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RECTOR RACES SMART
Rector clinched the title just by qualifying with his
first attempt of the weekend and parked his Holbrook Performance Parts
Camaro for the three remaining qualifying sessions in order to avoid
oiling the track, suffering points penalties, and "unclinching" the
championship. "I had a couple of guys over here calling me a wimp for
not going out again," Rector said on Saturday morning. "But I just told
them, 'I'd rather be a wimp than stupid. That car's not going anywhere."
On Sunday, Rector beat Chris Foster handily in the opening
round of eliminations, and looked set to race alternate qualifier Philip
Hooper when his car inexplicably wouldn't fire before the burnout. It
turned out that a screw that holds a part of the supercharger's rotors
together backed out and jammed the blower.
"We came here to win the championship and the race, but
a two-cent part cost us the race," Rector explained. "But at least we
won the big one; we won the championship."
SWEDES AT SPEED
The top-two finishers for the last two years in the European
Pro Mod Association were at Rockingham, attempting to break into the
quickest doorslammer field ever assembled.
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| Hakan Nilsson's 1968 Camaro is powered by
a nitrous-assisted 706 c.i. Gene Fulton-bred creation. His sponsor
sells mechanic supplies in Europe. |
The 1968 Camaro of last year's runner-up and 2002 champion
Hakan Nilsson didn't arrive in this country until the Thursday before
the race, so before heading to Rockingham, he had time for only a couple
of test hops at Darlington to make sure the car survived the trip.
Nilsson, from Eslov, Sweden, managed a best pass of 6.450
at 207.98 that was good enough for only 36th out of 47 Pro Mod attempted
qualifiers. Nilsson is the reigning European Pro Mod champ, but said
he didn't have enough time to adjust his setup to the much grippier
U.S. track surfaces. Meanwhile, last season's champ and this year's
second-place finisher, Patrick Wikstrom, fared a little better at The
Rock, going 6.374 at 220.44 mph, but still only good enough for 29th
on the qualifying list. Wikstrom also tested at Darlington early in
the week before the race, but like Nilsson he found the track grip here
to be a challenge for his usual set up.
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