Connolly said he played a starting-line game with Stanfield and took
advantage of it. Connolly’s .014-second reaction time bolted him into a lead he never relinquished. Stanfield had .101 reaction time.
“That’s what you have to do when you feel like you’re the underdog,” said Connolly. “That’s just how it worked out. I knew we had the car to win the race and it took the driver to let go of the clutch pedal on time in the last couple of rounds to get hole-shot wins. It shook a little on the last run but it was still good enough to get that win light, and that’s all that counts.”
On the strength of a 6.674-second, 207.43 mph pass made on his third attempt, GM Performance Parts GXP racer Warren Johnson captured the No. 1 qualifying position for Sunday’s final eliminations of the O’Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, TN. It was Johnson’s second No. 1 qualifying performance of the season, second at Bristol Dragway and 138th of his Hall of Fame career, which is the most by any professional competitor in the POWERade Drag Racing Series.
Ironically, Johnson edged out his son Kurt for the No. 1 spot, marking the 36th time (and second time this season) the father and son duo have earned the top two positions.
Defending series and event champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. failed to qualify for this weekend's event, missing the elimination field by just three-thousandths of a second Saturday afternoon at Bristol Dragway.
Coughlin had qualified his JEGS.com Chevrolet Cobalt at 70 consecutive events, dating back four years to the national event in Topeka, Kan.
"It stings, no question about it," Coughlin said. "But we'll rebound quickly and never look back. This is the brutal part of NHRA drag racing. You're only as good as your last pass."
Coughlin's last pass was his best of the weekend, a 6.739 at 205.13 mph. It just wasn't enough to make the cut.
A new engine combination may have played a part. "The guys from the engine shop (in Mooresville, N.C.) had a new motor they were just pumped about and we got it in the middle of the day today," Coughlin said on Friday. "It was a scramble to get it in the car in time for Q2 but we got it done. Unfortunately, when I dropped the clutch something happened and I was done.
"We'll have to figure out what went wrong and fix the problem. I have no idea, without looking at the data, how to even make an educated guess. The good news is we have two more sessions tomorrow to improve and the weather should be good enough to make a pair of strong runs."
The entire eighth annual O'Reilly Thunder Valley NHRA Nationals was run under unusually chilly temperatures, which suits the naturally aspirated Pro Stock set just fine.
"We can't manufacture atmosphere like the nitro cars do with their superchargers so we really like it when you get conditions like this," said Coughlin, a 52-time national event winner who won this event in 2007 out of the No. 1 qualifying position. "The motors are generally really happy and when we get this new one to cooperate, we should be in good shape."
OTHER FINAL ROUNDS
Super Stock: Jim Harrington, Chevy Camaro, 9.785, 137.32, def. Michael Iacono, Camaro, foul.
Stock Eliminator: Anthony Fetch, Chevy Camaro, 11.534, 109.64, def. Peter Biondo, Camaro, 10.586, 123.78.
Super Comp: Mike Robilotto, Dragster, 8.910, 168.85, def. Franklin Di Bartolomeo, Dragster, 8.942, 169.06.
Super Gas: Ray Connolly, Chevy Corvette, 9.911, 161.46, def. Mike Ruff, Chevy Nova, 9.918, 141.08.