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Sun, 16 Oct 2016, 12:57 PM

Funny Car Round 1 Eliminations

By Dave Rowe

ENNIS, Texas - Results of round 1 eliminations in Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 31st annual AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals:


 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    6 Robert Hight                          714 Brandon Welch                
E1   ****WINNER****  0.094  3.866 329.99                     0.093  5.451 133.33
 Qualified:             #1  3.839 332.02                       #16  5.040 158.39

11:27 a.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 79 degrees, relative humidity 73 percent, barometer 29.38 inches, adjusted altitude 2,665 feet, track temperature 93 degrees.
Robert Hight has 2 wins here and each time that he won he started from the #1 spot. This is his 49th #1 spot and that is 4th most in the Funny Car class..Brandon Welch is making his 3rd pro start.
Hight is 1 - 0 against Welch in prior events.
They leave the line together but Hight starts pulling away quickly. Welch drifts a little to the right, loses traction about 300 feet out and has to back off the throttle. Hight goes right down the groove with a good pass to take the win.

Robert Hight's incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(0.029), 330 ft(0.147), 660ft(0.668). MOV: 1.5843 seconds (more than 100 feet).


 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    2 Jack Beckman                          139 Dave Richards                
E1   ****WINNER****  0.086  3.908 325.92                     0.139  4.020 308.21
 Qualified:             #2  3.843 333.66                       #15  4.035 298.54

Jack Beckman starts the day 3rd in points. He has been runner-up at this event twice.
Richards is 1 - 0 against Beckman in prior events.
This is a re-match of round one at Indy this year where they were qualified in the same positions.
Beckman gets out of the gate first and starts to pull away. Richards makes his quickest pass of the weekend, runs a career best ET, but was falling behind all the way through the run.Beckman goes right down the groove with a good pass to take the win.

Jack Beckman's incremental margins: 60ft(0.108), 330 ft(0.115), 660ft(0.136). MOV: 0.1657 seconds (approximately 75 feet).


 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    3 Tommy Johnson Jr.                     496 John Hale                    
E1   ****WINNER****  0.078  3.932 312.57                     0.144  4.070 308.64
 Qualified:             #3  3.847 325.06                       #14  4.032 291.38

Tommy Johnson's win in Reading came 17 year after his only other win at that track and that's the second longest any FC driver has gone between wins at one track. (Cruz Pedregon went 21 years between wins in Houston).
Johnson Jr. is 4 - 0 against Hale in prior events.
Johnson gets a big holeshot on Hale and starts pulling away. Hale makes a clean pass, right down the groove, but he was falling behind at every marker.

Tommy Johnson Jr.'s incremental margins: 60ft(0.115), 330 ft(0.166), 660ft(0.194). MOV: 0.2046 seconds (approximately 93 feet).


 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    5 Matt Hagan                            303 John Bojec                   
E1   ****WINNER****  0.092  3.888 330.63                     0.102  4.023 288.95
 Qualified:             #4  3.851 328.22                       #13  3.988 315.49

Hagan is 3 - 1 against Bojec in prior events.

Hagan gets a small advantage off the line. Bojec was keeping Hagan honest then starts drifting to the left. He veers toward the centerline about 600 feet out and has to back off the throttle. Hagan pulls away and takes the win with his fifth 3.8 pass of the weekend.


 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  746 Courtney Force                         71 Cruz Pedregon                
E1   ****WINNER****  0.080  3.894 324.20                     0.106  3.959 322.81
 Qualified:             #5  3.854 321.65                       #12  3.952 284.99

Courtney Force won here in 2014.
Cruz Pedregon has 4 wins here and that is the most for him at any event on tour.
Pedregon is 6 - 4 against Force in prior events.
Force gets out of the gate with the advantage. Pedregon makes a clean pass but was losing ground all the way through the run. Force goes right down the groove with a decent pass to take the win.

Hagan will have lane choice over Force in the next round.


 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    1 Del Worsham                          3111 Chad Head                    
E1   ****WINNER****  0.082  3.909 328.14                     0.123  3.924 323.74
 Qualified:             #6  3.857 326.95                       #11  3.923 328.06

Del Worsham won this race three times and he is the defending champ. In 29 years only one FC driver has won this race in consecutive years (John Force).
Worsham is 10 - 4 against Head in prior events.
Head is last out of the gate and falls behind early. he makes up a little ground, then starts drifting toward the centerline. Worsham starts drifting to the left, crosses the centerline, then gets very close to the wall in the shutdown area.

Worsham will have lane choice over Johnson in the next round.


 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   28 Ron Capps                              10 Tim Wilkerson                
E1   ****WINNER****  0.085  3.859 325.92                     0.089  5.278 147.04
 Qualified:             #7  3.864 322.96                       #10  3.919 322.19

Tim Wilkerson was the 2008 winner here..Ron Capps was runner-up here in 2011 but the Motorplex remains one of the few tracks where he has not won. He starts the day with the points lead.
Capps is 33 - 19 against Wilkerson in prior events.
A coin flip off the line, not much advantage for either driver. Capps is able to start pulling away, then Wilkerson gets about 200 feet out, strikes the tires and has to back off the throttle. Capps goes right down the groove and pulls away for the win.
Ron Capps' incremental margins: 60ft(0.013), 330 ft(0.209), 660ft(0.659). MOV: 1.4231 seconds (more than 100 feet).

Capps will have lane choice over Beckman in the next round.


 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    7 John Force                            771 Alexis DeJoria               
E1                  -0.131 11.543  85.04     ****WINNER**** -0.017  3.922 324.36
 Qualified:             #8  3.867 330.39                        #9  3.911 319.37

John Force has 6 wins at this event and that is the most in the Funny Car class.Alexis DeJoria is 9 - 16 against Force and those 16 losses are the most for here against any opponent.
Force is 24-5 in round one at this event.
Force hits the throttle, hits the throttle and goes red. This is the third time this year he has redlit and the 27th time in his career in 1797 rounds of eliminations.
DeJoria went right down the groove with a decent pass to take the win.

Hight will have lane choice over DeJoria in the next round.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink