 SONOMA,
CA (August 3-5) -- The California sunshine provided just the right
lighting for Hoosier-shod NHRA drivers to test their metal against the
world's best at the 14th Annual Fram Autolite Nationals in Sonoma,
California. When all the smoke had cleared, teams riding on USA-made
Hoosier tires competed in six class finals and captured five class
wins in the seven classes in which Hoosier competes. There were three
"all-Hoosier" finals, as Mark Hentges and Duane Shields met
in Federal-Mogul Dragster, Doug Gordon met Bucky Austin in
Federal-Mogul Funny Car and in the Super Comp final, Kyle Seipel met
Robert Hartzell. Also making it into the final round in their
respective classes were the Hoosier-shod cars of Dean Hall in Super
Gas, Toby Lang in Stock and Doug Lembeck in Super Stock.
FEDERAL-MOGUL DRAGSTER
In the first "all-Hoosier" final round, Mark Hentges and
Duane Shields would race to determine a Federal-Mogul Dragster
champion. Both drivers were riding on a pair of Hoosier 34.5/17.0-16
C06 drag tires. At the light Hentges had the slight advantage with a
.469 RT to Shields .491 RT. Hentges followed with a 5.503 ET (255.77
mph) to Shields 5.518 ET (256.06 mph) to take the win by about a half
a car length.
FEDERAL-MOGUL FUNNY CAR
The second "all-Hoosier" class final pit Doug Gordon in
the MB Cabinets '00 Camaro against the Snap-On '01 Camaro of Bucky
Austin. Just as in the FM Dragster final, both drivers would be on a
pair of Hoosier 34.5/17.0-16 C06 drag tires. Doug Gordon, looking to
win his second national event in a row, got a big jump at the light
with an RT of .445 to Austin's .510 RT. Gordon proceeded to post a
5.877 ET (246.03 mph) to Austin's 5.899 ET (242.28 mph) to capture his
second consecutive national event win.
SUPER COMP
The third and final "all-Hoosier" class final had Kyle
Seipel meeting Robert Hartzell in Super Comp. Seipel took the win when
both drivers red lighted with Seipel the lesser offender. Seipel had a
.392 RT to Hartzell's .371 RT. Seipel's ET was 8.898 seconds on an
8.90 index for a -.002 variance.
SUPER GAS
With only one of the two competitors electing to ride on the
Hoosier brand in the Super Gas final, a "Team-Hoosier"
member taking the win was less of a certainty than in Super Comp, FM
Funny Car and FM Dragster. Hoosier's hopes all rested on driver Dean
Hall, as he bested his opponent at the light with a .432 RT versus a
.456 RT. With a 9.90 index, Hall's consistent Hoosier rubber posted a
9.905 ET for an amazing .005 on the over/under index over his
competition's -.027. Chalk up the fourth class title for
"Team-Hoosier".
STOCK
Whether another Hoosier mounted competitor would emerge a class
winner was to be determined in Stock class as only one of the two
final round competitors would elect to ride on the Hoosier brand.
Driver Toby Lang used a .512 RT to his opponent's .514 RT to get the
slight edge. With a 12.05 dial, Lang posted a 12.025 ET for a -.025
difference to his opponent's -.033 to take the win, his first national
win of the year, giving Hoosier an amazing five class titles.
SUPER STOCK
Doug Lambeck would go for the title in the Super Stock final. This
final was one of the closest of the weekend, as Lambeck got the better
light with a .557 RT to his opponent's .576 RT. Lambeck then clocked a
9.418 Et on a 9.36 dial for a .058 difference. Unfortunately, his
opponent posted a .002 difference and clipped the Hoosier-shod car by
.037 seconds or less than eight feet.
Steve Hudspeth, one of Hoosier's drag tire product managers
attended the event and commented, "This was one of the best
performances of the season for teams running the Hoosier brand."
Hudspeth continued, "I enjoyed my time in California and with the
results we (Hoosier) enjoyed, it was just that much
better."
The next event for the NHRA is August 16-19, at Brainerd, Minnesota
for the 20th Annual Colonel's Truck Accessories NHRA Nationals.
Hoosier Racing Tire Corp. would like to thank and congratulate all
the teams who trusted the Hoosier brand during this past weekend's
competition. |
