Fri, 29 Sep 2000, 05:06 PM TOPEKA - Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Bob Orme

TOPEKA, Kan. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Funny Car at the 12th annual Advance Auto Parts Nationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Left Lane: Brent Fanning Runs 5.642/268.01, Now #1

3:00 PM Fanning has a bumpy ride on this solo pass, but he stays on the throttle all the way down the track.

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Left Lane: Norman Wilding Runs 12.338/71.28, Now #3
Right Lane: Vicky Fanning Runs 5.790/264.03, Now #2

Wilding was off the throttle by the 100' mark.

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Right Lane: Phil Burkart No Time, Now #4

Burkart broke after the burnout and had to be pushed out of the lane.

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Left Lane: John Lawson Runs 7.056/126.92, Now #3
Right Lane: Cory Lee Runs 12.054/70.29, Now #4

Lee was heading for the centerline almost immediately, while Lawson drifted toward it at mid-track.

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Left Lane: Dale Creasy Jr. Runs 5.233/276.35, Now #1
Right Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 5.331/266.21, Now #2

Johnson had a good pass going until he pitched a blower belt near the finish. Creasy was mixing up the cylinders on both sides of the engine going through the traps.

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Left Lane: Cristen Powell Runs 5.035/278.52, Now #1
Right Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 12.166/72.90, Now #8

Wilkerson lifted the front on the launch, brought it down hard, then lost traction. Powell was skating around a little on the top end of the track, but still managed to make a decent pass.

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Left Lane: Gary Densham Runs 5.057/289.57, Now #2

Densham had a trouble-free solo pass on this lap.

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Left Lane: Al Hofmann Runs 5.076/288.27, Now #4
Right Lane: Frank Pedregon Runs 4.971/282.60, Now #1

Hofmann was fishtailing at half track but he stayed on it all the way down. Pedregon has what should be the first of quite a few four-second passes this weekend.

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Left Lane: Bruce Sarver Runs 4.973/289.38, Now #2
Right Lane: Whit Bazemore Runs 4.987/301.47, Now #3

No problems for either driver here, both cars running strong all the way down the track.

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Right Lane: Dean Skuza Runs 10.888/83.08, Now #12

Skuza struck the tires at 100' and clicked it off.

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Left Lane: Del Worsham Runs 5.042/288.52, Now #5

The fifth solo pass of the round. Worsham was a little loose at half track, but had no other problems.

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Left Lane: Scotty Cannon Runs 5.098/283.85, Now #8
Right Lane: Jim Epler Runs 6.761/113.35, Now #13

Cannon had finished backing up from his burnout and was ready to stage before Epler pulled to the line. Rick Stewart signaled for Epler to not do a burnout, but he did one anyway. Stewart sent Cannon down the track by himself, then let Epler launch about 30 seconds later.

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Left Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 5.143/222.91, Now #10
Right Lane: Ron Capps Runs 5.018/288.83, Now #4

There was a puff of smoke out of the back of Capps' car at the finish line, but he had no other problems on this one. I couldn't see anything wrong with Pedregon's car, but he definitely slowed on the top end.

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Left Lane: Jerry Toliver Runs 5.082/286.13, Now #10
Right Lane: John Force Runs 5.013/292.96, Now #4

Toliver was dropping cylinders going through the lights. Force was skating around a little bit at 300' but had no other problems. After the first round of Funny Car qualifying, Frank Pedregon is on the pole with a 4.971 second ET, and Vicky Fanning is on the bump spot with a 5.790.