Bill Reichert and his Rislone Engine Treatment Top Alcohol
Dragster team have become a veritable freight train in NHRA Top Alcohol
competition this year, in more ways than one. Not only does Reichert's
Michigan-based dragster seem to be on rails more often than not, but the
team seems to be nearly unstoppable and plenty consistent as the 2009
season winds down. But for all the apparent similarities, as Reichert
points out, "freight trains don't do wheelies."
Reichert and his Rislone Engine Treatment team, who call Owosso, MI home,
came into the NHRA Carolinas Nationals in Concord, NC (near Charlotte)
with their sights set on one thing, and one thing only: winning. If
qualifying second and pulling off a 1,000ft wheelie in the first round of
eliminations happened, then so much the better. Well, so much better it
was.
ZMax Dragway played host to the second annual event, which suffered from
periodic rainstorms over the course of the weekend. Thanks in part to
said rain, Reichert would be limited to a single qualifying pass, and
while that might normally phase other racers, Reichert was unmoved and
turned in an impressive qualifying effort that netted him the number two
spot heading into eliminations.
Reichert would approach the starting line unopposed for the first round of
eliminations, as his competitor could not make the call. This would have
no effect on the aggressiveness of Reichert's tune-up on the car, however,
as his Rislone machine would mercilessly yank the front tires into the air
almost immediately upon leaving the starting line. Reichert's remedy for
the situation was a liberal application of throttle, a dosage that would
net him an elapsed time of 5.238sec at 265.22mph, the fastest time of the
weekend thus far. Reichert's gutsy pass down the strip in Concord would
grace many a highlight reels in the days and weeks to come.
The second round would be far less eventful for Reichert, as he would
overcome a small disadvantage at the starting line en route to a solid win
Darvin Martinets, Reichert's winning 5.315 easily eclipsing Martinets'
5.595.
Reichert would continue his winning streak on into the semi finals, where
he would knock off challenger Arthur Gallant, the Rislone Engine Treatment
machine checking in with a winning time of 5.355 to Gallant's losing
5.490. With that win in the books, it was time for Reichert to charge
headlong into the finals and attempt to bring home yet another Wally.
The storylines surrounding the finals were many, not the least of which
the fact that the finals would be a re-match from the previous year's race
in Concord, as Reichert would square off against none other than Ken
Perry. This would mark Reichert's 40th career final round appearance, an
impressive feat no doubt. But perhaps even more impressive than that was
the fact that, with a 5.270sec trip down the quarter mile, Bill Reichert
claimed his 20th career national event win in NHRA competition. With the
win, Reichert and his team reclaimed the lead in Top Alcohol points,
giving them a welcome boost in momentum heading into the last few races of
the season.
"We really didn't make any mistakes all weekend long," said Reichert in a
post-race interview. "The car ran good, there just isn't any other way to
put it. Even with the rain and only getting one qualifying session in,
this Rislone team did their homework, figured out what needed to be done,
and because of that we brought home another big win."
"Hey, we even made the highlight reels with a pretty cool wheelie too!" he
added, enthusiastically.
With a win in the books in Concord and their grip on the points lead once
again, Reichert and his team take a few short weeks off before heading
back down south to Reynolds, GA for a divisional NHRA race. From there,
the team looks down the home stretch of the season towards Las Vegas, and
the season finale in Pomona, CA. "We've had a fantastic season so far,
and so has the team that we are battling with for the championship,"
explained Reichert. "He has been relentless all year and as have we, so
at this point its just a matter of seeing how deep his talent pool is
versus ours. As strong as our Rislone team has been this year, I think it
is pretty clear we have a deep pool to work with."
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