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 LAS
VEGAS, NV (April 3-6) -- The Hoosier brand had its best NHRA outing of
the season over the weekend as eight drivers battled their way to
their respective class finals in the 4th annual NHRA SummitRacing.com
Nationals in Las Vegas. Team-Hoosier will look to build on the stellar
performance as the series heads to Texas for the 16th annual O'Reilly
Spring Nationals later this week. Among the eight drivers to advance
into the final round in Las Vegas were David Wells and Don Hudson (Top
Alcohol Dragster), Bucky Austin and Cy Chesterman (Top Alcohol Funny
Car), David Rampy (Comp Eliminator), Toby and Jody Lang (Stock) and
Todd Stewart (Super Gas).
After the final green light had dimmed, five of the eight Hoosier-shod
finalists had claimed a national event win. Ironically, the three
drivers who took runner-up honors in the finals did so competing
against cars also sporting the Hoosier brand as Hoosier tires
claimed more wins than any other competing tire manufacturer at this
year's Nationals in Las Vegas.
TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER
In the T/A Dragster class, one of three Hoosier vs. Hoosier finals
were contested with David Wells meeting Don Hudson. Hudson got the
slight edge at the light with a .045 RT to Wells' .046 RT. But Wells
overcame the deficit with his 5.374 ET (265.53 mph) to Hudson's 5.457
ET (262.59 mph). The margin of victory was a scant car length at the
line. Wells' Blue Bunny becomes the first blown dragster to win a
national event in NHRA competition this year. Both Wells and Hudson
used Hoosier's 34.5/17.0-16 C2000 drag tires in making the final
round. Wells' car is tuned by the talented Norm Grimes who also worked
on Rick Santos' multi-winning Hoosier-shod dragster.
TOP ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR
In the T/A Funny Car class, it was a pair of Hoosier-shod cars in
the finals. Bucky Austin met Cy Chesterman as each driver used a pair
of Hoosier 34.5/17.0-16 C2000 C06 drag tires. Chesterman got the jump
at the light in his Coca-cola Trans Am, but Austin made up the difference
with his 5.651 ET (257.14 mph) to Chesterman's 5.693 ET (253.47 mph)
to take the win. The margin of victory was approximately three feet at
the stripe.
COMP ELIMINATOR
A Team-Hoosier winner in Comp Eliminator was not a sure thing as one
of the combatants opted to run a competing brand. Big mistake, as David
Rampy and his new Hoosier 33.0/12.0-15 C10 comp tire captured his 46th
national event win. Rampy's car is sponsored by Winnebago Motorhomes and Barry
Davis wrenching the '32 Bantom A/EA car. Rampy, and his new Hoosiers,
qualified 2nd in the Comp Eliminator field. After the win, a jubilant
Rampy commented, "We could have run this car at any bracket race.
It was very consistent and fast every time down the track." (A
detailed story of the new tire is coming up later on.)
STOCK
The Stock final had two Hoosier-shod brothers battling it out when
Toby Lang met Jody Lang in the final race in the class. The two had
met once prior with Jody emerging the winner. This time however, it
was Toby evening the score and taking the win. Both drivers used
Hoosiers 30.0/9.0-15 C07 radial drag tires.
SUPER GAS
The Super Gas final had one Team-Hoosier driver in contention to
capture a fifth national win of the weekend for the purple tire brand.
Todd Stewart, using Hoosier 33.0/16.0-15 C07 drag tires defeated his
opponent in the final. This was the first national event win for Stewart since the
'96 Winston finals. But the real story of this race was the way it
ended. After crossing the finish line, Stewarts adversary suddenly
darted across his lane causing the winner to drive onto his opponents
car while the two cars crashed into the retaining wall. Thankfully,
both drivers walked away uninjured but both cars will require
extensive repairs to compete again. According to Stewart, the car
is on its way to Don Davis Race Cars for repairs and should be good to
go in a few weeks. Stewart is the 2002 Super Gas World Champion.
RECAP:
The eight finalists and five class wins gives Team-Hoosier its
best performance of the young NHRA season after just four events. The
five wins were more than any other competing tire brand.
Hoosier Drag Racing Product Manager Steve Hudspeth who
attended the four-day event commented, "By far, the five wins
were our (Team-Hoosier) best performance of the season." Hudspeth
added, "We brought our new Comp Eliminator tire here and David
Rampy takes the win using it. We put a lot of effort into testing and
perfecting this new tire, and for it to continue to perform flawlessly
is a
testament to the hard work of everyone involved." Using the new
tire, Rampy has been to three event finals already this year.
The next event on the NHRA schedule is later this week
in Houston, TX for the 16th annual O'Reilly Spring Nationals.
Hoosier Racing Tire Corp. wishes to thank all the
competitors who have opted to use USA-made Hoosier tires in their drag
racing competition in 2003. For more information about the new Comp
Eliminator tire or other drag racing products Hoosier has to offer,
you can e-mail Steve Hudspeth at shudspeth@hoosiertire.com.
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