Words by Ian Rae
Photos by Tim Marshall
4/26/06
Rookie Hughes Performance Pro Street racer Steve Paulauskis was on a roll at the PSCA event at The Strip at Las Vegas Motors Speedway. In the rescheduled Mickey Thompson Tires Winter Nationals run on April 21, Paulauskis advanced easily through the field before meeting up with arch-rival Ed Thornton in the semi-finals. In a battle of the black cars Thornton took a small starting line advantage and never gave it up, winning with a 6.575 to a 6.584 for a MOV of .0116.
Thornton then went on to win the rescheduled event, getting the win over Clinton Hairston, who ran into the guardrail.
Determined not to lose ground in the championship battle, Paulauskis then went into qualifying for the Deeds Performance Las Vegas Nationals and took the top qualifying spot for the third time this year. Against stiff opposition from multi-time champion Ed Thornton, Paulauskis and the WFO Motorsport team waited until the sun went down early Saturday evening before uncorking a 6.539 at 214.48 to claim the pole.
An excited Paulauskis said after the run, “This is amazing, we came into Pro Street hoping to be close to the front runners. The fact we can now run with the likes of Ed Thornton and the Extreme Speed team is all down to my fantastic crew. Kelly and Deb of WFO Racing and Machine and Larry Larson of Larson Race Cars make my job easy. I just point the thing where they put me. Hopefully it will be two black cars in the final and may the best man win. The fans are in for a big treat Sunday afternoon.”