NHRA Division 2 Lucas Oil Points Race at SGMP Suffers Rain on Saturday
posted by David @ 8:55 PM
Saturday, April 08, 2006
Schumacher, Hight and Anderson Top Pro Qualifiers at the NHRA POWERade SummitRacing.com Nationals
Georgia Pro Qualifying Results:
Top Fuel
#14 - Bob Vandergriff (Alpharetta, GA)- 4.608 @ 326.16
Funny Car
#10 - Whit Bazemore - 4.799 @ 327.19
Pro Stock
#2 - Warren Johnson (Sugar Hill, GA) - 6.790 @ 203.49
#6 - Kurt Johnson (Sugar Hill, GA) - 6.795 @ 203.34
#23 - Barry Grant (Dahlonega, GA) - 10.774 @ 82.63
NHRA Recap
Top Fuel
#14 - Bob Vandergriff (Alpharetta, GA)- 4.608 @ 326.16
Funny Car
#10 - Whit Bazemore - 4.799 @ 327.19
Pro Stock
#2 - Warren Johnson (Sugar Hill, GA) - 6.790 @ 203.49
#6 - Kurt Johnson (Sugar Hill, GA) - 6.795 @ 203.34
#23 - Barry Grant (Dahlonega, GA) - 10.774 @ 82.63
NHRA Recap
posted by David @ 8:36 PM
Vandergriff ends Friday Qualifying in the No. 12 position
Las Vegas (April 7)- The UPS Top Fuel dragster enjoyed Friday evening at the NHRA Summitracing.com Nationals at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after qualifying in the No. 12 position. Bob Vandergriff Jr. piloted his 7000 horsepower Jim Dupuy-tuned machine to a 4.608 second pass at 326.16 mph in the cool desert air.
"We were pleased we made it down the racetrack, even though it wasn't a very good run," said Vandergriff. "One thing we can gain from that is we made a bad run and it still ran a 4.60. We're pretty confident we can run much quicker than that. We are encouraged because we made some changes to the car that it didn't like, so we're going to fix that. We seem to have found something that is going to help us be more consistent going down the track."
Qualifying continues with two sessions on Saturday, April 8 at 12:30 PM and 3:30 PM. Sunday's final elimination's begin at 11 AM.
Ken Sklute
Vandergriff Motorsports Public Relations
www.RacersEdgePhotography.com
"We were pleased we made it down the racetrack, even though it wasn't a very good run," said Vandergriff. "One thing we can gain from that is we made a bad run and it still ran a 4.60. We're pretty confident we can run much quicker than that. We are encouraged because we made some changes to the car that it didn't like, so we're going to fix that. We seem to have found something that is going to help us be more consistent going down the track."
Qualifying continues with two sessions on Saturday, April 8 at 12:30 PM and 3:30 PM. Sunday's final elimination's begin at 11 AM.
Ken Sklute
Vandergriff Motorsports Public Relations
www.RacersEdgePhotography.com
posted by David @ 4:11 PM
Friday Night in Vegas finds KJ Sitting Fifth
Contact: Jon Knapp
TMG Sports Marketing, Inc.
The first day of qualifying for the Summitracing.com Nationals was completed on Friday, with each of the professional categories having two attempts on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Kurt Johnson and the ACDelco Cobalt Racing team took advantage of the opportunity and made two good runs, with their best effort of 6.803 seconds at 202.94 mph earning them the provisional fifth starting position. Heading into Saturday's final twin attempts, Johnson looked to get an even better handle on the tricky Nevada quarter-mile.
"Our first run was solid, just the way you want to get the weekend started. We had a good sixty-foot time, our ACDelco Cobalt went straight, and even with a slight problem with a vacuum pump battery, we were right near the top of the page.
"We had our sights set on getting the pole, but unfortunately, the track didn't give us what we wanted in the evening session. We knew the surface had cooled by 30 degrees after the sun went down, so we threw two or three different things at it in anticipation of its being better. We used data from our test session here earlier in the year, but the rubber that was on the track in January and what we ran on today were two completely different types. As a result, it just didn't hold. Fortunately, the rest of the weekend is going to be in sunshine, so we'll regroup and get ourselves ready for race day."
TMG Sports Marketing, Inc.
The first day of qualifying for the Summitracing.com Nationals was completed on Friday, with each of the professional categories having two attempts on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Kurt Johnson and the ACDelco Cobalt Racing team took advantage of the opportunity and made two good runs, with their best effort of 6.803 seconds at 202.94 mph earning them the provisional fifth starting position. Heading into Saturday's final twin attempts, Johnson looked to get an even better handle on the tricky Nevada quarter-mile.
"Our first run was solid, just the way you want to get the weekend started. We had a good sixty-foot time, our ACDelco Cobalt went straight, and even with a slight problem with a vacuum pump battery, we were right near the top of the page.
"We had our sights set on getting the pole, but unfortunately, the track didn't give us what we wanted in the evening session. We knew the surface had cooled by 30 degrees after the sun went down, so we threw two or three different things at it in anticipation of its being better. We used data from our test session here earlier in the year, but the rubber that was on the track in January and what we ran on today were two completely different types. As a result, it just didn't hold. Fortunately, the rest of the weekend is going to be in sunshine, so we'll regroup and get ourselves ready for race day."
posted by David @ 4:06 PM
Friday, April 07, 2006
New photos from Dick Brannan's Ford Show
I've added more photos from Dick Brannan's outstanding Ford show (last weekend in Cumming, GA) to the photo album. Thanks to Fred Simmons and Ernie Scott for sharing their great shots!
posted by David @ 11:44 PM
Schumacher, Hight and Anderson Lead Pro Qualifying at the NHRA POWERade SummitRacing.com Nationals
posted by David @ 11:22 PM
WHIT BAZEMORE: MEMORIES OF HIS TIME ON THE STRIP
DON SCHUMACHER RACING
Contact: Judy Stropus
LAS VEGAS (April 6, 2006) - Whit Bazemore has a fondness for The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The two-time U.S. Nationals champion and driver of the Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car has done well here since the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series first arrived at this track in 2001.
As he prepares for this weekend's NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals, the Indianapolis resident recalls some of the highlights of his two No. 1 qualifiers here (2001 LV2, 2003 LV1), four runner-ups (2001 LV1, 2003 LV1 and LV2 and 2004 LV1) and finally as the defending champion of this event in 2005:
Runner-up to Tommy Johnson Jr. in 2001: "I think we were beat on a holeshot. It was good. We had a good tune-up back then for this race track. It was a new team for Matco Tools and everybody on board, so to be runner-up with a new team that early was pretty rewarding.
"At the end of the 2001 run, we were a really strong team. We outscored everyone else in points the second half of the season by quite a lot. Vegas is a good track. It typically rewards high-horsepower cars. And we seem to do well here."
Runner-up in 2003 to Tony Pedregon at both events: "The situation in the last one was if we beat Tony in the final then the championship would stay alive going into the last race in Pomona, and we both smoked the tires. We smoked them a little earlier than he did. We lost a very close race, so the championship was over. We left first (at the starting light) and I think we proved, at least to ourselves, that we could fight for a championship. It was a great experience. It would have been awfully nice to have won that race, but we didn't.
"There are a lot of races that we wish we had won, but we hadn't and that's one of them."
Runner-up to Phil Burkart in 2004 (LV1), and winner in 2005 over Tony Bartone (LV1): "You can consider that we have had a lot of success here, because basically when you're runner-up you're second. But, in our sport finishing second is not acknowledged and you don't really come away feeling too good after you're runner-up, honestly. You're just the first loser.
"Our sport rewards winners and that's it. If you finish second in a Formula One race you're on the podium spraying champagne. If you finish third in a Formula One race you're on the podium spraying champagne. If you finish third or second in the Tour de France you're a hero. The fact that we've been runner-up so many times in Vegas to me was somewhat meaningless
although it showed that throughout the years we had a good running car at The Strip.
"But last year we got the monkey off our backs and we won at the first Vegas race of 2005. It was a great win. It was a hard day. The track was tricky and we won a tire-smoking contest with Robert Hight, a race we shouldn't have won at all. We smoked the tires a lot earlier than he did, and got by with the win. That was exciting. I think that was in the second or third round. It was a tough race and we won. We beat Bartone in the final in a very close race. It felt good finally to win here.
"It is a tremendous facility and one of our favorite tracks. We really like the people here. They do it 100 percent right, and we appreciate that."
As for the upcoming event here this weekend following a difficult first four races of the year: "We have high hopes that we can turn our season around here. It's obviously a track that we do well at. The team tested Monday with (teammate) Gary Scelzi driving the Matco Tools Dodge Charger after Houston. They changed the tune-up considerably and in the last run we didn't have any of the problems that we've had all year. We don't want to say that we found it, because that's on old cliché, but we're very hopeful that we might be going in the right direction.
"It's really, really been tough on the team, especially on (assistant crew chief) Todd (Okuhara) and (crew chief) Brian (Corradi). It's been a can of worms for Brian. I'm sure he's wondering what the hell kind of decision he made to come here to Don Schumacher Racing and get saddled with a car that doesn't respond to his inputs at all. But, we have a great team, a great bunch of guys. They've worked their asses off, and they've kept their heads held high.
"We're not accustomed to even being out of the top five much less the top 10, so we have a lot of work to do ahead in this season. We're motivated and we're going to come to Vegas with our usual attitude to try to annihilate our opponents."
SCHEDULE:
On Friday, April 7, professional qualifying sessiions are at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. On Saturday, April 8, pro qualifying sessions continue at noon and 3 p.m. On Sunday, April 9, final eliminations begin at 11 a.m.
TELEVISION:
Saturday, April 8, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise two hours of qualifying highlights at 8 p.m. (ET).
Sunday April 9, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will broadcast NHRA 2Day, a 30-minute weekly news magazine show, at 11:30 a.m. (ET).
Sunday, April 9, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise three hours of final eliminations at 7 p.m. (ET).
SATELLITE:
Friday, April 7, 11-11:30 p.m. (ET) Galaxy 11 / Transponder 13 K (downlink freq: 11960 horizontal)
Saturday, April 8, 10:30-11 p.m. (ET) Galaxy 11 / 13 K (downlink freq: 11960 horizontal)
Sunday, April 9, 10:30-11 p.m. (ET) Galaxy 10R / 23 K (downlink freq: 12160 horizontal)
WHIT BAZEMORE QUICK FACTS:
* 12th in 2006 Funny Car point standings after four events
* Two-time U.S. Nationals champion, 1997 and 2001
* Ninth in 2005 Funny Car point standings
* Won two events in 2005 (Gainesville, Las Vegas), No. 1 qualifier once (Columbus)
* Qualified No. 12 at 2005 SummitRacing.com Nationals, won his second race of season over Tony Bartone, moved back into the points lead
* Has stellar Vegas record: 2001 runner-up (LV2); 2003 runner-up twice (LV1 and LV2), winner 2005 (LV1), qualified No. 1 LV2 in 2001, LV1 in 2003
* First Funny Car driver to break 325-mph barrier (U.S. Nationals 2001)
* Career quickest ET is 4.713 seconds, career fastest speed is 333.25 mph, both set at Route 66 Raceway in 2004 in what was at the time the quickest and fastest speed in Funny Car history
* Has 19 career Funny Car event wins in 43 final rounds in 322 races
* Took the 2003 championship chase to penultimate race in Las Vegas in an exciting final round against eventual champion Tony Pedregon
* Was second twice in the Funny Car championship in 2001 and 2003, third in 1997 and '99 and has finished in the top five six times and 13 times in the top 10 since 1992
* Age 43, born in New York City, an avid cyclist, lives in Indianapolis with wife Michelle, a competitive amateur cyclist, and son Dashiell Aidan, born March 12, 2005 (same as Bazemore's birthday)
* 2006 is his sixth season with Don Schumacher Racing
Contact: Judy Stropus
LAS VEGAS (April 6, 2006) - Whit Bazemore has a fondness for The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The two-time U.S. Nationals champion and driver of the Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car has done well here since the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series first arrived at this track in 2001.
As he prepares for this weekend's NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals, the Indianapolis resident recalls some of the highlights of his two No. 1 qualifiers here (2001 LV2, 2003 LV1), four runner-ups (2001 LV1, 2003 LV1 and LV2 and 2004 LV1) and finally as the defending champion of this event in 2005:
Runner-up to Tommy Johnson Jr. in 2001: "I think we were beat on a holeshot. It was good. We had a good tune-up back then for this race track. It was a new team for Matco Tools and everybody on board, so to be runner-up with a new team that early was pretty rewarding.
