Fri, 22 Feb 2019, 17:38 PM Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By David Gerard

CHANDLER, Ariz. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 35th annual Magic Dry Organic Absorbent NHRA Arizona Nationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Right Lane: Blake Alexander No Time, Now #1

3:00 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 55 degrees, relative humidity 44 percent, barometer 28.63 inches, adjusted altitude 2,415 feet, track temperature 83 degrees.

Daniel Wilkerson has come on to independent racer Blake Alexander's new team as crew chief. This will be their first race of the year. The last time Alexander was in a funny car was in 2016 at Englishtown.

Well, the initial burnout didn't go well, as the engine goes silent almost immediately after he nailed the throttle.

The car didn't even make it to the starting line and the crew pushed the Pronto Auto Service Center Mustang away.

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Left Lane: Phil Burkart Runs 16.055/72.63, Now #2
Right Lane: Jeff Diehl Runs 8.646/77.08, Now #1

Two broken runs.

Burkart's car jumps up at the green and then just idles on down the track. Broken throttle cable?

Diehl gets just a few feet further and shakes the tires loose.

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Left Lane: Jim Campbell No Time, Now #4
Right Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 10.476/107.95, Now #2

Two more broken runs.

They both are up in smoke immediately at the green.

Campbell's pass gets expensive, as the engine backfirers right after that and he stops the Charger on the track, after the parachute drops out on the ground.

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Left Lane: J.R. Todd Runs 17.429/64.43, Now #5
Right Lane: Matt Hagan Runs 3.942/321.50, Now #1

We finally get a full pass and it's a great one, as Hagan keeps the tires struck from start to finish to lay down a mark for the rest of the field to shoot for.

Todd has the tires loose before 60 feet and slows.

Matt Hagan's incremental times: 60ft-0.879 sec., 330ft-2.264, 660ft-3.194/278.52 mph.

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Left Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 16.328/55.04, Now #6
Right Lane: Bob Tasca III Runs 8.205/80.36, Now #2

Two more cars are done early.

Pedregon's Charger has the slicks smoking at the green and he has to lift.

Tasca looked to be on a strong pass, but the tires shake loose before the 330 lights. That's still good enough for the current #2 spot.

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Left Lane: Ron Capps Runs 16.256/65.28, Now #7
Right Lane: Shawn Langdon Runs 9.571/76.33, Now #4

Capps' Charger has a new look this weekend with the front third of the Charger in NAPA colors and the back two thirds in Pennzoil Synthetic Yellow.

In almost a repeat of the last pair, Capps is smoking the tires hard at the start and Langdon before the 330 lights.

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Left Lane: John Force Runs 5.447/140.33, Now #2
Right Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 5.880/114.73, Now #3

They both get off the line well and looked to on their way to the finish line under power.

Force's Peak Camaro started to shake early and he did a quick pedal slap and got a ways further before giving it up. That will put him in the current #2 spot.

Johnson's's Charger shakes the tires loose around the 330 lights and he is done too for #3.

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Left Lane: Jack Beckman Runs 6.594/107.30, Now #4
Right Lane: Robert Hight Runs 11.093/75.62, Now #9

Hight got a big lead at the green, but drives right into shake and spin right after that.

Beckman got a ways further and had his tires get loose too. He is on and off the pedal, but the Charger won't recover and he coasts on down for the current #4 spot.

3:30 p.m. Matt Hagan is number one at 3.942 nd there is no bump spot yet.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink