KRAMER TAKES THE NO. 1 QUALIFYING SPOT IN PRO STOCK AT NORWALK

Written by Tracy Renck, photo by Roger Richards    Sun, 2019-06-23 08:00

 

Miles-per-hour meant everything for Pro Stock driver Deric Kramer during his second qualifying run at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio Friday.

Kramer and Matt Hartford each clocked 6.559-second elapsed times while running against each other in Q2, but Kramer took the No. 1 qualifying spot since he came across the finish line at 210.18 mph, while Hartford’s speed was 209.59 mph.

This was Kramer’s fourth No. 1 qualifying position of his career and first this season. Kramer won the last event on NHRA’s Pro Stock schedule at Chicago and came to Norwalk seventh in the point standings.

“The pass was obviously the best of the session, and we made a good run,” Kramer said. “We went back, and we looked at it and we thought we could have been a little bit better. That was kind of the story for the rest of the event for us. We looked at every run we made, and every one looked like we could have been a little bit better. Ultimately, that’s our goal at the end of the week, whether we end up qualifying No. 1 or we end up qualifying No. 16. We want to look at our runs and we want to make sure they are the best we can do.”

Kramer faces No. 16 qualifier Shane Tucker in the first round.

“I think (Sunday) I have a good chance of going a couple of rounds and getting the opportunity to keep improving on what we are doing going forward,” Kramer said. “I’m super excited to be here (at Norwalk). Last time I was here I only got to race twice because we got rained out in qualifying and I got knocked out in the first round. I’ve already doubled my number of runs here, so I’m feeling good about that. This kind or plays into our wheelhouse because we intend to do really well on the Western Swing where tracks start getting really hot and hopefully this is just a precursor to the next weeks and months to come for our team.”

Kramer is run running power from KB Racing, the same as points leader Bo Butner and former world champions Greg Anderson and Jason Line.

“Getting lucky is really what it comes down to,” said Kramer, when asked what it takes to outperform his teammates. “We all have the same power and we all have the understanding what everyone is doing. We come out here each and every week with the expectation that we are going to have to race each other at some point. We kind of know we just have to be better on that particular day. A lot of luck plays into it, that’s for sure.”

 

 

 
Categories: 
:::::: News ::::::