Sat, 10 Nov 2001, 08:49 PM John Lingenfelter's GMC Sonoma Sets National Speed Record At NHRA Finals

Courtesy of Jeff Romack, GM Racing Communications

POMONA, Calif. -- John Lingenfelter drove his GMC Sonoma to the national speed record at the NHRA Finals today at Pomona Raceway and claimed his second consecutive No. 1 qualifying spot. Lingenfelter's Summit Racing GMC ran a track-record 7.399 seconds at 182.75 mph to take the top starting position. Lingenfelter was also the No. 1 qualifier at the category's last national event in Dallas, Tex.

"We're just tickled to get the national record," said Lingenfelter. "We improved in every qualifying session this weekend. Everyone in the class is right there together so any one of the top 16 qualifiers could win this race tomorrow. We've come a long way since the beginning of the season, and have constantly been working on little things to make this Summit Racing Sonoma faster. During the summer break, we did quite of bit of work on the chassis and got a lot of help from Ed Quay. It would be nice to win this last Pro Stock Truck event, and so far this weekend things seem to be going our way."

Bob Panella Jr. had the quickest Chevy S-10 of the weekend taking the No. 2 qualifying spot with a 7.427 elapsed time at 181.89 mph. Randy Daniels is qualified third, Todd Patterson is fourth and Don Smith is fifth.