DRIVERS HIT CAMPAIGN TRAIL FOR K&N HP CHALLENGE BERTH
Neither Rickie Jones or Johnny Gray claim to have any type of political background.Yet, both Pro Stock drivers are actively on the campaign trail trying to drum up fan support as a result of the new format for the K&N Horsepower Challenge, which is a bonus event for the Pro Stock class. The eighth and final competitor for the race will be chosen by an online fan vote.
“I have a couple of my friends who have been teasing me a little bit and it kind of feels like you’re out there rallying for votes,” Jones said. “I’m just trying to put the word out. If people want to vote for me, that’s great, but if they vote for Warren Johnson or somebody else it doesn’t matter. I just think it’s important to get everyone involved.”
Gray concurred with Jones.
Neither Rickie Jones or Johnny Gray claim to have any type of political background.
Yet, both Pro Stock drivers are actively on the campaign trail trying to drum up fan support as a result of the new format for the K&N Horsepower Challenge, which is a bonus event for the Pro Stock class. The eighth and final competitor for the race will be chosen by an online fan vote.
“I have a couple of my friends who have been teasing me a little bit and it kind of feels like you’re out there rallying for votes,” Jones said. “I’m just trying to put the word out. If people want to vote for me, that’s great, but if they vote for Warren Johnson or somebody else it doesn’t matter. I just think it’s important to get everyone involved.”
Gray concurred with Jones.
“I’ve been racing a long time and I would hope we have made enough friends and fans out there who will support us,” said the the 57-year-old team owner. “We’re just going to try to get votes however we can get them because of the way they (K&N) set this up. I guess you could say we’re on a little bit of political campaign. I’ve never been on a political campaign and do not really want to get on one. But, the way this thing is structured, I will have to ask all the guys I used to race with to step up and help me get in the top eight. I just think this is good for the sport and you can’t thank K&N enough for stepping out and helping us with this Pro Stock deal and everything they do for Pro Stock and everybody else.”
There will be an eight-car field for the K&N Horsepower Challenge, which will take place June 26 during the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.
Rodger Brogdon still has a mathematical shot of the top seven, but as evidenced with this ad, isn't taking any chances.
The top seven competitors at the bonus race will be those drivers who have amassed the most points during qualifying at each NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event during the 25-race K&N Challenge series. Mike Edwards, Greg Anderson, Jason Line, Allen Johnson and Jeg Coughlin Jr. have already mathematically clinched five of the top seven spots. Ron Krisher and Greg Stanfield are presently sixth and seventh in the K&N points chase, but that could change.
The eighth competitor, who will be competing for the $50,000 winner’s purse, is the wild card since that driver will be chosen by fans. To vote for an NHRA Pro Stock driver who is not already qualified for the bonus race log on to www.KNFilters.com.
That’s where Jones and Gray enter the mix. Roger Brogdon, Gray, Kurt Johnson, Warren Johnson and Jones occupy the eighth through 12th spots in the K&N Horsepower Challenge points with just three races remaining – Chicago (Thursday-Sunday), Englishtown, N.J. (Jun 10-13), and Bristol, Tenn. (June 18-20) to improve their positions.
Jones and Gray are trying to help their respective causes by asking for fans’ votes, through links, message boards and social networking sites.
“The more we let the fans know, the more avenues you give them to vote,” said the 23-year-old Jones, who pilots the Elite Motorsports/Quarter-Max Pontiac. “I just post things and say this is where you go and you can vote for your favorite driver. I wrote a little thing that said if you guys want to vote for me, it would mean a lot to me and our team, and I let the fans decide. I do not know if I have an advantage over other guys or not. I have put stuff on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and Quartermax.com, our company’s home page. I’m also a member of yellowbullet.com and I posted it in the forums. We’ve got lots of calls from customers and I’ve got tons of emails from fans, saying they voted for me. I just really want to thank all the fans and our customers who have voted for me. That’s just amazing. If we get to race in that K&N Challenge, that would be so cool. I know if we get voted in, we will go there swinging for the fences.”
CHAMPION EDWARDS: VOTE FOR WJ
The fan vote for the K&N Horsepower Challenge has many of the drivers campaigning for the No. 8 spot. One of the drivers who isn’t campaigning has already earned the defending series champion’s vote.“I’d vote for Warren Johnson,” admitted Mike Edwards. “I’ve grown up watching him race and he deserves to be in there.”
Of course, it’s not often a drag racer gets to choose their opponent in eliminations but in this case Edwards, the No. 1 seed, will race the fan voted driver.
“I do not mess with the internet very much, but Jason and some of the guys on the team have gone to some of the message boards and asked the fans for help and we definitely would like to be in the K&N Challenge and I think we have earned a good shot at it, and I think we would do good in it. However you can get in there (the K&N Challenge), you have to try and get in there. I know it would be a huge honor for us to get into the K&N Challenge. Whether fans vote for me or not, I would definitely ask any of the race fans out there to please try to use K&N products because they support the Pro Stock cars and help us with our program.”