"At the end of the 2001 run, we were a really strong team. We outscored everyone else in points the second half of the season by quite a lot. Vegas is a good track. It typically rewards high-horsepower cars. And we seem to do well here."
Runner-up in 2003 to Tony Pedregon at both events: "The situation in the last one was if we beat Tony in the final then the championship would stay alive going into the last race in Pomona, and we both smoked the tires. We smoked them a little earlier than he did. We lost a very close race, so the championship was over. We left first (at the starting light) and I think we proved, at least to ourselves, that we could fight for a championship. It was a great experience. It would have been awfully nice to have won that race, but we didn't.
"There are a lot of races that we wish we had won, but we hadn't and that's one of them."
Runner-up to Phil Burkart in 2004 (LV1), and winner in 2005 over Tony Bartone (LV1): "You can consider that we have had a lot of success here, because basically when you're runner-up you're second. But, in our sport finishing second is not acknowledged and you don't really come away feeling too good after you're runner-up, honestly. You're just the first loser.
"Our sport rewards winners and that's it. If you finish second in a Formula One race you're on the podium spraying champagne. If you finish third in a Formula One race you're on the podium spraying champagne. If you finish third or second in the Tour de France you're a hero. The fact that we've been runner-up so many times in Vegas to me was somewhat meaningless
although it showed that throughout the years we had a good running car at The Strip.
"But last year we got the monkey off our backs and we won at the first Vegas race of 2005. It was a great win. It was a hard day. The track was tricky and we won a tire-smoking contest with Robert Hight, a race we shouldn't have won at all. We smoked the tires a lot earlier than he did, and got by with the win. That was exciting. I think that was in the second or third round. It was a tough race and we won. We beat Bartone in the final in a very close race. It felt good finally to win here.
"It is a tremendous facility and one of our favorite tracks. We really like the people here. They do it 100 percent right, and we appreciate that."
As for the upcoming event here this weekend following a difficult first four races of the year: "We have high hopes that we can turn our season around here. It's obviously a track that we do well at. The team tested Monday with (teammate) Gary Scelzi driving the Matco Tools Dodge Charger after Houston. They changed the tune-up considerably and in the last run we didn't have any of the problems that we've had all year. We don't want to say that we found it, because that's on old cliché, but we're very hopeful that we might be going in the right direction.
"It's really, really been tough on the team, especially on (assistant crew chief) Todd (Okuhara) and (crew chief) Brian (Corradi). It's been a can of worms for Brian. I'm sure he's wondering what the hell kind of decision he made to come here to Don Schumacher Racing and get saddled with a car that doesn't respond to his inputs at all. But, we have a great team, a great bunch of guys. They've worked their asses off, and they've kept their heads held high.
"We're not accustomed to even being out of the top five much less the top 10, so we have a lot of work to do ahead in this season. We're motivated and we're going to come to Vegas with our usual attitude to try to annihilate our opponents."
SCHEDULE:
On Friday, April 7, professional qualifying sessiions are at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. On Saturday, April 8, pro qualifying sessions continue at noon and 3 p.m. On Sunday, April 9, final eliminations begin at 11 a.m.
TELEVISION:
Saturday, April 8, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise two hours of qualifying highlights at 8 p.m. (ET).
Sunday April 9, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will broadcast NHRA 2Day, a 30-minute weekly news magazine show, at 11:30 a.m. (ET).
Sunday, April 9, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise three hours of final eliminations at 7 p.m. (ET).
SATELLITE:
Friday, April 7, 11-11:30 p.m. (ET) Galaxy 11 / Transponder 13 K (downlink freq: 11960 horizontal)
Saturday, April 8, 10:30-11 p.m. (ET) Galaxy 11 / 13 K (downlink freq: 11960 horizontal)
Sunday, April 9, 10:30-11 p.m. (ET) Galaxy 10R / 23 K (downlink freq: 12160 horizontal)
WHIT BAZEMORE QUICK FACTS:
* 12th in 2006 Funny Car point standings after four events
* Two-time U.S. Nationals champion, 1997 and 2001
* Ninth in 2005 Funny Car point standings
* Won two events in 2005 (Gainesville, Las Vegas), No. 1 qualifier once (Columbus)
* Qualified No. 12 at 2005 SummitRacing.com Nationals, won his second race of season over Tony Bartone, moved back into the points lead
* Has stellar Vegas record: 2001 runner-up (LV2); 2003 runner-up twice (LV1 and LV2), winner 2005 (LV1), qualified No. 1 LV2 in 2001, LV1 in 2003
* First Funny Car driver to break 325-mph barrier (U.S. Nationals 2001)
* Career quickest ET is 4.713 seconds, career fastest speed is 333.25 mph, both set at Route 66 Raceway in 2004 in what was at the time the quickest and fastest speed in Funny Car history
* Has 19 career Funny Car event wins in 43 final rounds in 322 races
* Took the 2003 championship chase to penultimate race in Las Vegas in an exciting final round against eventual champion Tony Pedregon
* Was second twice in the Funny Car championship in 2001 and 2003, third in 1997 and '99 and has finished in the top five six times and 13 times in the top 10 since 1992
* Age 43, born in New York City, an avid cyclist, lives in Indianapolis with wife Michelle, a competitive amateur cyclist, and son Dashiell Aidan, born March 12, 2005 (same as Bazemore's birthday)
* 2006 is his sixth season with Don Schumacher Racing
posted by David @ 5:04 PM
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
The Strip's High-Flying Neighbors have WJ’s Attention….and Respect
Contact: Jon G. Knapp
TMG Sports Marketing
GM Performance Parts GTO pilot reunited in Houston with Air Force Master Sergeant from 2005 tour of Germany
Sugar Hill, Ga., April 5, 2006 - The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, site of this weekend's SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals, is arguably the premier racetrack on the NHRA's POWERade Drag Racing Series. Since its addition to the straight-line set six years ago, it has set the standard for every other stop on the circuit, offering unparalleled amenities to racers and fans alike.
However, within view of Bruton Smith's magnificent speedplant is another facility, the Nellis Air Force Base, whose own display of power and speed is sure to capture the interest of every competitor in the professional pit area. Although their primary focus will naturally be on winning the race, Warren Johnson and the GM Performance Parts GTO Racing team will be among those who will take advantage of any free moment to look skyward.
