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by Dean Murdoch Nitro Funny Car (photos by Rich Carlson, Guy Van Syckle, Mark King, and Gerry Frechette) Pro Stock is here. Top Fuel is here. Second Round through the finals. Photo highlights to follow later this week. Two for four in the Funny Car second round, as Tony
Pedregon and team mate Gary Densham advanced to one semi
final and Whit Bazemore and Tommy Johnson Jr. matched
up in the other semi. With John Force looking like a red-headed stepchild
so far this season, his stable mates have kept the "Force"
going by at least one of them Sunday 11:55 am pst Prediction results: 7 wins 1 loss. I had full intentions od picking a car in the Cannon/Skuza race. But I forgot. My pick would have probably been Dean Skuza thought, so i'll give myself a loss there. Again, like Top Fuel, for real surprises, as all the matchups turned out to have at least one of the cars make a great pass. The most antisipated race btween Tony P.& and his boss (John Force) was dominated by Tony. Johnleft first, like he has done on most of the recent occasions but it was over early. Tony stormed to a 4.82 and John stuggled down track. The Gilbertson/Worsham matchup was the closest, with Del squeaking out a 4.86 to a close 4.87 for Bob Gilbertson. The Next round match-ups are: Whit Bazemore/Scotty Cannon. I'm going with Scotty here. One of the two will stumble, and I am picking Whit to do be the stumbler Gary Densham/Frank Pedregon. Gary Densham is on a bit of a roll right now with only one round loss in his last nine rounds. He should advance. Del Worsham/Tommy Johnson Jr. Tommy should leave first and hold, but Del will catch him in a great race. Tony Pedregon/Ron Capps. Tony should win this on both ends of the track. Saturday April 5, 6:00pm (Saturday photos courtesy Greg Gage) Weekend Photos are here as well. Just saw the Scelzi Boomer on ESPN2 It was Unreal!!!!! Much
like TF, there are good news bad news stories in the nitro coupe class.
First the feel good stories. Jack Wyatt and the Piranaz Firebird
made a career last ditch lap and got in on the bump with a 4.969/271.30.
Keith Jackson also made a career lap with a 5.022/300.46, but
it wasn't enough to get in the field. But, I'm betting the team goes
away happy (they also walk away with $3000 for being 2nd alternate).
No the bad news. Tim Wilkerson, one of the top running cars
in qualifying this year failed to qualify after running a best of
5.005/300.93. Another shock was the DNQ by the Gary Scelzi/Oakley
Dodge. Scelzi could only put up a best of 5.246. That car will be
on the highlight reel though, as Gary had one of the biggest boomer
in the class. Just saw the Scelzi explosion, Gary deserves to play
on Sunday, for just surviving that deal. It was Ron Capps like
from the reports. Phil Burkart also ended up on the outside after
turning in a 5.026 at 305 mph. The other big news for the qualified
cars is the dubious #14 qualified car. John Force! Strange
but true. For his stellar pass, he gets to line up beside team mate
and #3 qualifier Tony Pedregon. The pairings and predictions for Sunday are: Whit Bazemore/Jack Wyatt. Well, as much as I would like to see the underdog eek out a victory, I don't think Jack can pull a rabbit out of the Piranaz hat. Gary Densham/Dale Creasy. Another under dog that I would kill to see upset to favorite but the Jimmy Prock tuned Ford should ease into the second round. Tony Pedregon/John Force. Tony takes it! Del Worsham/Bob Gilbertson. Del is pretty strong and I have a feeling that he will go a few round on Sunday. Tommy Johnson/Bob Bode. If it was one of the top runners against Tommy I would pick the other. The Skoal cars are hot or cold, and Tommy should make it to round two. Johnny Gray/ Ron Capps. I like Ron's Sunday tune-up. Frank Pedregon/Cruz Pedregon. These two cars causing big some thunder (big bangs), will be more likely than side by side 4.80's. It will come down to the driver that can see through the smoke that goes on to round two. I'll take Frankie. Scotty Cannon/Dean Skuza. This one is worth the price of admission for the top end interview on its own. I like both cars, and both deserve some success. A toss up. Go to Drag Race Central or NHRA.com for all the other news from Vegas April
4, 2003. The Nitro Coupes put on a pretty good show based on some
of the numbers and John Force's record of qualifying at 304
races in a row including this event looks to be a lock, after running
4.919/312.93 mph to sit tenth so far. Not a great run for the Force
camp, but his other cars are not tearing up the field either. Tony
Pedregon is in the fifth position with a 4.852/313.15 and Gary
Densham ran a 4.961/326.56 to it in the 11 spot and reset the
April 3, 2003 This class has all the makings of a three ring circus. There is a little bit of everything. High wire act (Force's losing streak), clowns (Force, Capps), flying trapeze (Three 3 car teams), fire acts (Phil Burkart), human cannon ball (Ron Capps, two huge explosions in six races), and the ring leader (Force). Step right up, what is going to happen next. Vegas is a great spot this weekends event. Let's get ready to ruuummbbllee (that's not a circus you idiot)! The favorites are: 1. John
Force:
5. Gary Densham: odds 6-1....the teacher is one top of the points right now and his tuner (Jimmy Prock) has the talent to keep him there. But his rt's are a little suspect and in this class with guys within a hun of each other, he has to be sharper.
