Sun, 03 Nov 2024, 17:15 PM Funny Car Round 2 Eliminations

By Dave Rowe

LAS VEGAS - Results of round 2 eliminations in Funny Car at the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, 24th annual Ford Performance NHRA Nationals:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  256 Blake Alexander                         3 Bob Tasca III                
E2   ****WINNER****  0.133  3.880 326.87                     0.058  4.125 275.17
 Prior rounds:
E1    (D Richards  ) 0.079  3.876 323.97      (J Rupert    ) 0.101  3.887 329.67
 Qualified:             #4  3.848 328.94                        #5  3.857 325.37

1:54 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 64 degrees, relative humidity 25 percent, barometer 29.78 inches, adjusted altitude 3,041 feet, track temperature 93 degrees.

Tasca III is 16 - 6 against Alexander in prior events.

Tasca gets out of the gate first but started losing cylinders early in the run. He gets about 700 feet out and a small fire comes from the bottom of the engine and the car noses over. Alexander goes around Tasca about 300 feet out and pulls away for the win.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
   71 Cruz Pedregon                         374 Austin Prock                 
E2                   0.100 No Time           ****WINNER****  0.068  3.859 323.43
 Prior rounds:
E1    (J Todd      ) 0.075  3.924 315.12      (T Gibbons   ) 0.037  3.866 332.84
 Qualified:             #9  3.904 321.04                        #1  3.817 327.98

Prock is 3 - 0 against Pedregon in prior events.

Prock gets out of the gate first and starts pulling away. Pedregon puts out a cylinder early and starts drifting to the right. he keeps moving right, takes out the timing block at the end of the track, then gets just behind prock in the shutdown area.

Prock will have lane choice over Alexander in the next round.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    4 Ron Capps                               7 Jack Beckman                 
E2                   0.061  3.878 330.88     ****WINNER****  0.069  3.853 329.67
 Prior rounds:
E1    (A DeJoria   ) 0.077  3.917 318.77      (J Diehl     ) 0.075  3.831 328.54
 Qualified:             #7  3.860 330.96                        #2  3.821 330.47

Capps is 40 - 24 against Beckman in prior events.

Capps gets the advantage off of the line but Beckman reels him in quickly and pulls away for the win with the quickest pass of the round so far. With this round win Beckman stays in the battle for the championship and guarantees it will not be decided until the last race.

Jack Beckman's incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(0.012), 330 ft(0.016), 660ft(0.017). MOV: 0.0172 seconds (approximately 8 feet).

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  348 Daniel Wilkerson                      116 Paul Lee                     
E2                   0.094  3.896 328.62     ****WINNER****  0.071  3.897 328.46
 Prior rounds:
E1    (M Hagan     ) 0.059  3.880 329.34      (S Densham   ) 0.057  3.890 324.59
 Qualified:            #11  3.924 326.40                        #3  3.845 327.35

Wilkerson is 2 - 0 against Lee in prior events.

Lee gets the holeshot and extends his lead all the way through the run. Wilkerson had a cylinder out, the car pushed over toward the centerline, but he was able to avoid the timing block at the end of the track.

Beckman will have lane choice over Lee in the next round.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink

The 24th annual Ford Performance NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway On-site Race Results sponsored by The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

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