After falling to Kenny Rucker in the final round of last year's shootout, Carpenter was able to make it one round further and score his first race win in over two years.

"We decided it would be in our best interest to stay close to home and continue to work on our combination," said Carpenter. "This Thunder Jam race was a huge event last year and I knew it would be a great race again this year. It feels great to get back in the winner's circle after the tough season we've had."

Carpenter was the number one qualifier at the last Quick 8 Racers' Association race held at Farmington about a month ago, recording a 3.987 elapsed time. Using that data as a baseline, Carpenter beat the heat to put together a string of seven consecutive passes en route to the win. He also dipped into the 3's with a 3.999, the only car on the grounds to do so.

"It was brutally hot out there, but the track held up extremely well and we were able to make some adjustments to the car and find some consistency," Carpenter said. "We've still got some work to do, but I feel like we've taken some big steps in the right direction. On top of that, it was just an awesome Saturday night of racing in North Carolina in front of a great crowd and we were able to get a win."

The large, vocal crowd reacted loudly as Carpenter qualified second on the nitrous ladder with a 4.015, then recorded the 3.99 at over 186 MPH to defeat Josh Chester in round one. In the nitrous finals, Carpenter would face number one qualifier Travis Harvey in his impressive automatic Pro Mod. Harvey was out of the gate first and led the whole way until his transmission failed and allowed Carpenter to drive around for the win. That would set up a showdown between Carpenter and the winner of the blown side of the ladder, Charles Terrell, for the King of Carolina title.

Terrell was off the line first but Carpenter's hard-charging '55 quickly erased the advantage and powered by Terrell's Mustang with a 4.06 to Terrell's slowing 4.81.

"We've been to several final rounds and run really well with this new car, but we haven't been able to put it all together for a win in quite a while," Carpenter said. "To come in and grab the King of Carolina trophy is just a really cool deal. We'll continue to figure out our combination and get down into the middle and low 3.90s. That's where we've got to be to compete and that's our ultimate goal."

Carpenter will look to continue his success when he heads to another local hot spot, Orangeburg Dragstrip in Orangeburg, SC, this coming weekend for one of the track's popular Quick 8 races.

Charles Carpenter Racing would like to thank Doherty Motorsports, Total Induction Tuning Solutions, MagnaFuel, WFO Racing & Machine, Santhuff Suspension Specialties, Dennis Radford & Tom Hemphill, Custom Autosound, DMP Awnings, Hairy Glass, Pro Glass, TEK Headers, JAZ Products, Weld Racing, Stroud Safety, RJS Safety Equipment, Goodridge Hose & Fittings, Goodyear, Friction Unlimited, Lockwood Racing, Racepak, and VP Racing Fuels for their continued support.

Carpenter is actively seeking primary sponsorship for 2009. For more information about Charles Carpenter Racing and the World's Fastest '55 Chevy, or for a copy of the team's 2009 Marketing Partnership Guide, visit www.fastest55.com.

Courtesy of Michael Carpenter