After qualifying for his first NHRA Pro Stock race in more than a year, Dave Northrop is going for
two-in-a-row Friday when Thunder Valley Nationals qualifying begins at Bristol Dragway.
The experience is something he'd like to see develop into a habit worth keeping.
"I'm really looking forward to racing at Bristol," said Northrop, a part-time racer from Perkasie,
Pa. "We should be in much better shape this weekend because Eddie (Guarnaccia, crew chief on Kenny
Koretsky's Nitro Fish/ ISC Racers Tape/ISC Salesmaster Corp. Dodge) had an opportunity to test the
car the day after our last race at St. Louis (May 4). "He said he learned quite a bit about the
car and David Nickens' motors that should help us."
This time around, the team hopes to have all four qualifying attempts to develop a solid tune-up
for the Bristol track.
"We were fortunate to get into the starting line-up the last time because we only had two
qualifying runs because of rain," Northrop pointed out, "so it will be nice to get all four so we
can see how we stack up against the other guys."
Guarnaccia, meanwhile, said he planned to "do a couple of things with the car. We made a good run
in testing, but it could've been better. We had good power and we'll just have to get more
aggressive in qualifying. I'm also hoping we'll get all four runs. We can definitely use them."
Good fortune followed Northrop at St. Louis because he claimed the No. 16 starting position by
five-thousandths of a second.
Northrop is one of two Nitro Fish drivers competing at Bristol. The other is Funny Car driver Tony
Pedregon.
"I like going to Bristol," said Koretsky, of Richboro, Pa. "Bruton Smith built a great race track
and they have a lot of drag racing fans. I'm happy Eddie is making progress with the car and we
hope it continues this weekend. We'd like to see Dave win a round or two on Sunday.
"Tony is in third place and his car has been running well."
Bristol qualifying schedule:
Friday: 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, 12:30 and 3 p.m.
Sunday eliminations, noon
Television schedule
ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD, all times EDT
Saturday: qualifying coverage, two hours, 6 p.m. Sunday: NHRA Today, 30-minute pre-race show, 11
a.m.; eliminations coverage, three hours, 30 minutes, 7 p.m.
