Monday

Funny Car Results for Elimination Round 1

CLERMONT, Ind. - SUMMIT FastNews - Results of round 1 eliminations in Funny Car at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 50th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals: W/L Driver RT ET Speed (W) Phil Burkart (Checker Shuck's Kragen Monte C0.108 4.927 312.93 (L) Ron Capps (Skoal Racing Monte Carlo) 0.082 5.804 177.37 Weather conditions: air temperature 75 degrees, relative humidity 89 percent, barometer 29.02 inches, adjusted altitude 2,487 feet, track temperature 108 degrees. 11:26 a.m. The track temp has jumped up 10 degrees in less than 25 minutes, conditions are tricky, but Alan Johnson and Tony Schumacher showed it is possible to lay down a stout run here at Indy. Ron Capps has raced in eight previous US Nationals, this is Phil Burkhart's 3rd try to win at the Big Go... Capps had the early lead, but started hazing the tires after he drifted to the right. Burkhart had been gaining steadily, he blew by very quickly. Phil Burkart's incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(-0.024), 330 ft(0.011), 660ft(0.122), 1,000ft(0.393). MOV: 0.8515 seconds (more than 100 feet). (W) Cruz Pedregon (Advance Auto Parts Monte Carl0.101 4.915 314.39 (L) Del Worsham (Checker Schuck's Kragen Monte C0.102 4.993 315.42 Cruz Pedregon has competed in 12 US Nationals, he won in 1992, 1994 and 1995. Del Worsham may be younger, but he's competed in thirteen races here, once in a Top Fuel Dragster. Del is still looking for his first win at Indy. Great Drag Race! Del was ahead till about the 100-foot mark, Pedregon pulled even, then legged it out from there to win by a car length. (W) John Force (Castrol GTX Mustang) 0.110 4.840 322.81 (L) Jim Head (Menards Celica) 0.080 9.647 82.13 Jim Head and John Force have both competed at the Big Go a record twenty-two times. John has won the event four times, Head has won twice, once in Top Fuel and once in a Funny Car. It's All Force, All Castrol and all the rest - Head shook so hard his Menards Funny Car started bouncing on the big Goodyears up and down before he shut it foo. Force has low ET of the round (so far). (W) Gary Densham (AAA of So. Cal. Mustang) 0.128 4.857 319.07 (L) Tony Bartone (K&N Filters/Lucas Oil Firebird0.115 10.920 69.31 Only Force and Head have raced here more often than Gary Densham, Gary is racing here for the 17th time, he can earn an extra bonus of $50,000 to go with his Skoal Showdown purse of $100,000 by winning the event today. Bartone smoked the tires at the 330-foot mark, not good when your competition laid down a .908 60-foot time, the best of the round, and was able to keep the hammer down all the way to the finish line. Densham will race Phil Burkhart in round two, Densham will have lane choice. (W) Tony Pedregon (Quaker State Monte Carlo) 0.100 4.942 303.23 (L) Jeff Arend (CMKX-treme Corvette) 0.073 5.017 305.63 If Pedregon looked out the window on this run, he would have seen Arend right there till the 1000 foot mark! Great drag race! Tony won by half a car length, at the top end of the track Tony said his funny car was steering to right, he had his hands full earning this important win. (W) Tim Wilkerson (Levi, Ray & Shoup Monte Carlo0.093 4.971 311.77 (L) Eric Medlen (Castrol Syntec Mustang) 0.070 5.293 267.43 Eric Medlen was so excited at the pre-race ceremonies, he was already wearing his drivers suit, itching to get in his race car and blast down the quarter mile. This is his first try at winning the biggest drag race in the world. He has a tough first round matchup, Tim Wilkerson has run at Indy eight times, he won here last year. Upset!? - Medlen started hazing the tires in the middle of the run, Wilkerson's pass looked like a missle shot down the right lane. One might call this an upset based on qualifying position... Tim will race Cruz Pedregon in the next round, and Pedregon will have lane choice. (W) Whit Bazemore (Matco Tools Stratus) 0.083 4.941 314.83 (L) Tommy Johnson Jr. (Skoal Racing Monte Carlo)0.071 4.997 312.93 Tommy Johnson Jr., came close here in 2002, he was the runner-up to John Force. Whit Bazemore has raced here 14 times, with one win. Another great drag race! Both runs were clean and right down broadway, Bazemore's numbers were just a little better at every interval. In the next round Bazemore will face Tony Pedregon, and by just one thousandth of a second Bazemore will have lane choice. (W) Gary Scelzi (Hemi Oakley Stratus) 0.121 4.897 312.28 (L) Johnny Gray (Wonder Bread Stratus) 0.125 11.060 89.73 This is Johnny Gray's fourth visit to the US Nationals, he has yet to win this prestigious drag race. Gray came close last year, he was the runner-up to Tim Wilkerson. His Wonder Wagon has had trouble smoking the tires this weekend, he's only had one full pass so far. It's Scelzi's seventh visit to the Big Go - he won once in Top Fuel. More smoke for Gray, Scelzi's Hemi let out a puff of smoke when he clicked it off past the finish line. Scelzi will race John Force in the next round, and Force will have lane choice. 11:49 a.m.