"I have never been fortunate enough to be on the base at Nellis, but whenever we are in Las Vegas I certainly enjoy watching the incredible variety of aircraft overhead," said Johnson. "A few years ago, I was able to see my first F-22 in the skies over The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and it was spine-chilling to say the least. We certainly can't match that kind of firepower, but hopefully we can put on our own impressive performance with the GM Performance Parts GTO this weekend."
As they competed in Houston one week ago, WJ and his young crew were able to spend time with two people involved with this impressive air show - Master Sergeant Gary Marsh and Tech Sergeant Don Dausman of the United States Air Force.
The Professor first met Master Sergeant Marsh during his trip to Ramstein Air Force base last December, giving him pointers on his 1968 Firebird project car. The two were reunited when Marsh, who was attending training sessions at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, made the three-hour drive to attend the NHRA national event, bringing drag racing neophyte Dausman with him.
"I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Sgt. Marsh during our visit to Germany," recalled Johnson. "It was great that he came out to see us in Houston, and brought Sgt. Dausman with him. Most people forget that, regardless of what we do over here, it all depends on these outstanding young men doing their job of maintaining our freedom.
"I’m glad that we were able to spend some time with them, showing them everything that goes on at the track with our GM Performance Parts GTO, and comparing notes. We each have our own areas that we enjoy. We work our tails off at the race track, sometimes breaking parts as we try to go faster than everyone else, while they blow stuff up. The big difference is that what they do allows us to do what we do, and I say that specifically, because they definitely come first."
In addition to the kinship he shared with the servicemen, Johnson will now carry a memento of their meeting in future races. Sgt. Marsh presented The Professor with a pin of his company's insignia, which the six-time champion immediately attached to his firesuit.
"It is my understanding that the insignia given to me by Sgt. Marsh is the oldest active emblem of its type in the armed forces, and traces its roots back to the 1700s," stated Johnson. "I will wear it proudly on my firesuit. I could tell what it means to the men of Sgt. Marsh's unit when he gave it to me, and I hope to give it a ride worthy of its tremendous heritage."
The Johnson crew enters this event on a mission, as The Strip at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway is the only stop on the POWERade Drag Racing circuit where "The Professor" has yet to reach the winner's circle. In order to accomplish their goal, they must steer clear of the incidental items and unusual misfortune that befell them in Houston. Armed with a fast race car and a solid game plan, they are cautiously optimistic heading into the Silver State.
"Our final numbers haven't necessarily shown it, but the incrementals tell us the performance is there," said Johnson. "We’ve done our homework at the shop, and everyone on the crew is doing their job - we just need to start clicking a little bit better on race day. It's not that anyone is being lax, we're just in one of those unusual situations where we're having unusual parts failures. For example, Kurt lost due a problem with a one-cent O-ring, and I had a ring and pinion gear break for the first time in 19 years.
"But we're not about to let that deter us. We'll just work harder, doing everything we can to help put our GM Performance Parts GTO in the winner's circle on Sunday night. I may not have won yet in Vegas, but there is a first time for everything. As they say in the Air Force, we're aiming high."
Quick Notes on Warren Johnson & the GM Performance Parts GTO team entering the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals:
WJ to Attend LVMS Autograph Session: Warren will be taking part in The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway's pre-race autograph session, which will be held from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 6 at the ESPN Zone, which is located in the New York, New York Hotel and Casino on Las Vegas Boulevard.
Las Vegas is the Missing Link in The Professor's Chain: This will be Warren's 12th career race at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In his previous nine starts, he has two final round appearances in 2000 & 2002, making it the only stop on the POWERade Drag Racing tour where he has yet to win. Overall, WJ has a 10-9 elimination round record on The Strip for a .526 win percentage
Warren's Qualifying Stats on The Strip: In nine Las Vegas starts, WJ has one No. 1 qualifying performance (at this event one year ago), and a 5.89 average starting position, with seven starts in the top half of the field.
One Year Ago: Warren was the No. 1 qualifier with a 6.824-second elapsed time with a top speed of 201.46 mph, and advanced to the semifinals.
Career Best Elapsed Time: 6.679 seconds, Gainesville, FL, 3/20/05
Career best top speed: 207.50 mph, Englishtown, NJ, 6/19/05
Event Schedule:
Friday, April 7: Two qualifying sessions at 3:00 & 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 8: Two qualifying sessions at 12:00 noon & 3:00 p.m.
Sunday, April 9: Pre-race ceremonies starting at 10:00 a.m.
First Round of Eliminations at 11:00 a.m.
Television Coverage:
Qualifying: Saturday, April 8: 8:00 - 10:00 p.m.
Eliminations: Sunday, April 9: 7:00 - 10:00 p.m.
NHRA2Day: Sunday, April 9: 11:30 a.m. - 12:00 noon
(All times Eastern. Please check your local listings for exact broadcast times in your area.)
TMG Sports Marketing
GM Performance Parts GTO pilot reunited in Houston with Air Force Master Sergeant from 2005 tour of Germany
Sugar Hill, Ga., April 5, 2006 - The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, site of this weekend's SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals, is arguably the premier racetrack on the NHRA's POWERade Drag Racing Series. Since its addition to the straight-line set six years ago, it has set the standard for every other stop on the circuit, offering unparalleled amenities to racers and fans alike.
However, within view of Bruton Smith's magnificent speedplant is another facility, the Nellis Air Force Base, whose own display of power and speed is sure to capture the interest of every competitor in the professional pit area. Although their primary focus will naturally be on winning the race, Warren Johnson and the GM Performance Parts GTO Racing team will be among those who will take advantage of any free moment to look skyward.
"I have never been fortunate enough to be on the base at Nellis, but whenever we are in Las Vegas I certainly enjoy watching the incredible variety of aircraft overhead," said Johnson. "A few years ago, I was able to see my first F-22 in the skies over The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and it was spine-chilling to say the least. We certainly can't match that kind of firepower, but hopefully we can put on our own impressive performance with the GM Performance Parts GTO this weekend."
As they competed in Houston one week ago, WJ and his young crew were able to spend time with two people involved with this impressive air show - Master Sergeant Gary Marsh and Tech Sergeant Don Dausman of the United States Air Force.
