.29, Was #13

DeJoria launched, smoked the rear tires to about 100 feet, then clicked it off. Hagan had a strong run to move to the top of the order for now.

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Left Lane: Johnny Gray Runs 4.121/301.74, Now #5; Best prior run: 4.179/298.93, Was #10
Right Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 4.136/299.40, Now #8; Best prior run: 4.216/263.46, Was #11

Two good runs and both drivers moved up in the order.

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Left Lane: Courtney Force No Time, Now #7; Best prior run: 4.130/306.05, Was #6
Right Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 4.089/307.86, Now #4; Best prior run: 4.153/301.54, Was #9

Force prestaged the car and was getting ready to stage when the chutes on her car deployed. It was not clear whether anything happened on the car that caused the chutes to come out. Wilkerson had a nice run down the groove to move up five spots in the order. That's it for Funny Car qualifying today.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink