Sun, Oct 18, 02:52 AM TOPEKA - Funny Car Round 2 Eliminations

By Bob Orme The cool track is tricky for some

TOPEKA, Kan. - Results of round 2 eliminations in Funny Car at the 10th annual Parts America Nationals:

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   4 Tony Pedregon       4.992 314.46  Q  12 Al Hofmann          5.446 197.88
   (D Skuza     ) 0.481  5.640 216.45 E1   (T Wilkerson ) 0.531  7.266 219.13
                  0.463  5.133 249.44 E2 *****WINNER***** 0.475  5.113 292.77

9:16 PM Pedregon and Hofmann pull up to the line. Tony will be wanting to extract a little revenge on behalf of his boss, John Force, whom Hofmann eliminated in Memphis last weekend, and is unable to do so. Both cars are on smooth, straight passes but Hofmann is able to drive around Pedregon when Pedregon's engine goes up in a flash at the top end of the track. A little more down time for track clean-up.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   1 Cruz Pedregon       4.941 293.82  Q   8 John Force          5.193 297.81
   (F Pedregon  ) 0.551  4.929 310.98 E1   (G Densham   ) 0.462  5.006 292.96
 *****WINNER***** 0.493  7.241 247.18 E2                  0.458  8.030 103.10

After a ten minute clean-up, we're back. Pedregon has severe tire shake at 60' and starts pedaling, continuing to do so all the way down. Force gets way out of shape and crosses the centerline somewhere past the 330' cone (it was impossible to tell where from here, with Pedregon's tire-smoking pedaling obstructing the view).

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   2 Chuck Etchells      4.951 306.74  Q   7 Jim Epler           5.170 309.49
   (J Wyatt     ) 0.557  4.970 309.81 E1   (D Worsham   ) 0.481  5.301 295.66
 *****WINNER***** 0.379 12.126  83.24 E2                  0.088 11.327  71.75

Epler left way early, probably triggering Etchell's jumping the gun a little too. Etchells tried to pedal his way out of smoking tires to improve his chances for lane choice, but is unsuccessful.

 Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-Rd-Qua-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed
   3 Ron Capps           4.986 303.84  Q   6 Whit Bazemore       5.117 303.84
   (V Fanning   ) 0.562  5.303 297.22 E1   (R Anderson  ) 0.479  8.440 256.11
 *****WINNER***** 0.549  5.099 294.31 E2                  0.493  5.180 303.33

Both cars launch hard and stay in the groove all the way down the track, with Capps having the power to drive around Bazemore's quicker reaction time.

In Round 3, Capps will have lane choice over Etchells and Hofmann will get the pick over Cruz Pedregon.