The Professor first met Master Sergeant Marsh during his trip to Ramstein Air Force base last December, giving him pointers on his 1968 Firebird project car. The two were reunited when Marsh, who was attending training sessions at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, made the three-hour drive to attend the NHRA national event, bringing drag racing neophyte Dausman with him.
"I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Sgt. Marsh during our visit to Germany," recalled Johnson. "It was great that he came out to see us in Houston, and brought Sgt. Dausman with him. Most people forget that, regardless of what we do over here, it all depends on these outstanding young men doing their job of maintaining our freedom.
"I’m glad that we were able to spend some time with them, showing them everything that goes on at the track with our GM Performance Parts GTO, and comparing notes. We each have our own areas that we enjoy. We work our tails off at the race track, sometimes breaking parts as we try to go faster than everyone else, while they blow stuff up. The big difference is that what they do allows us to do what we do, and I say that specifically, because they definitely come first."
In addition to the kinship he shared with the servicemen, Johnson will now carry a memento of their meeting in future races. Sgt. Marsh presented The Professor with a pin of his company's insignia, which the six-time champion immediately attached to his firesuit.
"It is my understanding that the insignia given to me by Sgt. Marsh is the oldest active emblem of its type in the armed forces, and traces its roots back to the 1700s," stated Johnson. "I will wear it proudly on my firesuit. I could tell what it means to the men of Sgt. Marsh's unit when he gave it to me, and I hope to give it a ride worthy of its tremendous heritage."
The Johnson crew enters this event on a mission, as The Strip at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway is the only stop on the POWERade Drag Racing circuit where "The Professor" has yet to reach the winner's circle. In order to accomplish their goal, they must steer clear of the incidental items and unusual misfortune that befell them in Houston. Armed with a fast race car and a solid game plan, they are cautiously optimistic heading into the Silver State.
"Our final numbers haven't necessarily shown it, but the incrementals tell us the performance is there," said Johnson. "We’ve done our homework at the shop, and everyone on the crew is doing their job - we just need to start clicking a little bit better on race day. It's not that anyone is being lax, we're just in one of those unusual situations where we're having unusual parts failures. For example, Kurt lost due a problem with a one-cent O-ring, and I had a ring and pinion gear break for the first time in 19 years.
"But we're not about to let that deter us. We'll just work harder, doing everything we can to help put our GM Performance Parts GTO in the winner's circle on Sunday night. I may not have won yet in Vegas, but there is a first time for everything. As they say in the Air Force, we're aiming high."
Quick Notes on Warren Johnson & the GM Performance Parts GTO team entering the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals:
WJ to Attend LVMS Autograph Session: Warren will be taking part in The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway's pre-race autograph session, which will be held from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 6 at the ESPN Zone, which is located in the New York, New York Hotel and Casino on Las Vegas Boulevard.
Las Vegas is the Missing Link in The Professor's Chain: This will be Warren's 12th career race at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In his previous nine starts, he has two final round appearances in 2000 & 2002, making it the only stop on the POWERade Drag Racing tour where he has yet to win. Overall, WJ has a 10-9 elimination round record on The Strip for a .526 win percentage
Warren's Qualifying Stats on The Strip: In nine Las Vegas starts, WJ has one No. 1 qualifying performance (at this event one year ago), and a 5.89 average starting position, with seven starts in the top half of the field.
One Year Ago: Warren was the No. 1 qualifier with a 6.824-second elapsed time with a top speed of 201.46 mph, and advanced to the semifinals.
Career Best Elapsed Time: 6.679 seconds, Gainesville, FL, 3/20/05
Career best top speed: 207.50 mph, Englishtown, NJ, 6/19/05
Event Schedule:
Friday, April 7: Two qualifying sessions at 3:00 & 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 8: Two qualifying sessions at 12:00 noon & 3:00 p.m.
Sunday, April 9: Pre-race ceremonies starting at 10:00 a.m.
First Round of Eliminations at 11:00 a.m.
Television Coverage:
Qualifying: Saturday, April 8: 8:00 - 10:00 p.m.
Eliminations: Sunday, April 9: 7:00 - 10:00 p.m.
NHRA2Day: Sunday, April 9: 11:30 a.m. - 12:00 noon
(All times Eastern. Please check your local listings for exact broadcast times in your area.)
posted by David @ 11:55 PM
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Vandergriff Advances to Houston Quarterfinals
Baytown, Tex. (April 2)- For the second race in a row, Bob Vandergriff Jr. advanced to the quarterfinal round at the O'Rielly NHRA Springnationals at Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Tex. on Sunday afternoon. Vandergriff, of Alpharetta, Ga., and the UPS Top Fuel team drew opponent Doug Kalitta in the first round of elimination's. The Jim Dupuy-tuned dragster posted a 4.692 second blast at 312.71 mph to defeat Kalitta.
Vandergriff met up with Melanie Troxel in the second round, only to fall prey to the eventual finalist after he lost traction and smoked the tires.
"After the first round, we made a change to try and pick the car up in the beginning of the racetrack, and it proved to be to too much," Vandergriff said. The car just didn't like it. It's just another part of the learning curve with this new tire and new team. We don't have any information to draw on and make changes. What we thought was going to be a small change turned out to be a much larger change than we thought. We made a couple of good runs over the weekend, but we are still growing as a team. We'll regroup and head to Las Vegas."
Leaving the Houston race, Vandergriff moves up to 13th position in the NHRA POWERade championship points chase.
The next stop for Team UPS will be the Summitracing.com Nationals at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, April 7-9.
Ken Sklute
Vandergriff Motorsports Public Relations
www.RacersEdgePhotography.com
Vandergriff met up with Melanie Troxel in the second round, only to fall prey to the eventual finalist after he lost traction and smoked the tires.
"After the first round, we made a change to try and pick the car up in the beginning of the racetrack, and it proved to be to too much," Vandergriff said. The car just didn't like it. It's just another part of the learning curve with this new tire and new team. We don't have any information to draw on and make changes. What we thought was going to be a small change turned out to be a much larger change than we thought. We made a couple of good runs over the weekend, but we are still growing as a team. We'll regroup and head to Las Vegas."
Leaving the Houston race, Vandergriff moves up to 13th position in the NHRA POWERade championship points chase.
The next stop for Team UPS will be the Summitracing.com Nationals at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, April 7-9.
