HOT ACTION IN CHICAGO, HOT NEW VIDEO FROM NORWALK
Jun 11, 2008
Author: Bobby Martin

Qualifying #5 in one of the hottest fields in the history of Top Alcohol Funny Car shows the progress the Parkertech/Lane Automotive/CAP team is making.

Pretty cool stuff. The top 5 in qualifying for the NHRA Route 66 Nationals was Von Smith, Frank Manzo, Mick Snyder, Jay Payne, then us. Those are some heavy hitters to be running with, but Frank and Dan Parker have this car hummin'. #6 was All-Star winner Doug Gordon. Other luminaries, such as Cy Chesterman, Steve Harker, Andy Bohl, Roger Bateman, and Brian Hough were in the house. The field was anchored by none other than 14-time All-Star Vern Moats. Here's the qualifying sheet.

Psn	Driver	Vehicle	ET	Speed
1.	Von Smith	Centre Point Collision Mustang	5.604	256.84
2.	Frank Manzo	Lucas Oil Monte Carlo	5.611	257.97
3.	Mick Snyder	Powersource Transportation Mustang	5.619	255.97
4.	Jay Payne	Thunderslug/Valvoline Mustang	5.621	257.38
5.	Bobby Martin	Lane Automotive Charger	5.640	255.73
6.	Doug Gordon	Morro Bay Cabinets Monte Carlo	5.649	257.24
7.	Steve Harker	OMS Graphics Monte Carlo	5.650	255.19
8.	Roger Bateman	Mustang	5.653	253.71
9.	Andy Bohl	Bohl Automotive Mustang	5.677	253.52
10.	Cy Chesterman	Glacier Clear Water Mustang	5.683	254.90
11.	Paul Anderson	DenverSteaks.com Charger	5.689	251.81
12.	Brian Hough	Brian Hough Racing Monte Carlo	5.697	252.71
13.	Kebin Kinsley	Tiger Flow Racing Camaro	5.705	248.48
14.	John Bojec	Duke Printing/Mailing Avenger	5.706	251.72
15.	John Foster	Foster Racing Monte Carlo	5.731	250.00
16.	Vern Moats	Kendall/DeeZee Mustang	5.765	251.34
--------- Not Qualified ---------
17.	Daniel Wilkerson	Monte Carlo	5.790	253.71
18.	Kevin Newburgh	Avenger	5.852	246.26
19.	Fred Hagen	Dark Horse Mustang	5.913	241.28
20.	Wayne Butler	Butler & Roark Firebird	6.015	238.05
21.	Jeff Burnett	Mustang	6.180	234.82
22.	Rick Cortino	Taboo Firebird	7.206	176.24

Two other things dominated this weekend, wind and rain. It was unbelievable. The weather would change to a different climate from one minute to the next. Anyway, I wasn't thrilled with my draw for round 1. I had Division 6 Champion and All-Star representative Brian Hough. He's done lots of damage at National events on the West Coast, and is known as young star and a leaver. I spent lots of time Saturday night thinking about Brian. He had cut some lights in qualifying and I had to be ready. Frank and Dan did their thing and the car sailed right through there. It felt fast. Frank & Dan are making the car a joy to drive. One of the many things a driver must do is shut the car off on time. It can't be too early cuz you'll hurt the et and speed, and it can't be too late cuz you can hurt the motor. But one nice way to know when to shut off is when the win light comes on! It was a good drag race. A first round match this tough is indicative of the quality of cars in this class. Here's the report from drag race central.

(W) Bobby Martin (Lane Automotive Charger) 0.026 5.635 253.75
(L) Brian Hough (Brian Hough Racing Monte Carlo) 0.028 5.704 250.92

A couple great lights and then Martin drives away with his best pass of the weekend for the win.

The 5.63 gave us lane choice against Jay Payne in round two. He ran a 5.66. After two straight low '60's, we ran a 5.71 to Jay's 5.65. The bad news is the car slowed down because of a clutch issue. The good news is we know why. So we can just take what we learned there and move on. Frank and Dan are refining the combination and I'm refining my interaction with the car. As we do all this, we feel like we can make progress.

A note on reaction times. Frank and Dan have a car that leaves well, and that helps reaction times. But here's something interesting. I've said it before here. There are three people on the starting line, two drivers and the starter. I've also said that what each one does up there affects the other two. Check this out. It was very apparent at Joliet. In the last round of qualifying Cy Chesterman had a .104, I had a .090. In round 1, I had a .026 and Brian Hough had a .028. In round two Jay had a .042, I had a .049. I've noticed that in most races, the reaction times are close to each other, whether they are fast or slow. This seems especially true for me. Now sometimes, somebody messes up and just leaves too early or too late, but by and large this little phenomenon seems to hold true, and it's there in all heads up start categories. I have some theories as to why this is, but I'm still working on it. Actually, I haven't really heard anyone else talking about it. Any ideas?

A very cool video of the best run of my career has recently been added to You Tube by an unknown fan. Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrR8cROPjJ0 Thanks to the photographer who got some great footage.

I have a stop at Sinclair Community College on Thursday, June 12. I'll be speaking at the Graduation Banquet for the Class of 2008 in the Chrysler College Automotive Program, better known as CAP. Sinclair is consistently one of the top CAP schools nationwide, and the people there, including Mike Taylor and Steve Ash, really care about their students, and it shows.

From there it's back to Joliet for some more ground poundin' at the Divisional level. Jay Payne, Von Smith, Vern Moats, and many more dangerous drivers are staying over from the Nationals to run this race. Frank thinks there could be 20 cars there to compete in the 8 car show. It'll be brutal, but we're ready. Check in later and I'll have all the juicy details.