Fri, 13 Sep 2019, 19:52 PM Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #2

By Jim Samuel

MOHNTON, Pa. - Notes from round 2 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 35th annual Mopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals presented by Pennzoil 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: Shawn Langdon Runs 14.098/58.67, Now #16; Best prior run: 12.067/67.57, Was #16

7:15 p.m. - Weather conditions: air temperature 69 degrees, relative humidity 64 percent, barometer 29.80 inches, adjusted altitude 1,493 feet, track temperature 77 degrees.

Langdon launched, shook the tires hard and shut down.

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Left Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 8.263/86.09, Now #13; Best prior run: 8.917/77.88, Was #14
Right Lane: Terry Haddock Runs 4.094/303.37, Now #4; No Prior Run

Pedregon's care left the starting line and shook the rear tires hard. He shut it down right away. Haddock took his car down the track to move into the fourth spot in the order for now. This was Haddock's career best speed in a Funny Car.

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Left Lane: Jim Campbell Runs 4.427/223.69, Now #6; Best prior run: 8.230/85.05, Was #12
Right Lane: Matt Hagan Runs 3.940/329.75, Now #3; Best prior run: 10.049/75.90, Was #16

Campbell clicked his car off at about 800 feet. Hagan went all the way down the track and is in the number three spot for now.

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Left Lane: Bob Tasca III Runs 3.898/335.32, Now #2; Best prior run: 7.768/88.83, Was #12
Right Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 5.070/169.08, Now #10; Best prior run: 8.784/151.29, Was #16

Wilkerson launched and shook the rear tires. He pedaled the car, got back on the throttle and shook the rear tires again before he clicked it off at about 800 feet. Tasca had a solid run that put him in the number two spot for now, and gave him his career best speed.

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Left Lane: Mike Smith Runs 7.477/88.42, Now #12; Best prior run: 7.192/111.19, Was #12

Smith spun the rear tires out to about 120 feet before he clicked it off.

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Left Lane: Mike McIntire No Time, Now #9; Best prior run: 4.708/176.21, Was #9
Right Lane: John Force No Time, Now #14; Best prior run: 8.116/79.95, Was #14

McIntire's car launched and the front wheel pulled up high in the air. He got off the throttle and brought the front end down. In the other lane, Force's car made a move to the left and crossed the centerline. Force's car took out the 330-foot marker. This was Force's third centerline violation so he gets a 15 point penalty. McIntire did not get an ET because Force took out the 330-foot marker.

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Left Lane: Robert Hight Runs 7.079/90.21, Now #10; Best prior run: 4.436/285.65, Was #8
Right Lane: Jonnie Lindberg Runs 8.626/73.29, Now #14; Best prior run: 7.338/89.29, Was #13

Both cars launched and lost traction before 330 feet. Hight and Lindberg both shut their cars off after that.

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Left Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 3.905/326.95, Now #3; Best prior run: 3.964/315.42, Was #7
Right Lane: Jack Beckman Runs 8.313/79.06, Now #12; Best prior run: 5.761/133.10, Was #12

Beckman's car lost traction and moved around on the track before he clicked it off early. Johnson took his car straight down the groove and moved four spots in the qualifying order.

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Left Lane: Ron Capps Runs 3.837/339.28, Now #1; Best prior run: 3.849/329.75, Was #1
Right Lane: J.R. Todd Runs 7.960/80.21, Now #4; Best prior run: 3.916/314.17, Was #4

Capps had a great run that set the track record for speed and ET. It was also Capps' career best ET and speed, and is the fastest speed by a Funny Car this season. The speed record for Funny Car is 339.87 MPH, so Capps missed that by just 0.59 MPH. Todd got to about 120 feet out and shook the rear tires hard, so he clicked it off. At the end of the second session, Capps is at the top of the order and John Smith is on the bump spot with an ET of 8.69 seconds.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink