In a rematch of last year's final round, NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car driver Sean O'Bannon and the
Jack O'Bannon Racing/Forest River RV's backed team logged their second career national event
runner-up during this past weekend's O'Reilly Summer Nationals at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kan.
The showing moved him to sixth in national standings.
O'Bannon, 31, of Ontario, Calif., qualified his Jeff Lirones tuned '08 Chevy Monte Carlo sixth in
the field with a 5.691 second elapsed time at 256.11 mph. In round one, he defeated fellow West
Coast racer Clint Thompson in a close race with a 5.706 at 255.82 mph, then saw Jay Payne foul out
against him while he streaked to a 5.650 at 256.55 mph. He then took out upset-minded Chris Foster
in the semifinals with a 5.696 at 253.56 mph to set up a rematch of last year's final with Steve
Harker.
O'Bannon grabbed the jump off the line, but slowed to a 5.722 at 253.37, which couldn't hold off
Harker's 5.656 at 253.47 mph.
"We would have liked to get our first win, but this was a great weekend for our team," said
O'Bannon. "Jeff is really doing a great job with the tune-up. He's turned the car into a bracket
car, and the results are showing. The air kept getting worse as the day went on, so that's part of
the reason why we slowed. With the cars that were there, we definitely don't have anything to hang
our head about coming out with a runner-up. If we can keep doing what we're doing and pick up a
little here and there, our first win will come."
"We're very happy to make a strong showing and reach the finals for Forest River RV's, Lubrication
Engineers and Fontana Wood Products," O'Bannon added.
The Jack O'Bannon Racing/Forest River RV's team was originally scheduled to make the trip to
Chicago to represent Division 6 in the Jeg's Sportsman All-Stars event, but was forced to cancel
the trip due to business commitments. The team's next outing will be at the Division 7 Lucas Oil
Drag Racing Series event at Top Gun Raceway in Fallon, Nev., Jun. 11-14. O'Bannon currently leads
Division 7 standings.
To find out more about the Jack O'Bannon Racing Team, visit their website at www.JackOBannonRacing.com
To find out more about Jack O'Bannon Racing's quality partners, visit these websites:
www.ForestRiverInc.com - Find out more
about America's largest producer of towable RV's and Cargo Trailers
www.LE-Inc.com - Lubrication Engineers -
"Leaders in Lubrication"
