Fri, 8 Oct 2004, 06:27 PM Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #2

By Jim Samuel

MOHNTON, Pa. - Notes from round 2 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 20th annual Lucas Oil NHRA 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: Gary Scelzi Runs 4.864/317.34, Now #3; Best prior run: 8.473/94.48, Was #15
Right Lane: Tony Bartone Runs 5.977/154.46, Now #14; Best prior run: 11.405/71.30, Was #18

5:37 p.m. - Weather conditions: air temperature 77 degrees, relative humidity 53 percent, barometer 29.65 inches, adjusted altitude 1,777 feet, track temperature 90 degrees.

Bartone shook the tires in the first session. So did Scelzi. This time, Bartone got loose at mid track and shut it down. His ET was quick enough to make the field but that probably won't last long. Scelzi's car moved sideways a bit at 100 feet but he stayed with it to finish a good run and move up 12 spots in the qualifying order.

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Right Lane: Johnny Gray Runs 4.922/313.00, Now #7; Best prior run: 10.389/97.74, Was #18

Gray made a strong run right down the middle of his lane to move up 11 spots in the order and bump his way into the field. Eric Medlin is on the bubble now with a 6.249-second bump time.

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Left Lane: Eric Medlen Runs 4.821/318.24, Now #1; Best prior run: 6.249/147.26, Was #16
Right Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 4.886/303.57, Now #7; Best prior run: 8.954/114.92, Was #18

Medlin moved from being on the bubble to the top of the order with a great pass down the track. Pedregon had a strong run too and not only made the field, he got into the number seven spot for now.

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Left Lane: Phil Burkart Runs 4.920/307.93, Now #9; Best prior run: 5.134/225.30, Was #13
Right Lane: Jim Head Runs 4.926/304.87, Now #11; Best prior run: 5.271/213.54, Was #16

Head was on the bubble with Terry Haddock sitting outside and waiting for his chance to get into the field. So, he went out and moved himself up five spots in the order with a nice lap down the track. Burkart was just a bit quicker than Head and moved himself up four spots in the order. Tim Wilkerson's on the bubble now with a bump time of 5.193 seconds.

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Left Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 4.908/308.71, Now #10; Best prior run: 4.996/297.75, Was #14
Right Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 4.861/315.34, Now #3; Best prior run: 5.193/289.14, Was #16

Wilkerson wanted to get off the bubble and he got what he wanted with a good run that moved him up 13 places in the order. Johnson moved up four spots with his quickest pass of the weekend.

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Left Lane: Ron Capps Runs 4.796/318.47, Now #1; Best prior run: 4.957/292.71, Was #14
Right Lane: Jerry Toliver Runs 4.912/306.95, Now #12; Best prior run: 5.192/231.56, Was #16

Another pair of good runs that moved Capps from the 14th spot in the order to the top. We'll see if he can stay there. Toliver got himself off the bubble and moved up four spots in the order.

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Left Lane: Jeff Arend Runs 10.797/79.51, Now #8; Best prior run: 4.881/309.13, Was #8
Right Lane: Whit Bazemore Runs 4.910/312.42, Now #12; Best prior run: 4.970/281.95, Was #16

Bazemore just got pushed into the number 16 spot by the previous pari of drivers. Arend shook the tires hard and shut it down at 100 feet. Bazemore went down the middle of his lane to move up four spots in the order.

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Left Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 9.917/83.33, Now #8; Best prior run: 4.875/309.56, Was #7
Right Lane: Gary Densham Runs 4.800/319.07, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.903/291.07, Was #10

Pedregon's car shook the tires and bounced, so he shut it down. Densham had his best run of the day and moved into the number two spot in the order, for now. Densham was late getting his chutes out but managed to stop his car just before it went into the sand.

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Left Lane: John Force Runs 4.828/286.50, Now #5; Best prior run: 4.862/315.86, Was #6
Right Lane: Del Worsham Runs 4.800/318.99, Now #3; Best prior run: 4.853/312.42, Was #4

These two were side-by-side until the 1,000 foot mark, when Force's car started to trail smoke. But even with the smoke, Force's ET was enough to move him up one spot in the order and Worsham moved up one spot as well.

At the end of the second qualifying session, Ron Capps was in the number one position with an ET of 4.796 seconds and Jim Head was on the bubble with a bump time of 4.926 seconds.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink