Fri, 28 Oct 2016, 16:37 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, 16th annual NHRA Toyota Nationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Left Lane: Paul Lee Runs 4.580/185.72, Now #1
Right Lane: Phil Burkart Runs 7.221/73.37, Now #2

Burkart hits the throttle and the chutes come out, not sure why. He gets about 400 feet out and clicks off the throttle. Lee gets about 400 feet out and is off the throttle.

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Left Lane: Jeff Arend Runs 4.978/155.15, Now #2
Right Lane: Gary Densham No Time, Now #4

Densham does his burnout, backs up, then clicks it off. The word from the starting line is that he was having oil pressure problems.

Arend was on a decent pass then the engine went silent about 400 feet out.

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Left Lane: Brandon Welch Runs 7.190/86.23, Now #3
Right Lane: Bob Bode No Time, Now #5

Bode blows the tires off as soon as he hits the throttle. The engine over-revs and he bangs the blower.

Welch gets about 300 feet out, starts losing traction and moving to the right, then he backs off the throttle.

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Left Lane: John Bojec Runs 4.205/231.40, Now #1
Right Lane: Dave Richards Runs 4.235/279.50, Now #2

Bojec drifted to the right, then back to the left, then backs off the throttle about 700 feet out. Richards goes right down the groove with a decent pass and gets in the second spot for now.

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Left Lane: Jim Campbell Runs 4.055/293.28, Now #1
Right Lane: John Hale Runs 4.056/311.77, Now #2

Campbell goes right down the groove with a clean pass but was off the throttle just a little early. Hale makes a clean run and gets in the second spot for now.

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Left Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 3.952/318.99, Now #2
Right Lane: Chad Head Runs 3.923/326.24, Now #1

Pedregon had a little problem getting staged. the front of his car was too low and was lighting the staging beams. He hits the throttle, goes right down the groove and gets in the second spot for now. Head goes right down the groove with a good pass to take the pole for now.

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Left Lane: Alexis DeJoria Runs 4.614/177.79, Now #9
Right Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 4.009/305.56, Now #3

Wilkerson makes a decent pass and gets in the third spot for now. DeJoria was on a decent pass but got out of shape about 700 feet out and had to back off the throttle.

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Left Lane: Courtney Force Runs 6.735/97.47, Now #12
Right Lane: John Force Runs 6.540/100.00, Now #11

Courtney and John hit the throttle, get about 300 feet out, and both strike the tires and back off the throttle.

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Left Lane: Robert Hight Runs 3.913/323.81, Now #1
Right Lane: Del Worsham Runs 4.028/249.16, Now #5

Hight goes right down the groove with an impressive pass, sets the track ET record, and takes the top spot for now. Worsham was quicker to the 330 foot mark but had problems and was off the throttle early.

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Left Lane: Jack Beckman Runs 12.639/70.94, Now #18
Right Lane: Matt Hagan Runs 3.882/326.95, Now #1

Hagan goes right down the groove and sets both ends of the track record. Beckman hits the throttle and goes up in smoke.

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Left Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 3.922/321.88, Now #4
Right Lane: Ron Capps Runs 3.897/315.05, Now #2

Capps goes right down the groove with a good pass and gets in the second spot just behind Hagan. Johnson makes a decent pass to get in the fourth spot. His chutes come out but never blossom. he gets on the brakes but ends up in the sand trap at the end of the track.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink