“This is awesome. I can’t say enough about my crew and everyone that makes this happen,” Carpenter said. “To win one of these Iron Eagles is a feat in itself, but to win two in one season is incredible. We came in here on a mission to just get past the first round, which is something we hadn’t done since our win in Houston. I guess we just can’t stop once we get going!”

 

Carpenter’s tire-shaking qualifying effort Friday night left all the pressure on Saturday’s performance. Three separate thunderstorms on Saturday added to that pressure, and the tension mounted in the pits as track drying efforts left time for only one qualifying session instead of the usual two.

Leading up to Charles Carpenter’s trip to Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park in Norwalk, OH, all talk in the shop revolved around one thing: going rounds. Carpenter did more than just go rounds Saturday night, as he captured the Pro Nitrous crown at the inaugural Flowmaster ADRL Chevy Drags with a final round win over fellow North Carolinian Rod Houck. The win was Carpenter’s second ADRL national event victory of 2007 and fourth major win overall.

 

“This is awesome. I can’t say enough about my crew and everyone that makes this happen,” Carpenter said. “To win one of these Iron Eagles is a feat in itself, but to win two in one season is incredible. We came in here on a mission to just get past the first round, which is something we hadn’t done since our win in Houston. I guess we just can’t stop once we get going!”

 

Carpenter’s tire-shaking qualifying effort Friday night left all the pressure on Saturday’s performance. Three separate thunderstorms on Saturday added to that pressure, and the tension mounted in the pits as track drying efforts left time for only one qualifying session instead of the usual two.

 

“We were outside looking in,” said the shoebox Chevy pilot. “We only had one shot to get in the show, and we hadn’t made it down the track all weekend. The whole crew knew that last qualifying shot was the most important run of our season up to that point, but nobody talked about it. We just went out and gave it our best.”

 

Steadily falling down the points standings since Houston, Carpenter’s whole season hung in the balance. With the pressure on, he laid down a solid 4.115 pass to land in the #8 spot.

 

“We had to get in the show to keep our hopes alive for competing in the Battle of the Belts,” said the Charlotte, NC native. “We got in, and some of our closest competitors in the points standings either did not qualify or went out early in eliminations, so we feel we are in a good position. We were seventh, but we should move up nicely now.”

 

Carpenter squared off with Stan Allen in the first round in what turned out to be the most talked about run of the night. Carpenter left first and was pulling away when Allen ran into severe tire shake. Allen pedaled in an attempt to recover, but in doing so lost control of his ’68 Camaro, shooting across the centerline just behind Carpenter’s ’55 Chevy and into the right side retaining wall. Allen’s momentum carried him back across into his own lane and he contacted the left wall as well.

 

“Judging from the pictures and what everyone has told me, that was pretty wild,” said Carpenter. “Luckily, I never saw any of it. Stan is a good driver and I’m sure he and the Bankston Boyz will be back on the track soon.”

 

The victory over Allen set up a showdown with most recent Pro Nitrous winner and #1 qualifier Doug Riesterer. Knowing he was at a performance disadvantage, Carpenter dug into his 34-year old bag of tricks to try to find something to compete with Riesterer. “I loaded it up. It was either going to go faster than it ever had or shake the tires, but I had to do something. I wasn’t just going to sit there and watch him outrun me,” Carpenter admitted. Carpenter left hard, but ran into tire shake at the gear change. Fortunately, Riesterer encountered tire shake even earlier, and Carpenter was able to pedal his way into the semi-finals.

 

In the semis, Carpenter easily dispatched of ultra-quick Greg Godwin, who had traction problems and watched Carpenter ride a 4.06, 181 MPH pass into the final round.

 

There he would meet Houck in a familiar matchup. Since his Pro Modified debut a couple years ago, Houck and Carpenter have battled all over North Carolina on the Quick 8 circuit. Houck was out of the gate first, but Carpenter recorded his quickest pass of the weekend when he needed it most, posting a 4.05 to Houck’s losing 4.08 as the crowd went wild.

 

“This has been an amazing weekend,” Carpenter said from the winner’s circle. “Even through all the weather, these fans not only came out in droves, but stuck around all night to watch the finals. I think it’s a testament to the outstanding job the Baders have always done with their facility. It’s an experience like none other for everyone involved.”