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 LAS
VEGAS, NV (October 25-28) -- About the only "sure bet" in
Las Vegas over the past weekend was, if Hoosier tires were in the
final round of the Inaugural AC Delco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals, there
would be a Hoosier-shod winner. For the third consecutive NHRA
national event in a row, Team Hoosier's record remained
unblemished, capturing wins in every class final in which they were
present. A total of nine different teams using USA-made Hoosier tires,
in five different classes, made it to their respective class finals,
with all five classes producing a Hoosier-shod winner. Brian Hough met
David Wells in Federal-Mogul Dragster, Jay Payne met Pat Austin in the
Federal-Mogul Funny Car final, while Lee Zane would go head-to-head
against Gary Emmons in Stock, and in the last Hoosier vs. Hoosier
final, Scotty Richardson met Frank Kohutek in Super Gas. The only real
suspense was left up to Billy Maddox in Super Comp as he would do
battle against a competitor using another tire brand. Maddox did not
let the "Team" down, as he kept the three-event perfect Team
Hoosier win streak in tact.
FEDERAL-MOGUL DRAGSTER
In the Hoosier dominated F/M Dragster class, Brian Hough met David
Wells in the final round in the first of four "All-Hoosier"
finals. Hough had lane choice and selected the left lane. Wells was
slightly quicker at the light with a .469 RT to Hough's .472 RT to get
the early jump. But Hough and his Hoosier 34.5/17.0-16 C06 drag tires
had his best run of the weekend to capture the win. Hough's ET was
5.473 seconds (258.02 mph) to Wells' 5.542 ET (254.04 mph).
The win was Hough's second national win of the season. FEDERAL-MOGUL
FUNNY CAR
In a repeat of the final round at the last NHRA national event
last weekend in Texas, Jay Payne met legend Pat Austin in a #1 vs. #2
qualifier contest. Austin won the race in Texas for his second
national event win of the season. Payne had lane choice and choose the
left lane. Payne, in the Valvoline Camaro, was slightly quicker at the
light with a .486 RT to Austin's .490 RT in the Pro/Max Firebird.
Though virtually identical at the light, Payne would not fall two
weeks in a row to Austin in the final round, as he posted a 5.750 ET
(249.12 mph) to Austin's ET of 5.781 seconds (231.00 mph), to take the
win. Amazingly, this was Payne's fifth national event win of the 2001
season. Both Payne and Austin elect to ride aboard Hoosier's 34.5/17.0-16 C06 drag tire. STOCK
The perfect weekend for Team Hoosier would remain in tact as two
Hoosier mounted cars of Lee Zane and Gary Emmons met in the Stock
final. This one was over early as Emmons red lighted with a .490 RT to
Zane's .520 RT, giving Zane his first national event win. SUPER
COMP
Billy Maddox, in the Super Comp final, would determine whether the
weekend would remain perfect for Team Hoosier, as he would do battle
against a driver using a competing tire brand. Maddox wasted no time
at the light, posting a nearly perfect .406 RT to his opponent's .443
RT. Maddox went on to better his opponent the length of his run with a
9.070 ET on a 9.05 index, resulting in a .020 on the dial to his
competition's 9.087 ET. for a .037 dial. Maddox completes his mission
and keeps Team Hoosier's record flawless. SUPER
GAS
The fourth class final pitting two Team Hoosier drivers against
each other was the Super Gas final. Scotty Richardson and Frank
Kohutek would once again meet in the NHRA final round action,
something the two have done numerous times in the past. Kohutek, with
one national win in his pocket in 2001, got the slight jump at the
light with a .413 RT to Richardson's .416 RT. The race would be won by
Richardson however, as Kohutek ran under the 10.07 dial posting an ET
of 10.059 seconds and resulting in Kohutek forfeiting the win when
Richardson posted a 10.072 ET for a .002 difference on the
dial. Hoosier drag tire
product managers, Faron Lubbers and Steve Hudspeth, attended the
event. While Steve stayed in Las Vegas to attend the SEMA show, Faron
returned to Hoosier with the data acquired at the event. Lubbers
had this to say after the event, "It was another great weekend
for teams using the Hoosier brand. Nine team members making it to the
final round of five of the seven Sportsman classes in which Hoosier
competes was pretty awesome, but posting a third consecutive perfect
final round at a national event is even better." The NHRA series
has just one event remaining in the 2001 season. The final event is
the 37th annual Auto Club of Southern California NHRA Finals, Nov.
8-11, in Pomona, California. Congratulations
to all the competitors at this weekend's NHRA event particularly those
electing to use USA-made Hoosier tires. We continue to be thrilled
with the growing number of drivers who continue to join Team Hoosier
during the 2001 campaign. |
