Sun, 14 Nov 2004, 06:23 PM Funny Car Round 3 Eliminations

By Darryl Jackman

POMONA, Calif. - Results of round 3 eliminations in Funny Car at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 40th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals:

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    3 John Force                              6 Gary Scelzi
E3   ****WINNER****  0.188  4.728 323.97                     0.083  7.729 111.78
 Prior rounds:
E2    (E Medlen    ) 0.102  4.764 321.58      (T Pedregon  ) 0.083  4.802 325.14
E1    (T Bartone   ) 0.114  4.780 323.27      (B Bode      ) 0.148  4.790 321.96
 Qualified:             #1  4.698 329.18                        #4  4.728 326.00

3:10 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 73 degrees, relative humidity 43 percent, barometer 28.93 inches, adjusted altitude 2,329 feet, track temperature 96 degrees.

The race for the #2 spot in POWERade point series now moves to the semi-finals. Scelzi needs the win to put pressure on Worsham, who runs in the next pair. Force has the preferred lane but you can bet that Densham will put Worsham in the right lane as well. Scelzi is up in smoke and Force goes low for eliminations.

 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
    5 Gary Densham                            4 Del Worsham
E3                   0.138  6.718 131.57     ****WINNER****  0.028  4.786 322.34
 Prior rounds:
E2    (T Johnson Jr) 0.119  4.764 326.48      (P Burkart Jr) 0.136  4.785 324.98
E1    (J Head      ) 0.108  4.750 321.42      (P Burkart   ) 0.096  4.993 285.17
 Qualified:             #2  4.706 329.75                        #3  4.728 329.67

Worsham will take #2 if he loses to Densham due to the tie breaker that was used in qualifying. Scelzi and Worsham tied on ET and Worsham took the extra qualifying point based on MPH. Everything is moot now. Densham struck the tires in the 'good' lane and Worsham runs a 4.7 in the other one. That's the final pass for Densham under the John Force Racing banner. Force will have lane choice in the final by the way. 3:19 p.m.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink