 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
ENNIS, Texas - Friday's opening two rounds of professional qualifying at the National Hot Rod Association's Lone Star Nationals marked another successful day at the races for Team Pennzoil. All four drivers from the Pennzoil stable finished the day in prime position to make a run at a championship in their respective divisions and optimism was running high all along pit row. Here's the latest buzz from the yellow and black garage ... Eddie Hill, the driver of the Pennzoil Top Fuel Dragster, thrilled his adoring hometown fans in Friday's evening session with a 4.656-second pass at 311.95 mph. The picture-perfect run put Hill comfortably in third place. It also marked the all-time top speed of his stellar career. "The engine is real happy," Hill said with a smile. "This is the closest we've been to perfect since we started over with all brand-new stuff last year. It feels so good to see all of the dues we've been paying finally start to pay off." Showing consistency, Hill had carded a 4.703 pass in Friday's first-round. Hill, who lives in Wichita Falls, was well aware of the partisan crowd that roared their appreciation at the end of his spectacular run. "Can you believe these fans," Hill said. "I just watched the video of the run and you could hear them cheering over the noise of the engine. They make it all worthwhile. Just think how loud it will be if we win." Bruce Allen, the driver of the Outlaw Additives Pro Stock Pontiac Firebird, followed an afternoon 7.129-second pass with an evening run at 7.103 seconds. Despite the improvement, the Arlington resident has yet to qualify for Sunday's elimination rounds, missing the final spot by one-hundredths of a second. While disappointed with his first two runs and current position of 23rd, Allen remained optimistic about qualifying on Saturday. "The transmission got jammed in third gear," Allen said. "I was pounding on the shifter and it finally changed gears. If that hadn't happened we would have run at least a 7.05. But something breaks like that you can't get too upset because it's out of your control. We'll be fine." Mike Thomas, the driver of the brand-new Pennzoil Pro Stock Pontiac Firebird, continued his dream season with two solid runs of 7.089 seconds and 7.102 seconds. Like Allen, Thomas finished the day on the outside looking in as he is currently in the 17th position of the ultra-competitive division. "We had a slight problem with the clutch and it will be a longer night then we anticipated," Thomas said. "That adds a little pressure to tomorrow's two runs. But we'll definitely be there. This car has been running so well that I know we'll remain competitive. I'm glad the problem happened now so that we can fix it and get ready for the weekend."
Bill Kent, the driver of the sportsman-class Pennzoil Competition
Eliminator Dragster, finished his qualifying rounds on Friday evening in
the middle of the of a 32-car field that will start its elimination rounds on
Saturday. Kent's best elapsed time was 7.288 seconds, which was 0.0422 under
his index speed. "We had some tire shake on a couple of our qualifying runs so
we still have some minor adjustments left to make before I'll be happy," Kent
said. "The good news is that the field is so tight that we're still very close
to the leaders. If we can eliminate the shaking, we can win this event." Kent
will have no shortage of fan support at the Motorplex. He is a native Texan
who calls nearby Midland home.
|
|
Ready to take your order at 1-800-230-3030 | Customer Service 1-800-517-1035