<img src="http://gallery.nitromater.com/files/6/5/D_Baca.jpg" alt="D_Baca" align="right"borders="0"/>
Ennis, TX (Sept. 24, 2006) - David Baca came to the 21st annual O'Reilly Fall Nationals needing to gain points on the racers directly in front of him in the POWERade points. He accomplished that goal with a quarterfinal finish that helped him pull to within 46 points on the top 10, a perch his Mach 1 Air Services team is anxious to attain.
Baca's sixth-place finish at this event came after a win over former points leader Melanie Troxel and a second-round dismissal at the hands of Rod Fuller. Baca handled Troxel easily, running a 4.603-second pass at 323.12 mph to Troxel's 4.736 at 288.46 mph. He then overpowered the racetrack against Fuller and smoked his tires, watching Fuller disappear in the distance with a 4.599 at 314.46 mph.
"Obviously we had the car to beat Rod," said Baca, who left the starting line well ahead of Fuller with a .059-second reaction time to Fuller's .085-second light. "He ran a 4.59 against us and we had run a 4.60 in Round 1 so all we had to do was get it to repeat but the track went away from us a little bit and we were just a touch too aggressive.
"On one hand, I'm really happy to have gained so much ground on the top 10 in one weekend but I can't help but think it could have even been better. At least we've proven now that we have a car capable of going rounds every weekend."
The NHRA tour returns to Reading, Pa., in five days for the rescheduled Toyo Tires Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway.
"We'll be ready to get after it again," Baca said. "We're down to four races now, which means there's 16 rounds left on the table. We need to gain two to get in the top 10. I think it's very doable."
Baca Reaches Elite Eight
Ennis, TX (Sept. 24, 2006) - David Baca came to the 21st annual O'Reilly Fall Nationals needing to gain points on the racers directly in front of him in the POWERade points. He accomplished that goal with a quarterfinal finish that helped him pull to within 46 points on the top 10, a perch his Mach 1 Air Services team is anxious to attain.
Baca's sixth-place finish at this event came after a win over former points leader Melanie Troxel and a second-round dismissal at the hands of Rod Fuller. Baca handled Troxel easily, running a 4.603-second pass at 323.12 mph to Troxel's 4.736 at 288.46 mph. He then overpowered the racetrack against Fuller and smoked his tires, watching Fuller disappear in the distance with a 4.599 at 314.46 mph.
"Obviously we had the car to beat Rod," said Baca, who left the starting line well ahead of Fuller with a .059-second reaction time to Fuller's .085-second light. "He ran a 4.59 against us and we had run a 4.60 in Round 1 so all we had to do was get it to repeat but the track went away from us a little bit and we were just a touch too aggressive.
"On one hand, I'm really happy to have gained so much ground on the top 10 in one weekend but I can't help but think it could have even been better. At least we've proven now that we have a car capable of going rounds every weekend."
The NHRA tour returns to Reading, Pa., in five days for the rescheduled Toyo Tires Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway.
"We'll be ready to get after it again," Baca said. "We're down to four races now, which means there's 16 rounds left on the table. We need to gain two to get in the top 10. I think it's very doable."
