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The latest update as of February 23, 2020
We've got a few photos from yesterday's shortened (due to rain) final qualifying session which will be posted later today. Then we'll be receiving all the eliminations photos this evening and will get them posted tomorrow, along with the captions and editorial coverage on the event. Stay tuned!
TOP Fuel - Qualifying Session #3 (final)
(LEFT) Coming into the final qualifier, Doug Foley (near lane) was on the bubble, but he picked up a bunch of e.t. with a solid 3.878 - 311.13 pass to move up to the #13 spot. His opponent (far lane) Scott Palmer hazed the tires early and shut off to a 6-second pass to remain in the #11 spot.
(RIGHT) The next pair saw Shawn Langdon (near lane) finally shake the demons out of the DHL car and jumped from the last spot on the ladder all the way up to the #6 spot with a very good 3.733 - 325.45 pass. In the far lane, Clay Millican lost a spot, dropping to #10 as the chutes came out early on a 4.699 - 130.76 run.
(LEFT) You could title this pairing as "ZERO for TWO", with both Antron Brown (near lane) and Shawn Reed (far lane) running into trouble early and posting 7 and 8-second clockings. (RIGHT) And the next pair didn't fare much better, as Austin Prock (near lane) and Doug Kalitta (far lane) failed to break the 5-second barrier. (6.540 for Kalitta and 5.393 for Prock).
(LEFT) Things were looking up for a great side-by-sider as both cars ran well until the 660' mark, where (far lane) Terry McMillen's engine got unhappy, resulting in a 4-flat timeslip, while on near side, Justin Ashley laid down his best effort of the weekend, with an excellent 3.707 - 322.81 to move into the top half of the field at #5 on the ladder.
(RIGHT) Two of the heavy hitters faced off next, and while they both improved, Billy Torrence's (near lane), effort of 3.712 - 328.14 (his best qualifying pass) not helping him move up from #6, while in the far lane, Brittany Force bombed the scoreboard with low e.t. of qualifying at 3.670 - 327.11 to leapfrog over world champion Steve Torrence for the top qualifying spot.
The final pair of qualifying matched up the #2 Steve Torrence - who held the top spot until Brittany Force usurped him in the previous pairing, against the #3 Leah Pruett but it didn't live up to the advance billing, as both cars were up in smoke early and limped to the 1000' mark in 6-seconds at less than 100 mph. Quite an anti-climax to what had been a very hit-and-miss final qualifying session.
FUNNY CAR - Qualifying Session #3 (final)
(LEFT) Coming into this final session, Terry Haddock sat in the #15 position, and he didn't get a chance to improve on his 5-second best, as he never got off the starting line as the engine simply died as he moved into stage
(RIGHT) Sitting uncomfortably in the "lucky" #13 spot, Paul Lee failed to better his previous best of 4.257 - 210.37, as he lit up the tires right at the hit and limped to a 10-second e.t.
(LEFT) In the near lane, Cruz Pedregon showed some consistency as he nearly matched his previous best (3.962 - 323.74) with a solid 3.964 - 325.14, but it couldn't move him off the #11 position. Blake Alexander (far lane) fared even worse as his 6-second pass left him in the #12 spot after a previous best of 3.974 - 319.75 in the Jim Head car.
(RIGHT) A great side by side match followed, as Alexis DeJoria, (near lane) ran her best of the weekend 3.916 - 316.30 to drop one spot to #10, as Ron Capps (far lane) moved up three positions with a great 3.896 - 327.66 effort.
(LEFT) The hits didn't keep coming though as the next duo smoked the tires in unison and shut off to 5-second (Jack Beckman) (far lane) and 8-second (J.R. Todd) (near lane) clockings.
(RIGHT) It was one for two in the next matchup, as Tommy Johnson Jr. (near lane) made a big jump from #8 to #4 on the ladder, with an excellent 3.868 - 323.81 pass, while Bob Tasca III lost a spot to #5 with a 6-second pass, losing traction well before the 330' mark.
(LEFT) It was another one-sided pairing, as Tim Wilkerson (near lane), improved a fraction to 3.889 from a previous best of 3.893, at a big speed of 329.10 to hold on to the #7 spot, while Robert Hight was up in smoked very early and coasted to a 7-second time.
(RIGHT) The final pair of the session saw neither racer go anywhere quickly, as John Force (near lane) and Matt Hagan (far lane), had a tire-smoking duel that saw 7- and 8-second clocking adorning the scoreboards. Speeds weren't even into triple digits either. And that was it for Funny Car qualifying.
PRO STOCK - Qualifying Session #3 (final)
(LEFT) Running in the second to last pairing of Pro Stock qualifying, Erica Enders made her best run of the event, racking up a 6.554 - 208.33 to hold on to the #2 position in the field.
(RIGHT) Closing out qualifying was the most dominating car in the class (so far) in 2020, as Jeg Coughlin Jr. slowed slightly from his top qualifying 6.536, with a best of the session 6.553 time. That run kept his streak alive, as he has run low e.t. of every qualifying session this session (seven) and every elimination round (four) to this point. An amazing performance from the JEG's team.
TOP FUEL HARLEY - Qualifying Session #3 (final)
(LEFT) As the final session of Top Fuel Harley qualifying began, the staging lanes were less than full, as only six of the eight entrants were in line. And up to this point, there hadn't been very many competitive passes made by the bikes, and Calgary AB's Mike Scott failed to put a decent number on the boards for the third time as his 9-second pass left him in the #7 spot in the 8-bike field.
(RIGHT) In the last qualifying pair, #1 qualified Randal Andras lost power early and coasted to a 9-second clocking, while Ricky House (not shown) took over the top spot with low e.t. of the weekend at 6.285 - 226.22.