Sat, 7 Oct 2000, 02:40 PM MEMPHIS - Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #3

By David Rowe

MILLINGTON, Tenn. - Notes from round 3 qualifying in Funny Car at the 13th annual AutoZone Nationals presented by Pennzoil 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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Left Lane: Whit Bazemore No Time, Now #3; Best prior run: 4.931/299.86, Was #3
Right Lane: Del Worsham Runs 5.003/299.40, Now #11; Best prior run: 10.019/79.46, Was #19

Bazemore hits the throttle and pops the blower. Worsham keeps it inn the groove for a good run.

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Left Lane: Jerry Toliver Runs 12.309/68.05, Now #1; Best prior run: 4.896/302.28, Was #1
Right Lane: Dean Skuza Runs 5.007/278.98, Now #12; Best prior run: 5.084/255.77, Was #17

Toliver smokes the tires right off the line and aborts the run. Skuza gets in the field in the 12th spot. We now have the quickest field ever in Funny Car.

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Left Lane: Dale Creasy Jr. Runs 5.369/260.11, Now #20; Best prior run: 11.662/107.87, Was #22
Right Lane: John Force Runs 4.870/304.94, Now #1; Best prior run: 4.945/299.86, Was #6

Force resets the track record and moves into the top spot. Creasy was mixing up cylinders from half-track.

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Left Lane: Bruce Sarver Runs 10.342/82.27, Now #10; Best prior run: 4.985/294.43, Was #10
Right Lane: Bob Gilbertson Runs 7.742/98.01, Now #21; Best prior run: 10.255/82.43, Was #21

Sarver shakes the tires and shuts down about 100 feet out. Gilbertson broke the tires loose around half-track.

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Left Lane: Terry Haddock Runs 13.323/89.89, Now #22; Best prior run: 10.752/89.50, Was #22
Right Lane: Phil Burkart Runs 5.655/165.50, Now #16; Best prior run: 5.026/295.92, Was #16

Haddock was up in smoke right off the line. Burkart spun the tires at about half-track.

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Left Lane: Al Hofmann Runs 5.024/291.57, Now #15; Best prior run: 5.024/291.57, Was #15
Right Lane: Jim Epler Runs 5.179/216.90, Now #8; Best prior run: 4.971/295.53, Was #8

Good run by Hoffman but he doesn't move up. Epler hazed the tires around the 1000-foot mark.

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Left Lane: Cristen Powell Runs 10.009/82.03, Now #19; Best prior run: 5.145/218.09, Was #19
Right Lane: Tommy Johnson Jr. Runs 4.997/295.08, Now #11; Best prior run: 5.135/289.01, Was #18

Johnson makes a good pass and gets in the field in the eleventh spot. Powell comes off the line, shakes the tires and then goes up in smoke.

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Left Lane: Tony Pedregon Runs 4.959/296.50, Now #7; Best prior run: 4.952/294.18, Was #7
Right Lane: Tim Wilkerson Runs 5.472/182.23, Now #9; Best prior run: 4.972/295.40, Was #9

Wilkerson had a good run going until about 800 feet out. Raw fuel started coming out of the pipes, an indication that the engine must have thrown the blower belt. Pedregon was mixing up cylinders around half-track but still makes a good run.

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Left Lane: Louis Sweet Runs 16.701/50.70, Now #18; Best prior run: 5.074/239.57, Was #18
Right Lane: Scott Weis Runs 4.956/298.87, Now #8; Best prior run: 5.008/296.31, Was #14

Sweet went up in smoke right off the line. Weis runs a career best ET to get in the top half of the field. Hofmann is on the bump with a 5.024.

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Left Lane: Gary Densham Runs 10.451/86.83, Now #15; Best prior run: 5.012/292.33, Was #15
Right Lane: Ron Capps Runs 4.985/294.24, Now #6; Best prior run: 4.940/300.53, Was #6

Densham shakes the tires about 100 feet out and shuts down. Capps makes a strong run but doesn't improve from yesterday.

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Left Lane: Scotty Cannon Runs 4.993/299.60, Now #3; Best prior run: 4.920/308.85, Was #3
Right Lane: Frank Pedregon Runs 12.755/68.84, Now #5; Best prior run: 4.936/267.27, Was #5

Cannon makes another good run but doesn't improve. Pedregon goes up in smoke right off the line.