TROY CRITCHLEY RACES TO 239 BLAST AT INDY
Just to think, a $5 part was the only thing that was able to negate
a .42 starting line advantage over Tony Pontieri. Yes, you read that correctly –
over four tenths of a second.
“It sickens me to think about it,”
Critchley said. “You do everything you can to win and we definitely had a strong
car on Monday and then that happened. One bad break does not ruin a weekend of
good fortunes and we certainly had a lot to be thankful for as
Indy.”
Call Critchley a speed demon or call him what you want, but after
Indy you can call him the fastest Pro Modified racer in the United States. It’s
a combination that he wants to make a household name – power by Critchley and
tune by Moon.
Howard Moon, the veteran tuner for the AMS Rage team also
directed Critchley’s teammate Josh Hernandez to the winner’s circle. Last year
they combined for a top qualifying position and a runner-up finish. Moon
definitely knows Indy.
The interesting part of the scenario is if
Critchley could have secured the victory, he would have faced Hernandez in the
semi-finals.
“It would have been a race at Indy that people would have
talked about for a long time,” Critchley said.
Race fans were already
talking after Critchley entered eliminations as the 10th quickest qualifier with
a 6.140, 237.38 best.
In the opening round, Critchley fired his first
major volley with a victory over Chip King with his best run of the weekend. He
nailed the timers with a 6.077 at over 239 miles per hour.
During
Monday’s quarter-final race against Pontieri, Critchley did have a monster
starting line advantage because of two factors. Pontieri was extremely tardy and
Critchley (.028 reaction time) was extremely quick.
Less than four
seconds in the run, Critchley’s machine stopped pulling and he could only watch
helplessly as his weekend ended.