Thu, 8 Nov 2001, 07:34 PM POMONA 3 - Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Darryl Jackman

POMONA, Calif. - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Funny Car at the 37th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

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Left Lane: Robert Hallock Runs 5.976/167.91, Now #1
Right Lane: David Benjamin Runs 9.690/89.02, Now #2

3:43 PM We open the Funny Car session with a pair of broken runs. Both cars were off pace and the drivers clicked them way early.

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Left Lane: Louis Sweet Runs 5.619/180.09, Now #2
Right Lane: Phil Burkart Runs 5.069/295.85, Now #1

The fire goes out early on Sweet's Camaro. No apparent reason. Burkart got just about a full pull with evidence of cylinders out as he reached the lights. His speed seems to indicate that.

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Right Lane: Bob Bode Runs 4.999/305.01, Now #1

Bode got is monies's worth on this one It may be how long it took for the sound to reach me at the starting line but it sounded like he ran it past the lights. He just missed his career best by a couple of hundredths.

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Left Lane: Dale Creasy Jr. Runs 11.267/79.15, Now #7
Right Lane: John Lawson Runs 5.167/291.01, Now #3

Creasy's ride falls silent about 400 feet out. Lawson has his hands full of Funny Car as he has a couple of holes out and they were pushing the car around the lane.

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Left Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 4.926/309.34, Now #1
Right Lane: Al Hofmann Runs 4.927/305.56, Now #2

Wilkerson and Hofmann move to the top of the list with a pair of side by side runs. Wilkerson also has top speed of the session to this point.

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Left Lane: Jerry Toliver Runs 17.057/57.20, Now #11
Right Lane: Johnny Gray Runs 5.163/245.36, Now #5

Toliver does get a whisp of smoke off the tires on the burnout. This has been a long season for these guys. Toliver smokes the tires hard about 50 feet off the line and has to click it. Grey started mixing cylinders as he neared the stripe and also decided to save some parts.

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Left Lane: Scotty Cannon Runs 4.980/309.27, Now #3
Right Lane: Bob Gilbertson Runs 5.020/297.81, Now #5

Scotty makes a good move off the line with a .910 sixty foot number but the car pushes over closer and closer to the wall as he neared the finish line. Gilbertson had a tamer .938 sixty foot but slowed as he completed his run.

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Left Lane: Dean Skuza Runs 4.843/311.05, Now #1
Right Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 4.903/256.21, Now #2

Skuza moves to the top of the field on a nice looking pass. Johnson's was looking perhaps even better but there was a flash from underneath and the Skoal Blue car was coasting at the stripe. The next pair is fired so there was no oil.

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Left Lane: Gary Densham Runs 4.826/319.82, Now #1
Right Lane: Frank Pedregon Runs 7.121/123.04, Now #14

Densham considers Pomona as his home track. He's got the best of parts in the Force Mustang so let's see what happens. Densham resets his own track mph record on the run as well as getting the top spot in the field. Pedregon had problems with tire smoke in the CSK blue car and is forced to abort the run.

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Left Lane: Bruce Sarver Runs 10.243/81.15, Now #17
Right Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 4.922/318.24, Now #4

Sarver's mount tries to make a right turn on him at about 100 feet and he is out of the loud pedal. Tony mixes cylinders past half track and takes the #4 spot. Big mph for Pedregon considering the way the exhaust looking on the Ford.

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Left Lane: Del Worsham Runs 4.846/318.84, Now #3
Right Lane: Ron Capps Runs 4.902/306.42, Now #4

Pretty runs a pair. Both cars leave with header flames over the roof and are side by side all the way to the finish. The sun is starting to set and the fans are getting their monies worth.

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Left Lane: Whit Bazemore No Time, Now #23
Right Lane: John Force Runs 4.872/313.00, Now #4

Speaking of getting your monies worth. Wonder what this pair will be up to this weekend. After Las Vegas there was lots of talk about this pair. This time there's no funny stuff as Bazemore prestages first and Force follows a few seconds later. Bazemore stages and Forces follows quickly. That was the excitement. The run was much less dramatic for Bazemore as he burst panel blows out of the car at around 60 feet. He coasts to a stop before the finish and gets no time for the first session. Force got a full pass but the header flames looked a bit strange as he neared the stripe. We finish the session with Densham on the top of the field and Louis Sweet on the bubble.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink