Sun, 06 Sep 2015, 12:45 PM Funny Car Shootout Round 1 Eliminations

By Rick Green

BROWNSBURG, Ind. - Results of round 1 eliminations in Traxxas Funny Car Shootout at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 61st annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    2 John Force                             28 Ron Capps                    
E1                   0.252  4.148 285.59     ****WINNER****  0.069  4.033 317.34
 Qualified:             #4 1,084                                #5 1,020        

Weather conditions: air temperature 87 degrees, relative humidity 54 percent, barometer 29.20 inches, adjusted altitude 3,525 feet, track temperature 118 degrees.

Capps with the starting line advantage and never trailed for the win

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    1 Matt Hagan                              5 Robert Hight                 
E1                  -0.125  4.023 315.49     ****WINNER****  0.068  4.069 313.80
 Qualified:             #2 1,229                                #7 936          

Hagan turns on the red light and Hight gets the easy win.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  711 Jack Beckman                            4 Courtney Force               
E1   ****WINNER****  0.068  4.052 311.99                     0.072  4.113 314.09
 Qualified:             #1 1,279                                #8 783          

Beckman with the slight starting line advantage and never trailed for the win. He will give up lane choice to Capps in the semifinal.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    3 Tommy Johnson Jr.                       9 Tim Wilkerson                
E1                   0.057  4.390 276.41     ****WINNER****  0.065  4.035 317.19
 Qualified:             #3 1,158                                #6 942          

Johnson with a slight starting line advantage, but then rattled the the tires early and pedaled it and that was all Wilkerson needed for the win. Wilkerson will have lane choice over Hight in the semifinal.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink