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 COMMERCE,
GA (May 13-16) -- It was another strong performance over the weekend
by drivers on Hoosier tires in the NHRA Series with six competitors
making it all the way to their respective class finals and four coming
away winners at the 24th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern
Nationals presented by Pontiac. Ironically, the only Hoosier-shod
drivers to not win in the final round were defeated by another
driver using the Hoosier brand. In Top Alcohol Dragster, David Wells
was a finalist for Team Hoosier, while in Top Alcohol Funny Car, it
was Paul Lee and Jay Payne battling it out in an all-Hoosier final. In
Super Comp, Steve Cohen was a finalist and in Super Gas, Sherman
Adcock, Jr. and Chuck Rothermel (both shown in photo) went
head-to-head to determine who would take home the Wally. There were 11
classes in competition with Hoosier providing tires for seven classes
and winning four of them.
TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER
Using a pair of Hoosier 34.5/17.0-16 C4000 drag tires, David Wells won
every contest he entered until only he and one other driver were left.
In the final clash, Wells, who pilots the Wells Dairy B/AD, lined up
against Ashley Force who was on another tire brand. Force, the
daughter of John Force--the all-time leader in NHRA Funny Car wins
(110), was making her first final round appearance in a National T/A
Dragster final. When it was over, it was the Hoosier-shod veteran
Wells notching his sixth National event win with a .071 RT and a 5.476
ET (260.97 mph) run.
TOP ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR
In the T/A Funny Car final, Paul Lee and Jay Payne were the two
finalists. Both drivers were competing on Hoosier's 34.5/17.0-16 C2000
drag tires. The former National Champion Payne, in the Valvoline
Camaro, definitely had the experience over Lee with 22 National event
wins, while Lee was searching for the first of his career. Lee got the
jump at the tree with a .030 RT to Payne's .114 RT. That advantage was
just enough of an edge to give Lee his first National event win with
Payne closing quickly at the line. Lee, in the Allied Machine &
Equipment Firebird, posted a 5.747 ET (250.09 mph) to Payne's 5.692 ET
(255.43 mph) in claiming the historic win.
SUPER COMP
In the Super Comp final, Steve Cohen carried the purple Hoosier banner
into the last race looking to claim an even dozen National event wins.
Cohen would not be denied his 12th National win with a .028 RT and an
ET of 8.914 which was .014 under the 8.90 index as his opponent broke
out.
SUPER GAS
In the other all-Hoosier final, Sherman Adcock, Jr. and Chuck
Rothermel met in Super Gas. Rothermel was looking for his first
National event win, while Adcock is a past World Champion in the
class. Adcock, using a pair of Hoosier 33.0/16.0-15 C07 drag tires got
the edge at the light with a .018 RT to Rothermel's .032 RT. Adcock
then posted a 9.913 ET (.013) to Rothermel's 9.926 ET (.026) to take
the win in a close contest.
Hoosier Drag Racing Product Manager Faron Lubbers was
in Georgia attending the event and reported the details used in this
report.
The NHRA Series will resume its busy schedule this
weekend in Chicago for the 7th annual Route 66 Nationals. Hoosier will
have two Product Managers (Faron Lubbers and Steve Hudspeth) at the
event in Chicago. Starting with the event just completed in Georgia,
the NHRA Series is contesting six events in a seven week period.
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