Press
Release: October 27th, 2006
By Dave Mance
There has not been much racing
going on in this area the last couple of weeks. The monsoons
seemed to have moved in along with a few flurry’s mixed in. You
could say that late fall in this area is not ideal for drag
racing. I have nothing to report on in the local area this week,
but I do have a few items regarding the Pro’s.
As the NHRA POWERade season winds down to its final pair of
events, the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals at the Strip Las
Vegas Motor Speedway and the Automobile Club of Southern
California NHRA finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Summit
Racing Pontiac GTO driver Jason Line edges ever so close to his
first POWERade Pro Stock world championship. Line can clinch the
2006 title by earning 20 points more than teammate and
second-place points earner Greg Anderson in Vegas.
Line spent a valuable tenure as a dyno operator at Joe Gibbs
Racing from 1997 to 2003, and he was a part of that organization’s
two NASCAR championships with Bobby Labonte in 2000 and Tony
Stewart in 2002. Four years ago, winning an NHRA Pro Stock world
championship probably seemed as plausible to Line as landing on
the moon. But a chance meeting in Charlotte, N.C., with fellow
Minnesotan Anderson eventually resulted in an opportunity to drive
a second car for Ken Lack Racing and returned the 1993 NHRA Stock
champion to his roots in drag racing.
Warren Johnson will reach another important milestone in Las Vegas
when he enters the 500th National event of his career at the
ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals. Since his first appearance at
the 1971 U.S. Nationals in Indy, Johnson has scored 96 wins, 149
final-round appearances, and 136 No. 1 qualifying performances,
representing the most by a single competitor in the history of the
Pro Stock class.
Funny Car racer, Frank Pedregon will return to the quarter-mile
with his own entry after partnering with Tempe, Arizona based Blue
Media beginning with the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals at the
Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Blue Media has designed,
printed, and installed multiple looks for the Frank Pedregon
Racing Funny Cars the last two seasons.
I will have the results of the Las Vegas race in my next weeks
article. The banquet is coming up so get your tickets while you
can as no tickets will be sold at the door. Also, check out the
Spencer Speedway website at www.spencerspeedway.org for possible
future announcements. The season is really coming to an end now
and I will be taking the winter off to chop wood and plow snow in
my 500 ft. long driveway. I have a feeling it is going to be a
long one!! My final words this week…”Ho Hum!”
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