Fri, 31 May 2019, 19:56 PM Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Dave Rowe

JOLIET, Ill. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 22nd annual Route 66 NHRA Nationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Right Lane: Justin Schriefer Runs 4.056/305.01, Now #1

6:23 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 84 degrees, relative humidity 47 percent, barometer 29.13 inches, adjusted altitude 3,323 feet, track temperature 105 degrees.

This is Schriefer's first race this year.

Schriefer goes right down the groove with a clean, straight pass to start the session.

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Left Lane: Jeff Arend Runs 3.985/321.12, Now #1
Right Lane: Bob Bode Runs 4.159/297.94, Now #3

This is Arend's first race of the season and he is driving Head's car. This is Bode's second race this year.

Bode's car was mixing up cylinders all the way through the run but he still makes a decent pass. Arend goes right down the groove with a good pass to take the early pole.

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Left Lane: Dale Creasy Jr. Runs 4.167/301.81, Now #5
Right Lane: Paul Lee Runs 4.061/312.42, Now #3

This is both Creasy's and Lees's second race of the year.

A good side-by-side, both right down the groove with decent passes. Lee looked like he may have had a cylinder out early in the run but gets in the third spot for now. Creasy makes a clean pass and gets in the fifth spot for now.

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Left Lane: Blake Alexander Runs 4.139/292.39, Now #5
Right Lane: Jim Campbell Runs 4.055/314.75, Now #2

Alexander gets about 400 feet out and put out a cylinder or two out. Campbell makes a clean pass and gets in the second spot for now.

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Right Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 4.103/248.29, Now #5

Haddock was scheduled to be in this pair but was a no-show.

Pedregon was on a good pass but gets out of the groove. he makes a move to the left, then back to the right, then backs off the throttle about 800 feet out.

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Left Lane: Bob Tasca III Runs 3.973/316.15, Now #1
Right Lane: Shawn Langdon Runs 3.996/320.43, Now #3

A food side-by-side, both down the groove with three second passes. Tasca gets to the line first and takes the top spot for now, Langdon to the third spot.

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Left Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 3.983/318.09, Now #3
Right Lane: Jack Beckman Runs 3.940/325.92, Now #1

Another good side-by-side, Beckman goes down the groove with a good pass to take the top spot for now, Wilkerson moves into the third spot.

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Left Lane: Matt Hagan Runs 4.004/318.24, Now #7
Right Lane: John Force Runs 3.973/301.40, Now #3

Force was on a good pass for the first 800 feet or so. he puts out a cylinder on the right side, the car makes a move toward the wall and he has to back off the throttle a little early and just misses the wall just after the finish line. Hagan makes a clean pass and gets in the show in the seventh spot for now.

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Left Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 3.951/323.04, Now #3
Right Lane: Ron Capps Runs 3.893/326.00, Now #1

Capps leaves the line, drifts a little to the left near the end of the run, but makes an impressive pass and takes the top spot for now. Johnson makes a clean, straight pass and gets in the field in the third spot.

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Left Lane: J.R. Todd Runs 3.956/323.12, Now #4
Right Lane: Robert Hight Runs 4.032/258.67, Now #11

Todd makes a clean, straight pass and gets in the show in the fourth spot. hight was on a good run, out in front of Todd at the 660 foot mark, but the car started moving around and he had to back off the throttle early.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink