Sat, 29 Oct 2016, 18:00 PM Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #3

By Dave Rowe

LAS VEGAS - Notes from round 3 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 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: Bob Bode Runs 4.590/251.63, Now #14; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Jeff Arend Runs 4.045/302.55, Now #13; No Prior Run

1:19 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 83 degrees, relative humidity 39 percent, barometer 27.85 inches, adjusted altitude 4,629 feet, track temperature 99 degrees.

Arend goes right down the groove with his quickest pass of the weekend and he gets in the 13th spot for now. Bode has a cylinder out at the hit. he gets about 300 feet out and starts putting fluid on the track so we will be down for a few minutes.

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Left Lane: Dave Richards Runs 4.121/305.91, Now #14; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Cruz Pedregon No Time, Now #10; Best prior run: 3.952/318.99, Was #10

Pedregon had problems and did not make a pass. Richards went right down the groove with his quickest pass of the weekend and he gets in the 14th spot for now.

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Left Lane: Jon Capps Runs 5.623/124.46, Now #17; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Brandon Welch Runs 4.204/292.58, Now #15; No Prior Run

Welch goes right down the groove with a career best run and he gets in the field in the 15th spot for now. Capps had problems about 400 feet out and was off the throttle early.

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Left Lane: John Hale Runs 20.880/160.90, Now #19; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Jack Beckman Runs 3.943/312.21, Now #10; No Prior Run

Hale goes up in smoke at the hit, then backfires and knocks out the burst panel before he got 100 feet out. Beckman makes a decent pass but was moving around a lot on the top end.

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Left Lane: Phil Burkart Runs 29.374/55.26, Now #21; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Courtney Force Runs 3.905/325.69, Now #7; No Prior Run

Force goes right down the groove with her quickest pass of the weekend and gets in the field in the seventh spot. Not sure what happened with Burkart, the tree comes down and the car doesn't move. he sits on the line for about ten seconds, then idles down the track.

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Left Lane: Gary Densham Runs 5.024/152.14, Now #19; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Anthony Begley Runs 5.183/149.33, Now #20; No Prior Run

Begley makes his quickest pass of the weekend but doesn't get in the field. Densham made a good save on this one. He starts hazing the tires and the car makes a hard move toward the wall. He steers it back to the right, the car gets up on two wheels and the rear of the car just misses the wall. he is finally able to get it under control and go on through the lights.

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Left Lane: Chad Head Runs 9.916/63.98, Now #10; Best prior run: 3.923/326.24, Was #10
Right Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 3.917/319.90, Now #9; Best prior run: 3.922/321.88, Was #9

Head hits the throttle, gets about 200 feet out and goes up in smoke. Johnson goes right down the groove with his quickest pass of the weekend but he stays in the ninth spot.

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Left Lane: Del Worsham Runs 13.980/61.65, Now #6; Best prior run: 3.895/325.69, Was #6
Right Lane: Jim Campbell Runs 5.427/154.62, Now #21; No Prior Run

Campbell had holes out at the hit and raw fuel was coming out of the headers. Raw fuel started coming out between the body and the blower late in the run, then a flash of flames a little later. Worsham goes up in smoke at the hit and had to back off the throttle.

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Left Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 3.922/322.19, Now #5; Best prior run: 3.888/324.36, Was #5
Right Lane: John Bojec Runs 7.973/82.36, Now #14; Best prior run: 3.990/316.23, Was #14

Bojec lost traction about 100 feet out and had to back off the throttle. Wilkerson goes right down the groove with a good run for the conditions but doesn't improve.

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Left Lane: Ron Capps Runs 3.910/321.73, Now #3; Best prior run: 3.881/326.71, Was #3
Right Lane: Paul Lee Runs 3.994/322.04, Now #13; Best prior run: 3.986/312.13, Was #13

Capps makes a good pass for the conditions but doesn't improve. Lee makes a good pass, a career best speed, but he doesn't improve.

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Left Lane: John Force Runs 3.976/319.22, Now #2; Best prior run: 3.876/331.94, Was #2
Right Lane: Alexis DeJoria Runs 3.915/325.92, Now #8; Best prior run: 3.909/326.32, Was #8

DeJoria makes a clean, straight pass but doesn't improve. After she crosses the finish line the car starts drifting to the left. She continues drifting left, makes contact with the wall, then bounces back toward the right. Not sure what happened but a lot of smoke looked to be coming from the left front tire during all this.

Force made a clean pass but did not improve.

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Left Lane: Matt Hagan Runs 4.549/180.84, Now #1; Best prior run: 3.872/329.18, Was #1
Right Lane: Robert Hight Runs 3.977/274.44, Now #4; Best prior run: 3.885/312.28, Was #4

Hagan hits the throttle, gets about 300 feet out and goes up in smoke. Hight was on a decent pass but was off the throttle early.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink