NHRA Photos & Quotes from
Chicago
Compiled by Ian Tocher
Photos by MIchael Fischbeck
6/14/05
The NHRA’s finest rolled into Route
66 Raceway June 10-12, for their first of two visits to
the Chicago-area strip this season. Winners at the 8th annual
CARQUEST Auto Parts Nationals included Scott Kalitta in
Top Fuel, Gary Scelzi in Funny Car, Jason Line in Pro Stock,
Chip Ellis in Pro Stock Bike, and Mike Ashley in Pro Mod.
As usual, the whole story can be learned from racer quotes
included in NHRA and team press releases.
TOP FUEL
"This car has a mind of its own. We've tried before
to set up all three team cars the same way, but mine just
does what it wants. After qualifying, we knew we wouldn't
win today running 4.58s and 4.60s, so we duplicated Doug's
setup, and today it took.” --
Scott Kalitta after beating Rod Fuller to earn his second
event win of the year
"All the CEOs from all our sponsors are here watching
with their families. ‘Pressure’ isn't a strong
enough word." -- Howard Weis,
crew chief for Scot Weis, on the more than 200 sponsors
and VIP guests the team entertained at Route 66
“When the car was staged I knew we were not in the
top 16, so what are you supposed to do? You squeeze that
loud pedal as hard as you can and try to get it to the other
end. It was on a decent run, until it blew up at about 1,000
feet.” -- T.J. Zizzo on losing
an engine and being 17th after two rounds of qualifying
"It's
nice to start number one, especially on the occasion of
the U.S. Army's 230th birthday celebration. Now, we have
to deliver the real present to our soldiers on race day
-- a win." -- Tony Schumacher
after his 4.508-second pass on Friday night held up to give
the Chicago-area resident his fourth pole of the season
"There's nothing wrong with going into final eliminations
on Sunday with momentum like that.” --
Doug Herbert on making four solid qualifying passes and
starting from the 5th position