Ken Sklute
Vandergriff Motorsports Public Relations
www.RacersEdgePhotography.com
posted by David @ 12:19 AM
Sunday, April 02, 2006
BAZEMORE OUT EARLY IN HOUSTON
DON SCHUMACHER RACING
Contact: Judy Stropus
BAYTOWN, Texas (April 2, 2006) - Whit Bazemore and crew chief Brian Corradi are baffled by the difficulty they've encountered in tuning the Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car lately, based in some part on adapting to the newly-mandated tire by NHRA.
This was evidenced this weekend at the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals, where Bazemore produced two of four sound qualifying runs for No. 9, then experienced tire shake in first round of eliminations, losing to Tony Pedregon (6.819/137.85 to Pedregon's 4.869/316.67).
"It's very disappointing," said Bazemore. "The Matco Tools Dodge Charger just didn't make it through the 1.5 (-second) problem area that we've had, and it shook and smoked the tires. It didn't recover either; it's like the tire had oil on it.
"For us, right now, the way we run our car the car has no traction. If it shakes just a little too much it won't make it. It should have recovered easily and it didn't. We still wouldn't have won.
"The Matco Tools Dodge team has made good progress, but we struggled. Right now it's very, very frustrating because we are making progress, but we're not getting the results. And the progress we've made deserves better results.
"I told Brian the other day. We can't worry about winning rounds; we just have to get our car to run good and it's running a lot better than it was. When the car runs well the results are going to come. The problem is the tune-up window is so small that we can't tune it."
Bazemore is 12th in the Funny Car point standings.
Next up is the NHRA Summitracing.com Nationals at 'The Strip' at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, April 6-9.
Contact: Judy Stropus
BAYTOWN, Texas (April 2, 2006) - Whit Bazemore and crew chief Brian Corradi are baffled by the difficulty they've encountered in tuning the Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car lately, based in some part on adapting to the newly-mandated tire by NHRA.
This was evidenced this weekend at the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals, where Bazemore produced two of four sound qualifying runs for No. 9, then experienced tire shake in first round of eliminations, losing to Tony Pedregon (6.819/137.85 to Pedregon's 4.869/316.67).
"It's very disappointing," said Bazemore. "The Matco Tools Dodge Charger just didn't make it through the 1.5 (-second) problem area that we've had, and it shook and smoked the tires. It didn't recover either; it's like the tire had oil on it.
"For us, right now, the way we run our car the car has no traction. If it shakes just a little too much it won't make it. It should have recovered easily and it didn't. We still wouldn't have won.
"The Matco Tools Dodge team has made good progress, but we struggled. Right now it's very, very frustrating because we are making progress, but we're not getting the results. And the progress we've made deserves better results.
"I told Brian the other day. We can't worry about winning rounds; we just have to get our car to run good and it's running a lot better than it was. When the car runs well the results are going to come. The problem is the tune-up window is so small that we can't tune it."
Bazemore is 12th in the Funny Car point standings.
Next up is the NHRA Summitracing.com Nationals at 'The Strip' at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, April 6-9.
posted by David @ 10:51 PM
CAPPS CONTINUES TO ROLL, WINS HIS SECOND STRAIGHT FUNNY CAR RACE IN HOUSTON
DON SCHUMACHER RACING
Contact: Judy Stropus
BAYTOWN, Texas (April 2, 2006) - Ron Capps claimed his second straight 2006 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car win today at the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway, padding his points lead to 68 over John Force, whom he defeated in the semifinal round.
Capps, of Carlsbad, Calif., captured his 19th career win, 18th in Funny Car, in 40 final rounds, and matched his crew chief Ed "Ace" McCulloch's win record as a Funny Car driver from the 1970s through early 1990s.
The final-round match-up saw Bob Gilbertson, Capps' guest at the Supercross event in Houston Saturday night, go up in smoke, as Capps was there for the taking with his slowest elapsed time of eliminations, a 5.005/203.47.
En route to the finals, Frank Pedregon was Capps' first victim, as the driver of the Brut Dodge Stratus defeated him with a 4.845-second pass at 316.38 mph. Del Worsham was the next to fall to Capps' path of consistency in eliminations, which is becoming his trademark this season, losing to Capps' 4.820/321.42.
Without lane choice in the semifinal, Capps eliminated 13-time champion John Force, the casualty of his final-round victory at the last event in Gainesville, Fla. Capps' round-win record over Force now stands at 13-37, with Capps winning the last six of their nine meetings. Capps ousted Force with a 4.849/317.64 to Force's 4.985/306.26.
"I'm still kind of in shock," said Capps, who struggled to qualify in the top half this weekend, but ended up No. 4 in the last session. "We looked at the ladder this morning and saw what could happen. You spend all Saturday night looking at the ladder and hypothetically going over every single scenario. We knew Force was on our side and knew Del was going to be second round if we got by our first round, which was going to be tough. Every round is tough.
"Sometimes these guys put up these big numbers through qualifying, and we did what we did to qualify that last run on Saturday and get in with the .76. And somebody runs hard and throws a big number up, and for a second you kind of worry, like, 'Can we do that? But I've always had faith on race day and sure enough once again, Ace did it.
"Force ran a 4.76 the round before, had lane choice. In fact, Del did too. When I raced Del he had lane choice over a tenth on us and we went down what was considered the bad lane and ran an .82.
"We had a hurt motor (in the final) and I knew it. I did the burnout, and I backed up and I was telling my guys, It's not good . So I was picturing it was going to go away, which it did at half-track. I couldn't lift so there was a chance we would get an oildown (penalty) if it hurt itself. We didn't get an oildown, it didn't spray oil, but it just started going away really bad. We'll find out what the problem was.
"That was a weird final round, to step on the throttle and have it go away at half-track and knowing that I had to stay on the gas to get the victory, at the same time not wanting to hurt yourself or get caught on fire. It was just a grueling day."
Ed McCulloch, almost apologetic, had this to say: "Well I don't know what to say, but we drew a little out of the luck bank there in the final round. It wasn't real pretty, and I'm not real proud of it. We'll take the win any way we can get it. It was big racing Force in the semifinals, and this whole deal is all about points. It doesn't matter how you get them, the bottom line is that you have to get them. This team has pulled through and endured. At Gainesville we had trouble in qualifying and we pulled through it, and here we had some problems early on and we recovered. To me, that just shows a good group of guys who have their stuff together."
