Sat, 26 Oct 2002, 10:11 PM Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Final Session |
By Bob Orme |
LAS VEGAS - Notes from final, round 4 qualifying in Funny Car at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, Second annual ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals 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:
Left Lane: Stephen Neese Runs 5.624/256.50, Now #22; Best prior run: 28.000/0.00, Was #25
6:09 PM Neese got out of the groove at about 300 feet, had to fight to keep the car off the centerline.
Left Lane: Louis Sweet Runs 11.374/77.66, Now #23; Best prior run: 6.518/138.03, Was #23
Right Lane: Phil Burkart Runs 10.623/77.97, Now #25; Best prior run: 9.720/85.32, Was #25
Both drivers smoked the tires at about 150 feet and both clicked it off.
Left Lane: Terry Haddock Runs 9.241/95.84, Now #21; Best prior run: 5.193/270.70, Was #21
Haddock lost traction at 300 feet and he got off the throttle.
Left Lane: Keith Jackson Runs 10.404/78.42, Now #19; Best prior run: 5.112/295.21, Was #19
Right Lane: Cory Lee Runs 5.498/253.80, Now #20; Best prior run: 5.149/289.51, Was #20
Jackson was off the throttle at 300 feet. Lee labored all the way down the track. Nothing was visibly wrong with the car but the engine did not sound like it was running properly.
Left Lane: Todd Paton Runs 6.355/147.25, Now #18; Best prior run: 5.103/293.03, Was #18
Right Lane: Dale Creasy Jr. Runs 4.892/305.49, Now #11; Best prior run: 4.976/295.46, Was #17
Paton must have lost the blower belt at 500 feet, there was a lot of raw fuel coming out of the headers after the nitro flames went out. Creasy moves into the number eleven position with a career best elapsed time.
Left Lane: Frank Pedregon Runs 11.094/79.66, Now #13; Best prior run: 0.000/293.03, Was #3
Right Lane: Johnny Gray Runs 8.088/106.31, Now #17; Best prior run: 0.000/295.46, Was #76
Gray just got bumped out by Creasy and he will be trying to get back into the field with this run. He doesn't do it. Both drivers smoked the tires at about 200 feet. Gray tried to pedal through it without success.
Left Lane: Ron Capps Runs 4.938/310.05, Now #10; Best prior run: 4.891/313.00, Was #10
Right Lane: Cruz Pedregon Runs 4.918/313.29, Now #14; Best prior run: 4.956/311.27, Was #16
A good side-by-side drag race with Pedregon moving off of the bump spot.
Left Lane: Dean Skuza Runs 5.112/225.71, Now #9; Best prior run: 0.000/313.00, Was #91
Right Lane: Bob Bode Runs 10.361/79.10, Now #16; Best prior run: 0.000/311.27, Was #56
Bode smoked the tires at about 200 feet, and he shut it off after the car began to fishtail. Skuza was on a very good pass, 259.01 miles per hour at half track, then the candles went out at about 1000 feet.
Left Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 9.292/86.48, Now #8; Best prior run: 4.879/310.27, Was #8
Right Lane: Bob Gilbertson Runs 4.927/306.40, Now #15; Best prior run: 4.925/312.13, Was #15
Wilkerson blew the tires off at about 300 feet. Gilbertson had the candles lit all the way down the track.
Left Lane: Bruce Sarver Runs 4.773/317.12, Now #1; Best prior run: 4.877/315.64, Was #7
Right Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 4.865/309.84, Now #8; Best prior run: 4.900/312.42, Was #12
Sarver leaps to the number one spot with this pass. He left very strong, posted a 0.873-second 60-foot time and was running 256.65 at half track. Johnson had a very good pass too, his half track speed was 256.50 miles per hour.
Left Lane: Del Worsham Runs 10.653/78.09, Now #7; Best prior run: 4.856/318.84, Was #7
Right Lane: Scotty Cannon Runs 5.767/164.87, Now #6; Best prior run: 4.835/318.54, Was #6
Worsham lost traction and was off the throttle at about 150 feet. Much the same for Cannon, though his troubles didn't start until half track.
Left Lane: Whit Bazemore Runs 4.791/325.85, Now #3; Best prior run: 4.809/321.73, Was #4
Right Lane: Gary Densham Runs 4.829/310.13, Now #5; Best prior run: 4.833/303.43, Was #5
A great drag race! Bazemore runs a career best speed and fastest Funny Car speed of the weekend.
Left Lane: John Force Runs 4.817/308.35, Now #4; Best prior run: 4.793/322.81, Was #4
Right Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 4.975/239.91, Now #2; Best prior run: 4.786/322.73, Was #2
Pedregon shut it off at about 1000 feet. There were no apparent problems for either driver. Bruce Sarver leads the field going into Sunday eliminations and he will face sixteenth place Bob Bode in the first round.
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