Sat, 14 May 2016, 18:03 PM Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Final Session

By Dave Rowe

COMMERCE, Ga. - Notes from final, round 4 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 36th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals 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: Chad Head Runs 5.985/113.16, Now #14; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Dave Richards No Time, Now #12; Best prior run: 4.192/288.27, Was #12

5:38 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 82 degrees, relative humidity 40 percent, barometer 29.09 inches, adjusted altitude 3,090 feet, track temperature 118 degrees.

Richards does his burnout, can't get the car in reverse, then has to continue down the track.

Head gets about 300 feet out, strikes the tires and gives up on the run.

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Left Lane: John Hale Runs 4.093/290.26, Now #12; Best prior run: 10.624/66.96, Was #15
Right Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 4.052/310.27, Now #11; Best prior run: 4.042/306.95, Was #11

Hale makes his quickest pass of the weekend and moves up to the 12th spot in the order. Pedregon makes a decent pass but doesn't improve.

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Left Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 3.973/317.94, Now #5; Best prior run: 4.033/313.66, Was #10
Right Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 4.450/199.61, Now #7; Best prior run: 4.001/320.66, Was #6

Johnson makes an impressive pass for the conditions, his quickest of the weekend, and he moves up to the fifth spot. Wilkerson had problems early in the run and had to back off the throttle. He drops a spot in the order as Johnson goes around him.

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Left Lane: Del Worsham Runs 4.194/223.88, Now #10; Best prior run: 4.019/316.82, Was #10
Right Lane: Robert Hight Runs 4.029/313.66, Now #6; Best prior run: 3.980/323.58, Was #6

Worsham was on a decent pass but had problems late in the run and was out of power when he went through the lights. Hight makes a decent pass but doesn't improve.

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Left Lane: John Force Runs 4.010/321.96, Now #9; Best prior run: 4.019/321.73, Was #9
Right Lane: Alexis DeJoria Runs 4.003/316.15, Now #4; Best prior run: 3.949/318.69, Was #4

A good side-by-side, both right down the groove. Force makes his quickest pass of the weekend but stays in the ninth spot. DeJoria does not improve and stays in the fourth spot.

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Left Lane: Ron Capps Runs 4.030/318.99, Now #8; Best prior run: 4.003/317.64, Was #8
Right Lane: Matt Hagan Runs 3.990/321.50, Now #2; Best prior run: 3.943/326.08, Was #2

Another good side-by-side, both right down the groove, under power all the way through the run. Hagan doesn't improve and stays in the second spot, Capps will stay in the eighth spot.

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Left Lane: Courtney Force Runs 4.013/318.09, Now #3; Best prior run: 3.946/324.67, Was #3
Right Lane: Jack Beckman Runs 3.975/321.35, Now #1; Best prior run: 3.939/326.32, Was #1

Beckman makes another good pass, the second quickest of the round, but he doesn't improve. He will hang on to the number one spot for the fourth time this season and the 19th time in his career. Force makes her slowest pass of the weekend.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink