PARKERTECH TEAM WINS U.S. NATIONALS
Sep 14, 2009
Author: Bobby Martin

It's the Granddaddy of them all, The Big One, The Big Go. National Dragster's Brad Littlefield summed up the story quite well. He said:

The most popular bet in the Top Alcohol Funny Car class was Frank Manzo against the field, but Bobby Martin stepped to the front of the pack with a No. 1 qualifying position on Friday and kept the ball rolling for the biggest win of his career. Martin chased his dream for several years with him and his wife making great sacrifices to run a low-buck operation on sponsor money alone before getting the chance of a lifetime behind the wheel of Frank and Dan Parker's ride. The Parkers won Indy with Jeff Craig driving in 2003. Martin notched his first win in Norwalk last season and now belongs among the immortals by winning Indy.

The Parkertech Team's weekend featured a remarkable progression. Qualifiying started with a 5.74/253 that placed us 10th. We thought we were off to a decent start. But a nice 5.63 at a booming 257 in the second session had us in the top half and in high spirits. The teams ahead of us were mostly Top 5 guys. Then the stage was set in session 3. Manzo was having trouble in qualifying and was relagated to an unfamiliar position in the front of the line. He shook and shut off. Steve Harker then stepped up with a stellar 5.580 that went right to the top position. Mick Snyder was up. Announcer Alan Reinhart informed the crowd that Mick was more than capable of being low qualifier. His great 5.586 only matched, but did not better, his previous attempt. Now it was our turn. We were paired with the feared (and rightly so, they won it last year) team of Rick Jackson with driver Tony Bartone.

Time out. We're getting ready for one of the coolest events I've ever done. The GASSER NATIONALS. It's at Thompson Raceway in Ohio. Check out Gasser Magazine.com for details. I'll be driving Spike Sterling's wild RUSH Willys in AA/GS. Is that cool or what? When I get back, I'll finish the story. See you at Thompson, then I'll meet you back here.