Funny Car Results for Elimination Round 2

CLERMONT, Ind. - SUMMIT FastNews - Results of round 2 eliminations in Funny Car at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 50th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals: W/L Driver RT ET Speed (W) Whit Bazemore (Matco Tools Stratus) 0.093 4.896 312.50 (L) Tony Pedregon (Quaker State Monte Carlo) 0.093 5.015 272.56 Weather conditions: air temperature 80 degrees, relative humidity 74 percent, barometer 29.01 inches, adjusted altitude 2,800 feet, track temperature 108 degrees. Tony Pedregon leads in head-to-head competition 21-12. Make that 21-13. Tony started skating around in the middle of the track, the engine didn't like it and started to eat itself up at the top end. Whit Bazemore's MOV: 0.1198 seconds (approximately 48 feet). (W) Cruz Pedregon (Advance Auto Parts Monte Carl0.108 4.899 315.86 (L) Tim Wilkerson (Levi, Ray & Shoup Monte Carlo0.113 5.023 299.26 This is a bragging rights match between these two competitors, the series is tied at five wins each. Crew chief Wes Cerny swapped lanes after watching Whit Bazemore run, it paid off Wilkerson when dropped a cylinder on the left side. There will not be a repeat winner in Funn Car for 2004. (W) Gary Scelzi (Hemi Oakley Stratus) 0.064 4.909 318.99 (L) John Force (Castrol GTX Mustang) 0.108 4.885 314.90 Force and Scelzi have met six times in the last seven races, Force leads 4 wins to 2 for Scelzi, but Scelzi has a 6-5 all time lead over the Force. Scelzi wins! Again! On A holeshot! The crowd goes wild! John had a flash of flame out the right side header pipes as he crossed the finish line, but it wasn't a factor, his low ET of the round 4.885 wasn't enough to make up the difference on the starting line. Gary Scelzi's MOV: 0.0204 seconds (approximately 9 feet). In the semis Scelzi will race Cruz Pedregon and Pedregon will have lane choice. (W) Gary Densham (AAA of So. Cal. Mustang) 0.042 4.920 317.27 (L) Phil Burkart (Checker Shuck's Kragen Monte C0.119 4.943 310.05 Densham has never lost to Burkart, they have faced each other three times. Another great side-by-side drag race, Densham lost lane choice to Bazemore in the next round. The chase for the extra $50,000 Skoal Showdown bucks continues...

Funny Car Results for Elimination Round 3

CLERMONT, Ind. - SUMMIT FastNews - Results of round 3 eliminations in Funny Car at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 50th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals: W/L Driver RT ET Speed (W) Cruz Pedregon (Advance Auto Parts Monte Carl0.109 5.378 249.30 (L) Gary Scelzi (Hemi Oakley Stratus) 0.089 5.554 234.09 Weather conditions: air temperature 82 degrees, relative humidity 74 percent, barometer 29.01 inches, adjusted altitude 2,850 feet, track temperature 115 degrees. Cruz has not been feeling well this weekend, he's trying to rest carefully between rounds. Scelzi has a 7-1 lead against Pedregon in head to head competition. SMOKEFEST!!! Pedregon smoked the tires first, lifted, then was able to get the big Goodyears to hook up. Scelzi went further before losing traction, but the tires broke loose each time he got back on the loud pedal. The times are nothing to write home about, but Cruz is on his way to another final at the US Nationals, he has never lost here in the final round of Funny Car. (W) Gary Densham (AAA of So. Cal. Mustang) 0.122 4.934 315.05 (L) Whit Bazemore (Matco Tools Stratus) 0.109 6.220 173.32 Densham leads the Densham-Bazemore series 16-8. Densham will race for the title and THE SKOAL SHOWDOWN BIG BUCKS! Whit struck the tires at about the same point Scelzi did, Densham had to grab some quick steering to stay in the groove. In the final Densham will have lane choice.

Funny Car Results for Final Round

CLERMONT, Ind. - SUMMIT FastNews - Results of final, round 4 eliminations in Funny Car at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 50th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals: W/L Driver RT ET Speed (W) Gary Densham (AAA of So. Cal. Mustang) 0.121 4.890 317.64 (L) Cruz Pedregon (Advance Auto Parts Monte Carl0.117 6.497 147.15 Cruz Pedregon is 3-0 in Funny Car final round appearances at the US Nationals. If he wins, he'll tie John Force and Ed the Ace McCulloch with four wins at Indy. Densham has never won The Big Go - there's an extra $50,000 dollar bonus on the line for Densham if he can win this drag race. Pedregon blipped the throttle and bumped crew chief Wes Cerny after backing up, Wes slipped and fell down, luckily he was unhurt. Densham wins the big BUCKS! It was close till Cruz started hazing the tires in the middle of the track, Cruz tried to pedal the throttle, but Densham was already past the finish line. Congrats to the entire AAA of So Cal team!

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