Drag Race Central | Presented by Summitracing.com

Fri, 26 Jul 2013, 20:57 PM

Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By David Gerard

SONOMA, Calif. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 26th annual NHRA Sonoma Nationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

Right Lane: Josh Crawford No Time, Now #1

4:58 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 80 degrees, relative humidity 48 percent, barometer 29.98 inches, adjusted altitude 2,024 feet, track temperature 117 degrees.

Crawford is a local racer that makes several national events a year.

Looks like problems after the burnout and the signal is given to shut off the engine. The crew and starting line team are wiping up some "stuff" from under the car, after it was pushed away.

Left Lane: Jeff Diehl No Time, Now #3
Right Lane: Jon Capps Runs 4.301/260.01, Now #1

5:01 p.m. Back to qualifying...

Bang! Diehl's car starts to move and then goes POP. The chutes fall out on the line, as the engine goes silent.

Capps flies on down the track and steadily drives towards the center line. He gets it back off the line and finishes the run under power. Looks like there is oil on the track in the shutdown.

Jon Capps' incremental times: 60ft-0.899 sec., 330ft-2.358, 660ft-3.405/243.06 mph.

Left Lane: Gary Densham Runs 4.158/297.61, Now #1
Right Lane: Todd Lesenko Runs 4.396/285.11, Now #3

5:13 p.m. Done with the dusting and cleaning...

We get our first side by side pair and Densham sets the mark for the field with a clean and straight pass to the finish line.

Lesenko was right behind him for a while and then dropped a cylinder early.

Gary Densham's incremental times: 60ft-0.904 sec., 330ft-2.343, 660ft-3.339/256.50 mph.
Todd Lesenko's incremental times: 60ft-0.945 sec., 330ft-2.481, 660ft-3.540/242.76 mph.

Left Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 4.203/262.33, Now #2
Right Lane: Jeff Arend Runs 4.662/178.07, Now #5

They leave close together and run together early. Arend's car starts to get loose before the 660 lights and he slows.

Pedregon gets to near the 1000 foot lights and has a puff of smoke from the engine and he slows too.

Tony Pedregon's incremental times: 60ft-0.904 sec., 330ft-2.342, 660ft-3.346/255.24 mph.
Jeff Arend's incremental times: 60ft-0.906 sec., 330ft-2.334, 660ft-3.425/202.67 mph.

Left Lane: Alexis DeJoria No Time, Now #9
Right Lane: Robert Hight Runs 4.082/308.07, Now #1

DeJoria's team takes a long time working on the motor after the burnout and finally has the engine go silent. They push the car away.

Hight is just sixteen points out of the top ten and needs a strong pass to get lane choice for Sunday. He does his part and the car does it's part and he takes over the top spot with a terrific looking pass.

Robert Hight's incremental times: 60ft-0.886 sec., 330ft-2.306, 660ft-3.289/258.07 mph.

Left Lane: Bob Tasca III Runs 4.080/307.23, Now #1
Right Lane: Del Worsham Runs 4.702/176.17, Now #8

Tasca takes his Mustang 0.002 better to drive around Hight on the ladder with a clean and straight pass.

Worsham was running well with him to near the 660 lights and then has the slicks start smoking. He has to lift.

Bob Tasca III's incremental times: 60ft-0.896 sec., 330ft-2.312, 660ft-3.290/264.65 mph.

Left Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 4.157/304.87, Now #4
Right Lane: Courtney Force Runs 4.117/304.25, Now #3

Two more Mustangs to the line.

They leave together, run together, and finish close to each other into the new number three and number four spots on the ladder. Nice!

Tim Wilkerson's incremental times: 60ft-0.921 sec., 330ft-2.359, 660ft-3.353/258.07 mph.
Courtney Force's incremental times: 60ft-0.890 sec., 330ft-2.321, 660ft-3.317/256.26 mph.

Left Lane: Jack Beckman Runs 4.092/307.72, Now #3
Right Lane: John Force Runs 4.104/305.22, Now #4

DSR vs. JRF on the line with two World Champions at the helm.

Beckman is off the line first, with Force right behind him.

Force has the better number to the 660 lights and then has the Castrol Mustang start to wag it's tail. Beckman gets to the line first and takes the new number three position. Force still finishes well and takes #4.

Jack Beckman's incremental times: 60ft-0.896 sec., 330ft-2.313, 660ft-3.295/261.47 mph.
John Force's incremental times: 60ft-0.888 sec., 330ft-2.312, 660ft-3.303/260.31 mph.

Left Lane: Ron Capps Runs 4.053/308.85, Now #1
Right Lane: Johnny Gray Runs 5.078/146.89, Now #14

Del Worsham is on the bump spot at 4.702.

Capps runs the table and misses the track record by just 0.001 on a strong pass into the top spot with both ET and speed.

Gray was running well, right behind him, and then had the tires start to smoke before the 660 lights.

5:38 p.m. There is oil of the track at the starting line in Gray's lane. That's a freebie for Gary and he keeps his points.

Ron Capps' incremental times: 60ft-0.877 sec., 330ft-2.284, 660ft-3.260/263.10 mph.
Johnny Gray's incremental times: 60ft-0.895 sec., 330ft-2.323, 660ft-3.590/170.26 mph.

Left Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 5.068/146.42, Now #15
Right Lane: Matt Hagan Runs 4.120/305.84, Now #7

5:45 p.m. Clean up is done and back to qualifying.

Pedregon's Camry was very strong down low, but loses traction after the 330 lights.

Hagan makes a strong tuneup pass into the number seven spot.

Cruz Pedregon's incremental times: 60ft-0.887 sec., 330ft-2.302, 660ft-3.571/168.62 mph.
Matt Hagan's incremental times: 60ft-0.895 sec., 330ft-2.324, 660ft-3.319/259.31 mph.

5:49 p.m. Ron Capps is number one with a 4.053 and Todd Lesenko is on the bump spot at 4.396.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink