Robert Patrick came into the ADRL Dragstock event at Rockingham Dragway knowing that he would be in
a battle for the final available spot in the championship-determining Speedtech Battle for the Belt
with Cary Goforth.
Goforth brought a four point lead into the event and after two sessions of Extreme Pro Stock on
Friday, the Fredericksburg, Va.-based Patrick made up two of them by qualifying two spots higher in
the provisional field. His 4.113 elapsed time placed his as fifth, just under .03 behind the No. 1.
Patrick's run came during the evening session.
"We just totally missed it," Patrick admitted, referencing his first qualifying attempt on Friday.
"We backed it way down and got down the track. It was soft and we were the first pair down the
track after a major oildown. I'll take what the track provided us with."
Three sessions were originally scheduled for Friday, but unfortunate delays and the threat of dew
later in the evening forced race officials to cut a session.
"There is room for improvement," Patrick added. "If we had run later in the session and let the
track heal a little in the middle from the oildown, we might have had more on the run. I think we
might have had enough to be=2 0in the top two."
Patrick hopes that history will repeat itself considering he's gone from slow in the field at the
past two races to the top position on the final run.
"I hope we are coming into our stride at the right time," Patrick concluded.
