Fri, 30 Oct 2015, 16:53 PM Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Dave Rowe

LAS VEGAS - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 15th annual NHRA Toyota Nationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Left Lane: Tim Gibbons Runs 13.362/63.45, Now #1
Right Lane: Brandon Welch Runs 22.092/143.54, Now #2

1:03 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 77 degrees, relative humidity 23 percent, barometer 27.85 inches, adjusted altitude 3,932 feet, track temperature 92 degrees.

This is the NHRA debut for both of these drivers.

Gibbons went up in smoke at the hit, backed off the throttle, gets back on it and finally gives up on the run.. Welch had a cylinder out and was off the throttle quickly.

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Left Lane: Jeff Arend No Time, Now #3
Right Lane: Gary Densham No Time, Now #4

Arend gets about 400 feet out, pops the blower and the chutes come out. Densham had a cylinder out on the left side, the car started drifting to the left, then he takes out the timing block at the end of the track and neither driver receives a time.

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Left Lane: Paul Lee Runs 4.080/310.91, Now #1
Right Lane: Bob Bode No Time, Now #6

Lee makes a decent pass and takes the early pole.Bode had a cylinder out at the hit. He drifts to the left, then takes out on of the timing blocks as the chutes come out.

This is Bode's fourth oil down of the year and it will cost him $3000.

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Left Lane: Terry Haddock No Time, Now #8
Right Lane: John Bojec Runs 4.156/298.67, Now #2

Haddock is a no-show.

Bojec makes a full pass but had a cylinder or two out all the way through the run.

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Left Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 10.374/78.61, Now #5
Right Lane: John Hale Runs 4.191/289.82, Now #3

Pedregon gets about 20 feet out and strikes the tires. Hale makes a clean pass and gets in the third spot for now.

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Left Lane: Chad Head Runs 4.693/172.56, Now #4
Right Lane: Courtney Force Runs 8.340/78.40, Now #6

Force rattles the tires early, gets about 200 feet out and backs off the throttle. Head got about 700 feet out, has problems and the car noses over.

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Left Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 4.022/317.87, Now #2
Right Lane: Robert Hight Runs 3.982/322.81, Now #1

Hight goes right down the groove with an impressive pass, sets the track ET record and takes the top spot for now. Wilkerson makes a decent pass and gets in the second spot for now.

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Left Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 4.109/292.14, Now #5
Right Lane: Alexis DeJoria Runs 4.025/318.84, Now #3

DeJoria was moving around early in the run but made a decent pass and got in the third spot for now. Pedregon had a cylinder out early in the run but picked it up and gets in the fifth spot for now.

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Left Lane: John Force Runs 3.980/321.50, Now #1
Right Lane: Matt Hagan Runs 4.010/322.58, Now #3

Force goes right down the groove and sets the track ET record. Hagan makes a decent pass and moves into the third spot.

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Left Lane: Ron Capps Runs 4.145/242.71, Now #9
Right Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 3.967/317.79, Now #1

Johnson makes an impressive pass, sets the track record and moves into the top spot for now. Capps had problems late in the run and was off the throttle early.

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Left Lane: Jack Beckman Runs 4.011/316.30, Now #6
Right Lane: Del Worsham Runs 3.999/322.19, Now #4

Worsham makes a clean, straight pass and gets in the fourth spot. Beckman makes a clean pass and moves into the sixth spot to end this session.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink