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 GAINESVILLE,
FL (March 18-21) -- The Hoosier brand wasn't hibernating this past
off-season as evidenced by their early season success. Their most
recent domination occurred at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
35th annual Mac Tools Gatornationals. In their best effort of the
season, Team-Hoosier had eight drivers advancing to the final round
with five drivers coming away winners--both season bests for the
purple squad. In fact, it was more winners than any other tire brand
and Hoosier doesn't even compete in three of the eleven classes that
battled it out in Gainesville. Those eight drivers on the Hoosier
brand included Canadian Al Billes who was in the final
round in Pro Mod, while Marty Thacker was in the Top Alcohol Dragster
final. Thacker had one National win and two divisional wins last
season on Hoosiers. In Top Alcohol Funny Car, World record holder Cy
Chesterman was in the final looking for his 14th National event win.
In Comp Eliminator, Tony Stephenson was also looking to take advantage
of recent testing on Hoosiers at Bradenton with a final round
appearance. In one of two all-Hoosier finals, Shane Carr met Jim
Harrington in Stock, while Regis Lepage and David Tatum III locked
horns in the Super Comp final.
PRO MOD
Al Billes, driving a supercharged '53 Corvette, was the Hoosier brand's only hope
in the Pro Mod final. This one was over early as his opponent's
car went up in smoke at the start while Billes ran his quickest pass
of the event. In fact, he ran quicker each round culminating in his
best run in the final--a quick .081 RT with a 6.206 ET for a
speed of 229.88 mph. Billes used Hoosier's 34.5/17.0-16 C2000 drag
tires to capture the National event win.
TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER
Marty Thacker came up short in his bid for his first National win of
the season driving the Matrix Service T/A dragster despite an
impressive .066RT which was nearly twice as quick as his opponent.
TOP ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR
Cy Chesterman, driving a Firebird, wins with a
hole-shot. Chesterman's .056 reaction time was enough to give him the
edge he needed to post his 14th National event win in the T/A Funny
Car finals. Chesterman is also the current World record holder.
COMP ELIMINATOR
After making it all the way to the semi-finals at the previous event
in Phoenix, Tony Stephenson was able to put all the pieces together in
the Comp Eliminator final in capturing his first National event win.
Stephenson, and his C/EA, was one of several drivers to test at Bradenton earlier in
the season on Hoosier tires and the testing obviously has paid off in a
big way. The GM Performance parts sponsored Stephenson and crew chief
Jeff Still took the win after their opponent red lighted in the final
contest. This was just more proof the extensive testing program for
the Competition Eliminator class is paying off for members of
Team-Hoosier. Both Comp Eliminator cars that tested in Bradenton have
now captured National event wins. First, David Rampy in Phoenix and
now Stephenson in Gainesville.
STOCK
It was an all-Hoosier final in Stock with Shane Carr and Jim
Harrington meeting in the final race in the class. Both drivers
compete using Hoosier's 30.0/9.0R-15 C07 radial drag tires so this
match-up was going to be close. Both drivers have nearly identical
reaction times with Carr leaving the line at .077 and Harrington at
.079 seconds. Carr then had a perfect ET of 10.780 (on a 10.78 dial)
for a perfect .000 package to claim his first Stock National event win
and second National event win overall. Carr's car owner is Tom Stalba.
SUPER COMP
In the other all-Hoosier final, Regis Lepage and David Tatum III were
the two left standing in the Super Comp class. David Tatum, the 2003
U.S. National Champion in Super Gas (on Hoosiers) got the early jump
off the line with a .025 RT to Lepage's .038 RT. But Lepage had an
8.899 ET (8.90 index) for a -.001 package to take the win. Tatum was
no slouch either posting an 8.885 ET (8.90 index) and a -.015 package
as both drivers broke out in the final. Lepage took the win using a
pair of Hoosier 33.0/16.0-15 D05 drag tires, while Tatum settled for
runner-up honors using a pair of Hoosier 34.5/17.0-16 C2000 drag
tires. For Lepage, it was his first National event win of his career
and it came riding atop the Hoosier brand.
Hoosier Drag Racing Product Manager Faron Lubbers
attended the event and commented on the successful outing, "It
was a tremendous effort on the part of all the drivers competing on
Hoosier tires this weekend. Our testing program continues to produce
dividends as evidenced by this weekend's results." Lubbers
added, "This was our best effort of the season--eight finalists
and five winners. We're really looking forward to the rest of the
season."
The NHRA Series will take a week off before returning
to action April 1-4, for the 5th annual NHRA SummitRacing.com
Nationals at Las Vegas, NV.
Contact your nearest Hoosier Distributor for price and
availability of Hoosier's successful line of drag racing tires.
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