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 ENNIS,
TX (October 10-13) -- It was the fourth time this year that
Team-Hoosier placed nine drivers in the finals at an NHRA event in
2002. This time it was at the 17th annual O'Reilly Fall Nationals in
Texas. When it was all over, five Hoosier-shod drivers emerged winners
in their respective classes. No other tire manufacturer had more wins
than the Hoosier brand. Those members of Team-Hoosier making it to the
final round were: Mike Ashley (Pro Mod); David Wells and Rick Santos
(Top Alcohol Dragster); Von Smith and Marc White (Top Alcohol Funny
Car); Bobby Brannon (Super Stock); Clark Mundt and Jonathan Womack
(Super Gas); and Eric Sandlin (Super Street).
PRO MOD
Mike Ashley had a few things going for him in the Pro Mod final, the
first was he was the only competitor on Hoosier tires. The second was
he had set low ET in eliminations of 6.231 seconds at 224.43 mph. The
third was the Hoosier brand had already achieved the #1 qualifier
status when Mitch Stott posted a 6.214 ET at 228.83 mph using
Hoosier's 34.5/17.0-16 C2000 drag tires. With all that in his corner,
Ashley approached the starting line in his InfiNet '41 Willys. But
this one was over early as his opponent red lighted handing the
"Wally" to the '41 Willys driver, Mike Ashley.
TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER
In Top Alcohol Dragster it was a pair of Hoosier-shod drivers
meeting in the final round. David Wells, using a pair of 34.5/17.0-16
C2000 tires, met Rick Santos who opted to run the C4000 version of the
same tire. Santos set low ET of the event with a 5.314 second ET at
265.72 mph against Bruce Bowler's A/fueler earlier in the 2nd round.
So Wells had his hands full going up against Santos for the coveted
Wally. When it was all over, add this one to the "that's why they
run the race" column. Santos got off the light way late with a
.707 RT to Wells' .524 RT. Santos may have been distracted by blinking
stage bulbs causing him to miss the tree. Santos steadily was reeling
Wells in with a 5.344 ET (264.55 mph) to Wells' 5.492 ET (258.69 mph),
but ran out of time as Wells crossed the finish line approximately 14
feet ahead of the closing Santos.
TOP ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR
In another all-Hoosier final, a pair of Firebirds met in the Top
Alcohol Funny Car final. Von Smith was the #1 qualifier and set low ET
of the event with a career-best 5.594 ET at 257.28 mph in the second
round. His opponent, Marc White was also using a pair of Hoosier
34.5/17.0-16 C2000 drag tires so the final looked to be extremely
close. And close it was. Smith fell victim to an early hole-shot when
White posted a .430 RT to Smith's .466 RT. But Smith was determined,
using nearly the entire quarter-mile to narrowly overtake White at the
stripe for the win. Smith's ET was 5.632 (256.62 mph) to White's 5.676
Et (251.81 mph). The margin of victory for Smith was a scant 3
feet.
Von Smith was using Hoosier's new tubeless liner in
his Hoosiers en route to capturing the T/A Funny Car win. A point not
forgotten by Team-Hoosier, it was Smith who was the first to ever run
Hoosier tires on an alcohol car in competition. And just how far has
the Hoosier brand come since then--try undefeated in the T/A Funny Car
class in NHRA National competition in 2002.
SUPER STOCK
In the Super Stock final, Bobby Brannon took runner-up honors after
red lighting in the final contest. Brannon used a pair of Hoosier
30.0/9.0-15 C07 radial tires to reach the Super Stock final.
SUPER GAS
In one of three "all-Hoosier final during the weekend, Clark
Mundt met Jonathan Womack in the Super Gas final. Mundt got the jump
at the light with a .429 RT to Womack's .459 RT. Mundt then holds on
for the win with a 9.894 ET (-.006) to Womack's 9.891 ET (-.009) to
capture his first-ever National event win.
SUPER STREET
Eric Sandlin emerged the winner in Super Street after his opponent
red lighted in the final.
The final tally had nine drivers using Hoosier tires
make it to the final round of their respective classes, with five
drivers winning and four drivers taking runner-up honors for
Team-Hoosier.
Hoosier Drag Racing Product Manager Faron Lubbers was
in Texas attending the 4-day event and had this to say upon his
return, "The Hoosier brand had one of its best performances of
the year this past weekend." Lubbers added, "No other tire
brand had more wins than Hoosier in Texas and all-in-all, I'd say we
had a great weekend."
With just two more events left on the NHRA schedule,
the series next travels to Las Vegas, October 24-27, before ending the
season at Pomona, CA on November 7-10.
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