Sat, 13 Feb 2016, 18:23 PM Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #3 |
By Larry Sullivan |
POMONA, Calif. - Notes from round 3 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 56th annual Circle K NHRA Winternationals 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:
Left Lane: John Hale Runs 4.329/263.51, Now #14; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Jeff Diehl Runs 4.285/278.69, Now #13; No Prior Run
1:41 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 79 degrees, relative humidity 31 percent, barometer 28.96 inches, adjusted altitude 2,891 feet, track temperature 105 degrees.
Diehl did not make an attempt yesterday. Hale
did. but was not in the top twelve.
Hale's header flames went out early. Diehl made a little longer run, but also
shut off early.
Left Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 4.256/225.22, Now #13; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Terry Haddock Runs 11.233/74.22, Now #16; No Prior Run
Haddock smoked the tires and lifted. TJ got about 800 feet with all eight burning, then dropped a cylinder and the car made a hard right turn. He lifted, stayed in his lane.
Left Lane: Bob Bode Runs 4.356/233.36, Now #16; Best prior run: 4.356/233.36, Was #16
Right Lane: Chad Head Runs 3.985/315.05, Now #6; Best prior run: 3.985/315.05, Was #6
Head's car sports a two-race sponsorship from WSM Auctioneers, with a nice, green paint scheme here and Phoenix.
Good run by Head to move into the top half of the field. Bode had a good launch, then traction problems before half track.
Chad Head's incremental times: 60ft-0.887 sec., 330ft-2.278, 660ft-3.218/273.39 mph.
Left Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 5.021/151.95, Now #12; Best prior run: 4.124/281.07, Was #12
Right Lane: Robert Hight Runs 4.024/314.17, Now #1; Best prior run: 3.942/322.19, Was #1
Pedregon's car dropped a cylinder and started moving around a lot in the middle of the run and he lifted. Clean, full pass by Hight.
Robert Hight's incremental times: 60ft-0.884 sec., 330ft-2.289, 660ft-3.251/270.16 mph.
Left Lane: Gary Densham Runs 4.050/307.30, Now #11; Best prior run: 4.092/307.79, Was #11
Right Lane: James Campbell Runs 7.213/93.10, Now #17; No Prior Run
Bad luck in both lanes. Campbell started spinning the tires and got sideways, then the engine came apart with a big fireball. Meanwhile, Densham made a very nice run, but his chutes did not deploy and he went through the sand and into the net, hard. The net wrapped the car up and did its job, Densham got out okay. The car is a mess and the catch nets didn't fare much better, so we'll be down for a bit while the track crew rebuilds the the nets.
Gary Densham's incremental times: 60ft-0.895 sec., 330ft-2.301, 660ft-3.260/266.90 mph. The ET matches his career-best.
Meanwhile, once the track crew got done removing Densham's car from the net (it was in a couple pieces), they found oil in Campbell's lane. James Campbell was charged with an oildown, #1 for the season. That will cost 5 points and $1K.
Left Lane: John Force Runs 3.964/322.34, Now #5; Best prior run: 4.017/314.83, Was #7
Right Lane: Alexis DeJoria Runs 4.161/246.62, Now #9; Best prior run: 4.029/316.97, Was #9
3:10 p.m. The cleanup and repairs took just over an hour.
Force improved nicely, moved up to fifth. DeJoria dropped a cylinder, failed to improve.
John Force's incremental times: 60ft-0.877 sec., 330ft-2.264, 660ft-3.206/274.94 mph.
Left Lane: Matt Hagan Runs 3.993/323.35, Now #8; Best prior run: 4.028/313.22, Was #8
Right Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 4.052/313.07, Now #10; Best prior run: 4.041/312.93, Was #10
Hagan's car was moving back and forth in the groove on this run, improved slightly, stayed eighth. Wilkerson was mixing the cylinders up from 400 feet on, with wacky header flames.
Matt Hagan's incremental times: 60ft-0.882 sec., 330ft-2.284, 660ft-3.235/272.83 mph.
Tim Wilkerson's incremental times: 60ft-0.888 sec., 330ft-2.309, 660ft-3.274/268.54 mph.
Left Lane: Del Worsham Runs 5.158/144.74, Now #3; Best prior run: 3.950/323.04, Was #3
Right Lane: Ron Capps Runs 3.999/319.22, Now #6; Best prior run: 3.971/322.58, Was #6
Worsham dropped a cylinder or two early in the run and lifted. Capps made another three-second run, very consistent performance so far.
Ron Capps' incremental times: 60ft-0.875 sec., 330ft-2.275, 660ft-3.233/271.57 mph.
Left Lane: Courtney Force Runs 4.005/317.12, Now #3; Best prior run: 3.945/322.88, Was #2
Right Lane: Jack Beckman Runs 3.934/322.34, Now #1; Best prior run: 3.959/308.07, Was #4
Final pair of a long round. The track has stayed relatively cool, now showing 98 degrees.
Force's car was dancing around and left of the groove, but she kept it off the wall without lifting. Beckman made a pretty run, straight down the groove and into the #1 spot.
Courtney Force's incremental times: 60ft-0.898 sec., 330ft-2.296, 660ft-3.245/276.69 mph.
Jack Beckman's incremental times: 60ft-0.874 sec., 330ft-2.248, 660ft-3.180/277.77 mph.
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