Sat, 09 Feb 2019, 20:02 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, 59th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals presented by ProtectTheHarvest.com 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: Terry Haddock Runs 6.926/89.59, Now #16; No Prior Run
Right Lane: Jeff Diehl Runs 9.524/67.28, Now #17; Best prior run: 7.831/84.45, Was #16

4:26 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 60 degrees, relative humidity 49 percent, barometer 28.85 inches, adjusted altitude 1,794 feet, track temperature 83 degrees.

Robert Height is number one at 3.871 and Jeff Diehl is on the bump spot at 7.831.

This is Haddock's first attempt of the weekend and it is not his best effort! He gets a good start, but kicks the tires early. He tries to pump the pedal, but gets the Mustang way sideways and has to lift. Luckily for him, Diehl was also shaking and spinning it the other lane and clicked it even earlier. That puts Haddock in on the current bump spot.

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Left Lane: Phil Burkart Runs 6.934/99.41, Now #15; Best prior run: 5.200/149.23, Was #15
Right Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 4.683/170.26, Now #14; Best prior run: 4.120/251.95, Was #14

Burkhart is loose early and Wilkerson joins him shortly after that. Lots of head scratching on the starting line!

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Left Lane: John Force Runs 8.468/84.45, Now #13; Best prior run: 4.101/330.23, Was #13
Right Lane: Gary Densham Runs 11.137/81.04, Now #12; Best prior run: 4.072/310.48, Was #12

Densham shakes the tires loose right off the line and Force joined him about 100 feet out!

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Left Lane: Jack Beckman Runs 3.900/330.23, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.044/253.37, Was #11
Right Lane: J.R. Todd Runs 8.338/79.61, Now #9; Best prior run: 3.940/319.98, Was #8

Beckman saves his best for last and powers off the line and right on down the track to move nine spots up the ladder and into the number two position on a great looking pass. The sun is behind the grandstand now and the header flames are really bright. He runs the fastest speed so far too.

Todd joined a lot of the other big hitters, with early shake and spin. He tries a quick pedal slap, but the backend steps out and he has to give it up.

Jack Beckman's incremental times: 60ft-0.859 sec., 330ft-2.239, 660ft-3.160/282.07 mph.

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Left Lane: Jim Campbell Runs 9.610/60.05, Now #11; Best prior run: 4.024/315.78, Was #11
Right Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 8.109/84.80, Now #7; Best prior run: 3.930/328.14, Was #7

Dueling shake and smoke right at the hit!

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Left Lane: Bob Tasca III Runs 8.245/86.16, Now #8; Best prior run: 3.939/318.92, Was #8
Right Lane: Shawn Langdon Runs 4.300/213.94, Now #6; Best prior run: 3.927/325.77, Was #6

Tasca is still in the top half of the field and looking to move up. Nope! The Mustang starts to make a good move and then joins the "Early Shake and Spin" group too.

Langdon get about 100 feet out and shakes the tires loose.

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Left Lane: Ron Capps Runs 8.497/82.85, Now #5; Best prior run: 3.915/304.87, Was #5
Right Lane: Matt Hagan Runs 7.679/86.58, Now #4; Best prior run: 3.909/326.79, Was #4

Once again, we get: two hit the throttle and then two spin the tires!

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Left Lane: Robert Hight Runs 8.028/84.52, Now #1; Best prior run: 3.871/329.67, Was #1
Right Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 8.695/80.93, Now #3; Best prior run: 3.904/327.03, Was #3

Both cars are way too strong for the track and are up in smoke off the line.

Hight stays number one for the weekend. This is his sixty-first number one qualifier position so far.

4:54 p.m. Terry Haddock is on the bump spot at 6.926.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink