KRAMER NAILS A 'NEW' PRO STOCK NO. 1 AT GATORNATIONALS

Written by Bobby Bennett, photo by Roger Richards    Sun, 2020-09-27 04:05

 

Qualifying No. 1 isn’t new to Pro Stock racer Deric Kramer, but for the Sterling, Co.-based driver of the American Ethanol Camaro, it sure feels that way sometimes.

Kramer picked up his fifth career pole position, driving his way to a 6.602 elapsed time at 208.78 miles per hour during Saturday’s qualifying at the Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville, Fla.

“It’s no secret that our 2020 hasn’t been great, so this is a really big boost for our American Ethanol team,” Kramer said. “I feel like we turned a corner at the U.S. Nationals a few weeks ago, and it’s all coming together this weekend, but we need to keep our eyes on the prize. We’ve got one mission for race day, and that’s to come home with the win.”
 
Kramer will have lane choice over No. 16 Bob Benza in the first round of eliminations Sunday morning.

“I’ve only got four race wins and a handful of number one qualifiers,” Kramer said. “So a lot of them are going to be new still. The Gatornationals being in September is definitely a switch so it’s been interesting and warmer. The whole COVID thing aside, this is the time of year we start picking up.”

 Kramer will have lane choice over No. 16 Bob Benza in the first round of eliminations.

Ideally, Kramer would love to have four shots at the track headed into race day. However, with the pandemic-shortened events, making hay while the sun shines is of the highest priority.

“You can’t be soft,” Kramer said. “You can’t go out there when we got 20 or 22-car fields like we’ve been having. That’s great, and I wouldn’t want to see it any other way, but you got to go out there and put a big number on the board. So that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to be a little safe.

“That run was a little aggressive for what we thought we were going to get away with and it felt a little aggressive as soon as I plugged the gear, it felt great, it took off. So that was what we were hoping for and it worked out.”

Rolling into race day as the No. 1 qualifier always creates good vibes, at least this is how Kramer sees it.

“We’ve kind of had a good car sporadically throughout the last couple of races and it’s just bringing it all together and making it a good package for a good weekend,” Kramer said.

 

 
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