ST. LOUIS PRO STOCK - WHAT HAPPENED FIRST ROUND?
Mon, 2008-05-05 17:28
The first round of Pro Stock eliminations during the NHRA Midwest
Nationals in St. Louis, had a balance of the good, the bad and the
ugly. For many, the ugly outweighed the expected performance.
The good was a 6.581 elapsed time by Kurt Johnson in stopping Todd Hoerner in the first round. Greg Anderson (6.616), Jeg Coughlin (6.619), and Allen Johnson (6.624) all recorded impressive and quick victories.
The bad came when both Jason Line had a mechanical failure which resulted in his Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac G6 bursting in flames after leaving the starting line with a .007 reaction and opponent John Nobile shook the tires and aborted the run. Nobile got back on the throttle after Line’s plight and won his first round of competition since returning from a tour of duty in IHRA Pro Stock.
Also falling under the bad category, through no fault of his, was when Rickie Jones scored his first NHRA Pro Stock round win after a bout with tire shake. He won with a 6.812 elapsed time at 205.85 miles per hour while recent Atlanta winner Mike Edwards shook the tires and lifted immediately. The first round of Pro Stock eliminations during the NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis, had a balance of the good, the bad and the ugly. For many, the ugly outweighed the expected performance.
The good was a 6.581 elapsed time by Kurt Johnson in stopping Todd Hoerner in the first round. Greg Anderson (6.616), Jeg Coughlin (6.619), and Allen Johnson (6.624) all recorded impressive and quick victories.
The bad came when both Jason Line had a mechanical failure which resulted in his Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac G6 bursting in flames after leaving the starting line with a .007 reaction and opponent John Nobile shook the tires and aborted the run. Nobile got back on the throttle after Line’s plight and won his first round of competition since returning from a tour of duty in IHRA Pro Stock.
Also falling under the bad category, through no fault of his, was when Rickie Jones scored his first NHRA Pro Stock round win after a bout with tire shake. He won with a 6.812 elapsed time at 205.85 miles per hour while recent Atlanta winner Mike Edwards shook the tires and lifted immediately.
The ugly came in the very first pair of Pro Stockers. V. Gaines and Greg Stanfield launched within .02 of one another and simultaneously encountered breakage which rendered the cars nothing more than coasters. Gaines won with a 9.327, 127.01 to beat out Stanfield’s 10.155, 117.80.
The interesting scenario was that Gaines earned lane choice over Nobile in the second round.
Some teams blamed the woes on an inconsistent application of traction compound for the Pro Stock cars.
“I think they just put too much VHT on the starting line,” said Terry Adams, crew chief for Edwards. “They did it to Greg [Anderson] in the semis and to us in the finals at Atlanta. The first three pairs of Pro Stockers are going to shake when you do that.
“Even when we go and test and there’s two or three of us, you expect to shake your first time until you get the VHT burned in. Then it’s fine. We need to do something about spraying so much in front of these Pro Stockers.”
Adams estimated the starting line crew put down VHT for the first 15 feet.
“There was just too much of it,” Adams said. “If there are bald spots and you put a bit of VHT and some rosin on it, that’s fine. When you put as much down as they did, it takes two or three to work it in.”
The
first round of Pro Stock represented the good, the bad and the ugly.
Recent Atlanta champion Mike Edwards was a first round casualty.
The good was a 6.581 elapsed time by Kurt Johnson in stopping Todd Hoerner in the first round. Greg Anderson (6.616), Jeg Coughlin (6.619), and Allen Johnson (6.624) all recorded impressive and quick victories.
The bad came when both Jason Line had a mechanical failure which resulted in his Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac G6 bursting in flames after leaving the starting line with a .007 reaction and opponent John Nobile shook the tires and aborted the run. Nobile got back on the throttle after Line’s plight and won his first round of competition since returning from a tour of duty in IHRA Pro Stock.
Also falling under the bad category, through no fault of his, was when Rickie Jones scored his first NHRA Pro Stock round win after a bout with tire shake. He won with a 6.812 elapsed time at 205.85 miles per hour while recent Atlanta winner Mike Edwards shook the tires and lifted immediately. The first round of Pro Stock eliminations during the NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis, had a balance of the good, the bad and the ugly. For many, the ugly outweighed the expected performance.
The
first round of Pro Stock represented the good, the bad and the ugly.
Recent Atlanta champion Mike Edwards was a first round casualty.
The good was a 6.581 elapsed time by Kurt Johnson in stopping Todd Hoerner in the first round. Greg Anderson (6.616), Jeg Coughlin (6.619), and Allen Johnson (6.624) all recorded impressive and quick victories.
The bad came when both Jason Line had a mechanical failure which resulted in his Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac G6 bursting in flames after leaving the starting line with a .007 reaction and opponent John Nobile shook the tires and aborted the run. Nobile got back on the throttle after Line’s plight and won his first round of competition since returning from a tour of duty in IHRA Pro Stock.
Also falling under the bad category, through no fault of his, was when Rickie Jones scored his first NHRA Pro Stock round win after a bout with tire shake. He won with a 6.812 elapsed time at 205.85 miles per hour while recent Atlanta winner Mike Edwards shook the tires and lifted immediately.
The ugly came in the very first pair of Pro Stockers. V. Gaines and Greg Stanfield launched within .02 of one another and simultaneously encountered breakage which rendered the cars nothing more than coasters. Gaines won with a 9.327, 127.01 to beat out Stanfield’s 10.155, 117.80.
The interesting scenario was that Gaines earned lane choice over Nobile in the second round.
Some teams blamed the woes on an inconsistent application of traction compound for the Pro Stock cars.
“I think they just put too much VHT on the starting line,” said Terry Adams, crew chief for Edwards. “They did it to Greg [Anderson] in the semis and to us in the finals at Atlanta. The first three pairs of Pro Stockers are going to shake when you do that.
“Even when we go and test and there’s two or three of us, you expect to shake your first time until you get the VHT burned in. Then it’s fine. We need to do something about spraying so much in front of these Pro Stockers.”
Adams estimated the starting line crew put down VHT for the first 15 feet.
“There was just too much of it,” Adams said. “If there are bald spots and you put a bit of VHT and some rosin on it, that’s fine. When you put as much down as they did, it takes two or three to work it in.”
Categories:
