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PARITY: FOUR BLOWER CARS & FOUR NITROUS CARS
QUALIFY
Sixteen cars showed up for the invitational event and when qualifying
was done the eight that qualified were evenly split between nitrous
cars and blower cars. Had the rains not caused a postponement, the first
round would have seen each of the four pairs feature a blown car vs
a nitrous car.
NEWS: NITROUS CARS STRUGGLE.
Despite a plethora of pre-season six-twenties in testing, the nitrous
contingent couldn't crack that zone at Gainesville. Steve Vick's '68
Camaro (above), which has run the most 6.20 laps in history and finished
fifth in IHRA points, had traction problems.
NOT NEWS: QUAIN PUTS MITCH OUT OF SHOW!
Mitch Stott, who finished third in IHRA points last year, was in the
show with a 6.345 until the last round when brother Quain put him out
with a 6.309/223 blast. Oh brother!
RICKIE SMITH JOINS ELITE CLUB!
Rickie Smith became the second Pro racer in history (as far as Drag
Racing Online is concerned) to qualify for two professional classes
at the same NHRA event by putting both his Mopar-backed Pro Stocker
and his Corvette Pro Modified in their respective fields. Interestingly
enough, the only other man to do so was Smith's current team owner Kenny
Koretsky.
Pro Mod was an invitational with 16 professional class cars trying
to make an eight car field with progressive prize money. That qualifies
as a Pro field in the DRO books.
FORCE, GRAHAM LIGHT MINGLE WITH THE TROOPS
According to several of the Pro Mod racers at Gainesville, NHRA VP Graham
Light took the time to go to each and every one of them at Gainesville
and personally thank them for coming and to welcome them to NHRA. A
very classy thing for NHRA to do. John Force also was seen in the Pro
Mod pits Saturday night after qualifying and spent quite a bit of time
in the Stott brothers pits. Force was heard to say later that he likes
the idea of getting involved in Pro Modified because he was told that
the Pro Mod racers didn't care how many cars he might have.
SOME TIDBITS FROM THE PITS…
…Wayne Torkelson told DRO that this might be the last race for
his venerable Ford Hemi-powered T-Bird. "My son drives now and he told
me that the T-Bird was for my generation so we have just about completed
a new Mustang for him to drive. But I'm not selling the T-Bird," Wayne
added, "we'll keep it just in case."
…Mike Castellana's '57 Chevy shoebox is powered by the same engine
that Shannon Jenkins used to win the 1999 IHRA Pro Mod Championship.
Most of the racers agreed that the sixty degree weather on Friday and
Saturday combined with a track temp in the seventies favored the blower
cars but when they get to "Hotlanta" and Bristol things would swing
in the favor of the nitrous cars.
…A rumor was floating around the pits that Mitch Stott was trying to
get John Force to drive his car. DRO wants to say "Amen" to that idea
- and where do we buy a ticket?
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