Sat, 11 Nov 2017, 19:47 PM Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Final Session

By David Gerard

POMONA, Calif. - Notes from final, round 4 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 53rd annual Auto Club NHRA Finals 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: Cruz Pedregon Runs 4.321/281.95, Now #17; Best prior run: 4.380/207.72, Was #16
Right Lane: Jim Campbell Runs 4.020/315.42, Now #12; Best prior run: 4.786/172.67, Was #18

4:10 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 74 degrees, relative humidity 45 percent, barometer 28.84 inches, adjusted altitude 2,802 feet, track temperature 95 degrees.

Jack Beckman is number one at 3.835 and Cruz Pedregon is on the bump spot at 4.380.

Pedregon gets away first and is pulling hard , when the tires start to shake. He does a quick pump and gets right back after it. He makes his quickest and fastest pass of the weekend.

Campbell finds a bunch of tune up and power on by to move six spots up the ladder to the #12 position.

That bumps Pedregon back out.

Cruz Pedregon's incremental times: 60ft-0.879 sec., 330ft-2.355, 660ft-3.445/237.59 mph.
Jim Campbell's incremental times: 60ft-0.886 sec., 330ft-2.300, 660ft-3.253/271.84 mph.

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Left Lane: Jonnie Lindberg Runs 4.393/295.34, Now #17; Best prior run: 4.305/279.67, Was #16
Right Lane: Robert Hight Runs 4.132/236.80, Now #15; Best prior run: 4.399/270.10, Was #18

Jonnie Lindberg is on the bump spot at 4.305.

It's down to these two and it gets crazy quick.

They leave almost together and Hight is strong down low. He gets down track to about the 330 and the tires come loose and then the engine backfires. Scary times commence!

Unfortunately, Lindberg's chance was up right away, as his tires spun first. He pumped hard and started chasing, but just could not get it done.

Hight gets way lucky and "ducks the bullet", qualifying #15 ugly in his last opportunity! LUCK IS GOOD!

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Left Lane: Del Worsham Runs 4.102/246.75, Now #11; Best prior run: 3.978/322.65, Was #11
Right Lane: Bob Bode Runs 4.936/164.35, Now #13; Best prior run: 4.037/317.05, Was #13

Jeff Arend is on the bump spot at 4.140.

Bode's Charger hikes the front end at the green and the car starts to move hard towards the center line. He has to lift.

Worsham got to near the 660 lights and the engine went silent. He hits the chutes, but they just wrap up in a ball. He gets on the brakes hard and manages to slow enough to just put the front half of the car into the sand. No big issues.

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Right Lane: J.R. Todd Runs 4.263/218.51, Now #9; Best prior run: 3.946/325.53, Was #9

Todd has a strong leave, but has the tires come loose just before the 330 lights. He will stay #9.

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Left Lane: John Force Runs 5.667/126.74, Now #8; Best prior run: 3.935/327.51, Was #8
Right Lane: Matt Hagan Runs 3.898/333.08, Now #6; Best prior run: 3.933/328.62, Was #7

The sun is down behind the grandstands now and we can start to see the fueler's header flames.

Big pass for Hagan in these conditions, with a nice improvement in ET and a big speed. Good enough for a one position move up the tight ladder.

Force was right with him at the green and had a better sixty foot time. The tires come loose right at the 330 lights and he has to lift to stay #6.

Matt Hagan's incremental times: 60ft-0.886 sec., 330ft-2.264, 660ft-3.168/286.19 mph.

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Left Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 3.863/331.69, Now #2; Best prior run: 3.913/327.74, Was #7
Right Lane: Alexis DeJoria Runs 3.897/328.86, Now #5; Best prior run: 3.894/331.94, Was #4

A nice side by side pair of passes and Wilkerson gets all of it with a great five position move up the ladder to the #2 position!

DeJoria ran strong too, close to her prior best to get bumped back a spot to #5.

Tim Wilkerson's incremental times: 60ft-0.868 sec., 330ft-2.237, 660ft-3.133/287.66 mph.
Alexis DeJoria's incremental times: 60ft-0.885 sec., 330ft-2.247, 660ft-3.158/282.90 mph.

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Left Lane: Ron Capps Runs 3.917/323.66, Now #6; Best prior run: 3.897/328.22, Was #6
Right Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 3.916/324.67, Now #4; Best prior run: 3.887/314.31, Was #4

Capps has gained four points to narrow Hight's lead to eleven points. If he can improve to number two, he will face Hight in round one.

Two clean passes, but neither car will improve. Identical RT's and just 0.001 difference in their ET's!! Now, that's close!

Ron Capps' incremental times: 60ft-0.868 sec., 330ft-2.241, 660ft-3.167/278.63 mph.
Tommy Johnson Jr.'s incremental times: 60ft-0.883 sec., 330ft-2.266, 660ft-3.177/283.13 mph.

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Left Lane: Jack Beckman Runs 3.859/332.34, Now #1; Best prior run: 3.835/334.98, Was #1
Right Lane: Courtney Force Runs 5.103/145.89, Now #3; Best prior run: 3.871/334.57, Was #3

Force may have to run Hight in round one tomorrow, if she can't improve to the #1 spot!

Nope, not going to happen! The Camaro leaves hard and then kicks the tires before the 330 lights.

Beckman shows why he was #1 yesterday and makes the best run of the session. It is just a tad off his weekend best. Great pass to wrap up qualifying!

Jack Beckman's incremental times: 60ft-0.870 sec., 330ft-2.224, 660ft-3.127/286.01 mph.

4:39 p.m. Jeff Arend is on the bump spot at 4.140.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink