Sat, 13 Nov 1999, 09:30 PM POMONA - Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Final Session

By Larry Sullivan

POMONA, Calif. - Notes from final, round 4 qualifying in Funny Car at the 35th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals 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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Right Lane: Peter Russo Runs 11.696/77.00, Now #25; Best prior run: 6.318/159.61, Was #25

5:36 PM The final qualifying session for the fuel floppers opens in darkness with Wyatt Radke on the bubble at 5.318. The good news is that between the header flames and the TV cameras, we should be able to see everything that happens.

Russo's car bit with the right rear tire and slipped the left rear on the launch. The result was an abrupt left turn, barely clearing the 60-foot marker before Russo could rein it in.

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Left Lane: Johnny Gray Runs 14.768/76.91, Now #24; Best prior run: 5.620/277.03, Was #24
Right Lane: Scotty Cannon Runs 5.188/294.56, Now #11; Best prior run: 5.470/203.22, Was #21

Gray lost traction almost immediately. Cannon showed his driving skills by pedaling the car through tire shake about 100 feet off the starting line, the tires biting hard enough to post a qualifying elapsed time. That bumps Radke and puts Al Hofmann on the bubble at 5.251.

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Left Lane: Jack Wyatt Runs 6.217/169.27, Now #23; Best prior run: 5.550/279.67, Was #23
Right Lane: Mitch McDowell Runs 7.231/118.57, Now #21; Best prior run: 5.452/276.80, Was #21

Both drivers in this pair pedaled several times, to no avail.

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Left Lane: Larry Huff Runs 12.975/75.21, Now #22; Best prior run: 5.544/260.97, Was #22
Right Lane: Glenn Mikres Runs 10.842/91.54, Now #19; Best prior run: 5.378/248.80, Was #19

Looks like the not-qualified cars are really loading it up in an attempt to get in. Unfortunately, the result is often a loss of traction, as was the case with these two.

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Left Lane: Gary Densham Runs 14.509/80.12, Now #20; Best prior run: 5.417/222.58, Was #20
Right Lane: Wyatt Radke Runs 18.058/62.88, Now #17; Best prior run: 5.318/282.01, Was #17

Same story here, instant, violent tire smoke in both lanes.

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Left Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 5.510/261.27, Now #18; Best prior run: 5.353/229.74, Was #18
Right Lane: Al Hofmann Runs 10.164/80.75, Now #16; Best prior run: 5.251/288.27, Was #16

Hofmann lost traction almost immediately. Cruz's car headed for the centerline from the beginning and he had to pedal it a couple times to get back near the groove. That cost him a bunch of ET and speed, enough so that he can now start working on the 2000 season.

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Left Lane: Cory Lee Runs 14.549/72.12, Now #15; Best prior run: 5.248/295.72, Was #15
Right Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 10.481/77.08, Now #14; Best prior run: 5.237/262.33, Was #14

The not-qualified cars have already run, so Hofmann is safe - but will race the number one qualifier tomorrow.

Lee lost traction almost immediately, Wilkerson after 100 feet or so.

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Left Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 12.441/94.73, Now #13; Best prior run: 5.227/293.79, Was #13
Right Lane: Dean Skuza Runs 16.820/48.81, Now #7; Best prior run: 5.034/292.65, Was #7

Instant tire smoke again, both lanes.

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Left Lane: Del Worsham Runs 5.916/176.37, Now #12; Best prior run: 5.220/252.14, Was #12
Right Lane: Whit Bazemore Runs 18.234/62.27, Now #6; Best prior run: 5.032/304.25, Was #6

More of the same.

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Right Lane: Jim Epler Runs 4.908/312.93, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.990/308.07, Was #4

Epler's car went right down the groove with no wiggles and no waggles and no tire smoke.

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Left Lane: Jerry Toliver No Time, Now #5; Best prior run: 5.000/303.64, Was #5
Right Lane: John Force Runs 5.005/247.11, Now #3; Best prior run: 4.923/300.46, Was #3

Rob Flynn, Toliver's crew chief, will be working with Alan Johnson next year, so this is his swan song with the WWF team. Toliver's car launched with the front tires in the air and the rear tires smoking, then damaged the front end when it came back down and he coasted to a stop before the finish line. Force had problems somewhere in his run but we couldn't see him through the smoke and there was no video replay.

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Left Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 14.960/85.98, Now #4; Best prior run: 4.955/295.72, Was #4
Right Lane: Ron Capps Runs 17.975/69.86, Now #1; Best prior run: 4.853/307.72, Was #1

This pair should close out qualifying for the year. They do, instant tire smoke in both lanes.