It wasn't the way Raymond Commisso wanted to follow up his record-setting win at Englishtown, N.J.,
but the Toronto native was happy none-the-less as his teammate Roger Burgess won the Get Screened
America Pro Mod Challenge presented by ProCare Rx event at the Mac Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals.
After struggling to get down the track in the rain-shortened qualifying sessions, Commisso landed
18th for a 16-car field. His 6.131 at 241.97 mph would have qualified for every other U.S.
Nationals field in any previous year, but the competition ran the bump spot to a 6.120.
"Of course I'm disappointed about my performance, but I'm ecstatic for the team and for Roger,"
Commisso said. "He deserves the win because he worked so hard for it all weekend, and when he
dedicated the victory to the memory of our friend, Bobby Monacelli, who died last month, it was
just awesome. A great way to end a very long weekend.
"For me, it's frustrating, because we tested this car a lot before the race, and every time, it ran
straight and true. When we got here, though, we lost something and we didn't have enough runs to
find it.
"Any time you lose rounds to scheduling and weather like we did this weekend, it makes the rounds
that much more important. We just didn't have it this weekend. I'd like to have had another chance,
because I think we found our problem, but, it wasn't in the cards for this race," he said.
"We'll head over to Charlotte and get ready for that event, and hopefully we'll get down the track
and run the kind of numbers we know we can. Until then, we'll celebrate as a team for Roger and in
memory of Bobby," Commisso said.