As for Capps matching his win record: "Well if that makes us equal, he's a better man than I am. He's got a long ways to go; it's not even close," said McCulloch.
Don Schumacher Racing scored its second straight double-win of the season, with Angelle Sampey also winning back-to-back events today in Pro Stock Motorcycle.
Next up is the NHRA Summitracing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway April 7-9.
FUNNY CAR POINT STANDINGS:
1. Ron Capps, 395
2. John Force, 327
3. Robert Hight, 258
4. Phil Burkart Jr., 249
5. Eric Medlen, 221
6. Tommy Johnson Jr., 214
7. Del Worsham, 213
8. Bob Gilbertson, 205
9. Tonyi Pedregon, 174
10. Cruz Pedregon, 171
Contact: Judy Stropus
BAYTOWN, Texas (April 2, 2006) - Ron Capps claimed his second straight 2006 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car win today at the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway, padding his points lead to 68 over John Force, whom he defeated in the semifinal round.
Capps, of Carlsbad, Calif., captured his 19th career win, 18th in Funny Car, in 40 final rounds, and matched his crew chief Ed "Ace" McCulloch's win record as a Funny Car driver from the 1970s through early 1990s.
The final-round match-up saw Bob Gilbertson, Capps' guest at the Supercross event in Houston Saturday night, go up in smoke, as Capps was there for the taking with his slowest elapsed time of eliminations, a 5.005/203.47.
En route to the finals, Frank Pedregon was Capps' first victim, as the driver of the Brut Dodge Stratus defeated him with a 4.845-second pass at 316.38 mph. Del Worsham was the next to fall to Capps' path of consistency in eliminations, which is becoming his trademark this season, losing to Capps' 4.820/321.42.
Without lane choice in the semifinal, Capps eliminated 13-time champion John Force, the casualty of his final-round victory at the last event in Gainesville, Fla. Capps' round-win record over Force now stands at 13-37, with Capps winning the last six of their nine meetings. Capps ousted Force with a 4.849/317.64 to Force's 4.985/306.26.
"I'm still kind of in shock," said Capps, who struggled to qualify in the top half this weekend, but ended up No. 4 in the last session. "We looked at the ladder this morning and saw what could happen. You spend all Saturday night looking at the ladder and hypothetically going over every single scenario. We knew Force was on our side and knew Del was going to be second round if we got by our first round, which was going to be tough. Every round is tough.
"Sometimes these guys put up these big numbers through qualifying, and we did what we did to qualify that last run on Saturday and get in with the .76. And somebody runs hard and throws a big number up, and for a second you kind of worry, like, 'Can we do that? But I've always had faith on race day and sure enough once again, Ace did it.
"Force ran a 4.76 the round before, had lane choice. In fact, Del did too. When I raced Del he had lane choice over a tenth on us and we went down what was considered the bad lane and ran an .82.
"We had a hurt motor (in the final) and I knew it. I did the burnout, and I backed up and I was telling my guys, It's not good . So I was picturing it was going to go away, which it did at half-track. I couldn't lift so there was a chance we would get an oildown (penalty) if it hurt itself. We didn't get an oildown, it didn't spray oil, but it just started going away really bad. We'll find out what the problem was.
"That was a weird final round, to step on the throttle and have it go away at half-track and knowing that I had to stay on the gas to get the victory, at the same time not wanting to hurt yourself or get caught on fire. It was just a grueling day."
Ed McCulloch, almost apologetic, had this to say: "Well I don't know what to say, but we drew a little out of the luck bank there in the final round. It wasn't real pretty, and I'm not real proud of it. We'll take the win any way we can get it. It was big racing Force in the semifinals, and this whole deal is all about points. It doesn't matter how you get them, the bottom line is that you have to get them. This team has pulled through and endured. At Gainesville we had trouble in qualifying and we pulled through it, and here we had some problems early on and we recovered. To me, that just shows a good group of guys who have their stuff together."
As for Capps matching his win record: "Well if that makes us equal, he's a better man than I am. He's got a long ways to go; it's not even close," said McCulloch.
Don Schumacher Racing scored its second straight double-win of the season, with Angelle Sampey also winning back-to-back events today in Pro Stock Motorcycle.
Next up is the NHRA Summitracing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway April 7-9.
FUNNY CAR POINT STANDINGS:
1. Ron Capps, 395
2. John Force, 327
3. Robert Hight, 258
4. Phil Burkart Jr., 249
5. Eric Medlen, 221
6. Tommy Johnson Jr., 214
7. Del Worsham, 213
8. Bob Gilbertson, 205
9. Tonyi Pedregon, 174
10. Cruz Pedregon, 171
posted by David @ 10:48 PM
Bernstein, Capps, Edwards and Sampey Win the NHRA POWERade O'Reilly Spring Nationals presented by Pennzoil
posted by David @ 5:28 PM
WJ's Hopes of a Repeat are Shattered Early in Houston
Contact: Jon Knapp
TMG Sports Marketing, Inc.
Warren Johnson entered Sunday's final eliminations of the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals looking to defend his Pro Stock title from a year ago. After qualifying 11th, things seemed to be going as planned for the GM Performance Parts GTO Racing team in the early stages of the first round, as "The Professor" grabbed the advantage by nearly five hundredths at the starting line.
However, within moments, Johnson's charge was suddenly slowed to a crawl by an unusual mechanical failure, allowing his opponent to overcome his lead and drive on for the win.
"With the jump I had at the start, all I had to run was a 6.751 to win, which should have been easily attainable given the way our GM Performance Parts GTO had been running. It was going straight until it broke the rear end just as I was putting it into second gear. We haven't broken a rear end since 1987 in the first round at Atlanta. The unit we ran today only had ten or eleven runs on it, and looked fine when we checked it last night. I guess my X-Ray vision just wasn't working as well as it should.
"I tend to look at the big picture, so I guess our misfortune today balances out the good luck we had in Phoenix. We'll put a fresh ring and pinion in it and do a little testing to make sure everything else is working properly so we can get after it in Las Vegas next weekend."
TMG Sports Marketing, Inc.
Warren Johnson entered Sunday's final eliminations of the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals looking to defend his Pro Stock title from a year ago. After qualifying 11th, things seemed to be going as planned for the GM Performance Parts GTO Racing team in the early stages of the first round, as "The Professor" grabbed the advantage by nearly five hundredths at the starting line.
However, within moments, Johnson's charge was suddenly slowed to a crawl by an unusual mechanical failure, allowing his opponent to overcome his lead and drive on for the win.
"With the jump I had at the start, all I had to run was a 6.751 to win, which should have been easily attainable given the way our GM Performance Parts GTO had been running. It was going straight until it broke the rear end just as I was putting it into second gear. We haven't broken a rear end since 1987 in the first round at Atlanta. The unit we ran today only had ten or eleven runs on it, and looked fine when we checked it last night. I guess my X-Ray vision just wasn't working as well as it should.
"I tend to look at the big picture, so I guess our misfortune today balances out the good luck we had in Phoenix. We'll put a fresh ring and pinion in it and do a little testing to make sure everything else is working properly so we can get after it in Las Vegas next weekend."
posted by David @ 5:02 PM
Freak Failure Cuts KJ's Day Short in Baytown
Contact: Jon Knapp
TMG Sports Marketing, Inc.
After qualifying fifth for Sunday's final eliminations of the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals, Kurt Johnson and his ACDelco Cobalt Racing team looked to parlay their consistent performance into their third career win at Houston Raceway Park. However, their day ended before it even began, as an unusual mechanical malfunction forced Johnson's car across the starting line early, handing the automatic win to their opponent, David Connolly.
"We were having a great weekend until the first round. Our ACDelco Cobalt had been consistent, making good runs, and we seemed to have a handle on adjusting it for the conditions.
"Our problems started when the line-lock broke on the burnout. Even so, it still gave me enough pressure that I felt I could stage. However, when I put it on the rev limiter, it went right to the high side chip, putting the engine at 10,000 rpm, which dragged me over the starting line. It was one of those freakish things, but I guess if you do this long enough, you're going to experience it all.
"The hardest part is that we honestly felt our ACDelco Cobalt was capable of winning today. If I hadn't run well, been late off the line, or had just gotten beat, it would have been hard to take, but to not even go down the track is just frustrating.
"I don’t know what we have to do to win a round, but we're not about to give up. We're going to test tomorrow, make sure we fixed today's problem, and get ready to come out with both guns blazing in Vegas."
TMG Sports Marketing, Inc.
After qualifying fifth for Sunday's final eliminations of the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals, Kurt Johnson and his ACDelco Cobalt Racing team looked to parlay their consistent performance into their third career win at Houston Raceway Park. However, their day ended before it even began, as an unusual mechanical malfunction forced Johnson's car across the starting line early, handing the automatic win to their opponent, David Connolly.
"We were having a great weekend until the first round. Our ACDelco Cobalt had been consistent, making good runs, and we seemed to have a handle on adjusting it for the conditions.
"Our problems started when the line-lock broke on the burnout. Even so, it still gave me enough pressure that I felt I could stage. However, when I put it on the rev limiter, it went right to the high side chip, putting the engine at 10,000 rpm, which dragged me over the starting line. It was one of those freakish things, but I guess if you do this long enough, you're going to experience it all.
"The hardest part is that we honestly felt our ACDelco Cobalt was capable of winning today. If I hadn't run well, been late off the line, or had just gotten beat, it would have been hard to take, but to not even go down the track is just frustrating.
"I don’t know what we have to do to win a round, but we're not about to give up. We're going to test tomorrow, make sure we fixed today's problem, and get ready to come out with both guns blazing in Vegas."
posted by David @ 4:59 PM
VANDERGRIFF BEGINS ELIMINATIONS FROM No. 15
Baytown, TX., (April 1)- Bob Vandergriff Jr. is looking at starting his third race of the season from the No. 15 position on the 23 race NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.
Vandergriff, fresh off a career best 4.52 second run at the NHRA Gatornationals two weeks ago, struggled a bit in the hot, humid Texas climate. The Alpharetta, GA. Based UPS team ran a 4.665 second pass in the final qualifying round to move into the 15th slot, drawing opponent Doug Kalitta in the opening stanza.
"We are a bit disappointed after such a good performance in Gainesville," Vandergriff said. "We thought we'd do a lot better than we have. We need more runs and more information. What we thought was going to work didn't. We need to find out why it didn't. We've only had 10 runs to the finish line so far this season. That's not a lot. We're taking information and making educated guesses. Add to that the curve ball with the new tire (the Goodyear 2420) we are struggling with it since it doesn't seem to react like the old tire. During elimination's we'll try and make a good guess and try and figure out what caused it to do what it did and win a round and keep going."
Crew chief Jim Dupuy recognizes that so far it has been a struggle. "We are trying to figure out what the car likes," explains Dupuy. "We haven't gotten there yet. It keeps getting better though. Hopefully we can improve on that in the first round against Kalitta. The new tire seems to require a lot of finessing in the one-second to 1.2 second range. It's really finicky."
Sundays eliminations begin at 11 AM and will be telived on ESPN2 beginning at 4 PM E.D.T.
Ken Sklute
Vandergriff Motorsports Public Relations
www.RacersEdgePhotography.com
Vandergriff, fresh off a career best 4.52 second run at the NHRA Gatornationals two weeks ago, struggled a bit in the hot, humid Texas climate. The Alpharetta, GA. Based UPS team ran a 4.665 second pass in the final qualifying round to move into the 15th slot, drawing opponent Doug Kalitta in the opening stanza.
"We are a bit disappointed after such a good performance in Gainesville," Vandergriff said. "We thought we'd do a lot better than we have. We need more runs and more information. What we thought was going to work didn't. We need to find out why it didn't. We've only had 10 runs to the finish line so far this season. That's not a lot. We're taking information and making educated guesses. Add to that the curve ball with the new tire (the Goodyear 2420) we are struggling with it since it doesn't seem to react like the old tire. During elimination's we'll try and make a good guess and try and figure out what caused it to do what it did and win a round and keep going."
Crew chief Jim Dupuy recognizes that so far it has been a struggle. "We are trying to figure out what the car likes," explains Dupuy. "We haven't gotten there yet. It keeps getting better though. Hopefully we can improve on that in the first round against Kalitta. The new tire seems to require a lot of finessing in the one-second to 1.2 second range. It's really finicky."
Sundays eliminations begin at 11 AM and will be telived on ESPN2 beginning at 4 PM E.D.T.
Ken Sklute
Vandergriff Motorsports Public Relations
www.RacersEdgePhotography.com
posted by David @ 4:56 PM