8. Dean Skuza: odds 9-1..... the Skuza team has not slowed down after their sponsor left them in the lurch at the end of 2002. Their Pontiac bodies are every bit as good as the Dodge's, they just don't have all the resources they had previously. Come on corporate America step up to the plate.
11. Johnny Gray: odds 12-1.....could very well get his first win of the year, but he will probably get it through lucky circumstances. The performance of this car will take a bit to hit the strides of the Force or Schumacher clan 12. Dale Creasy: odds 13-1.....the sentimental favorite for myself and his huge fan club. The team is taking baby steps on their way to being a full time 4.90 car. Unfortunately they need to become a 4.80 car to have a real chance.
The other Sunday players include Scotty Cannon, Frank Pedregon, Cruz Pedregon (this team has really struggled bad so far, and better get their act together), Bob Gilbertson and Bob Bode Pro Stock is here. Top Fuel is here. Weekend Photos are here as well. |
advancing
to the final round at every race. This one would be no exception,
as one of the two were going to be in the money round again. This
one was over by 100 feet as Densham blew off the tires (left semi
finals, photo by Greg Gage) and Tony streaked to an off pace 5
flat at only 288 mph. The other semi was alot closer as both cars
were side by side till the 100 foot mark when Tommy Johnson's turned
into a roman candle inside the cockpit as the fuel tank caught fire.
Tommy was ahead at that point but was freight trained at the stripe,
4.899/318 to the Skoal cars slowing to a 4.986/248.89. The final was
over at the starting line, as Whit got antsy, and red lit real bad
with a -.089 red eye and to top it off was real loose, and came close
to the wall, as Tony streaked to a 4.91/283 mph win. With the win,
Tony took the points lead by 25 points over the "Teacher".
Whit
Bazemore stayed on top with his great 4.788/324.44. He was challenged
by Gary Densham as he carded a good Saturday afternoon pass
of 4.796/324.51. Del Worsham is in the four hole with Friday's 4.811
pass. The final four in the top half include Tommy Johnson, Johnny
Gray, Frank Pedregon and Scotty Cannon. Cruz Pedregon
got on track today with two 4.80 passes. Thanks for the photos
Greg Gage. 
track speed record in the second session. In the number one position
so fa,r is Whit Bazemore (left) after ripping up the strip
to a stellar 4.788/323.43 mph blast. Team CSK is two and three after
Del Worsham stormed to a 4.811/318.24 and Johnny Gray ran 4.824/321.12.
Fourth is Tommy Johnson Jr. after a solid 4.850 at only 298
mph. Scotty Cannon (4.859), Dean Skuza (4.866), and
Ron Capps (4.871) round out the top eight. Tim Wilkerson
is a disappointing 16th after an off pace 5.278. Not in the field
yet, are the other two Pedregons, Bob Bode, Jack Wyatt, and
Terry Haddock. Go to 
odds
2-1.......how can he not be the favorite. He has gone three
events win one round win. The best Drag Racing team in history does
not just lose it for their ring leader (after all Force does not want
to get sent down to the minors), This is not a scripted slump for
the 104 (I think) national event winner. They have a few gremlins
that will be rectified tout suite! 
2.
Tony Pedregon: odds 3-1.....Tony
did not like that hiccup at Gainseville. That second round loss to
Del Worsham after 28 straight four second passes, proves how strong
that car is. Look for him to be #1 qualifier and go into the late,
late rounds.
3.
Del Worsham odds 4-1.....Del hasn't
won yet this year, so The CSK team leader is due. This team definitely
gets the most out of their sponsorship dollars and will soon have
their third car in the pits when Arnie Karp suits up.
4.
Ron Capps: odds 5-1.....Ron's head
must be made up of extra thick calcium (extra hard), is full of shock
absorbing brain matter or is empty from all the knocks he has taken
in the Green Skoal Bandit Flopper (I tend to think the first one).
He takes a licking and keeps on ticking. A true mark of a champion
in my opinion. And he is fun in the shut down area. Maybe that is
why he is near the top of the standings. He has all the qualities
necessary to be standing at the end of the day. Plus there is the
"Ace" in his corner. Ed, stop having his car blow up on
him will ya!
6.
Whit Bazemore: odds 7-1....Whit
should be farther up, but the #1 seed in the Schumacher camp has been
hot and cold in the new Dodge's. His rt's are way better than last
year, but the car has smoked the tires or had other things go wrong.
If they hope to challenge this year, they better find some consistency.
The new cars look very cool.
7.
Gary Scelzi: odds 8-1.....Scelzi
is liking his new ride and team. There is stability and a great crew
behind him, and he will win this season at some point. I just don't
think it is quite yet.
9.
Tim Wilkerson: odds 10-1.....Tim
and crew could nave won already. They have had one of the best cars
all year, but a gremlin has reared its ugly head. The Sunday tune-up
is a bit off. If it comes together this team will finish in the top
five, providing Tim keeps his rt's as consistent as they have been
so far this season. He really struggled with them last year.
10.
Tommy Johnson Jr: odds 11-1....the
blue Skoal car is is much the same situation as three or four guys
above him. A little bit of inconsistency on race day. In this tough
class, being seeded #10 by yours truly is not a knock really, there
are that many good cars. TJ could very well win this race and I would
not be surprised. 
