Thanks Mike. The body came out amazing. From Bob Rosetty (who built it) and our paint and body guys Don Nave and Mark Condit, plus all the work that Troy did on it, everybody did an phenominal job. The end result of their hard work is a body that has gotten rave reviews from pretty much everyone who has seen it.
Hey Mike, can you tell any difference driving the car with the Omni body on the car vs the Charger??
Hey Mike.....Good on the whole team. Was watching and pullin' for y'all. Even Olgesby had a comment about the new shell. He said it was "stunning" and better looking than the original.
We took advantage of our bye and tried something with our tuneup that the car seemed to like. It had the best 60 foot time we've ever had at .967
I watched on Bangshift as well, very cool deal. And also, amidst all the threads about the end of drag racing and shrinking crowds, it was announced that Cordova was a sell-out, as in they were turning people away. Pretty impressive.
Thanks everyone. We qualified #5 with a 5.88 run Friday night. Because of the way the DRO series does their ladder we had the #1 qualifier Marc White in the first round. We went 5.77 in the first round while Marc had some transmission problems and shut off early. We had a bye into the final because our second round opponent to be Jon Capps had some parts breakage that the team wasn't able to fix. We took advantage of our bye and tried something with our tuneup that the car seemed to like. It had the best 60 foot time we've ever had at .967 and I shut it off about 200 feet off the line. We came up in the final with the car pretty hopped up and it was a little too much. The car spun at the hit and made a move for the wall costing us a lot of ET and Cruz was able to slide around us in the lights. It was a good weekend for us. Cruz was very cordial before and after the race, and was nothing but complimentary to me and the rest of our team.
And yes, at 4:30 Saturday evening Cordova literally ran out of space to park spectator cars. This is the first time that has ever happened in the events 60 year history. I don't know what the figures were for the weekend, but I know in the past they brought in around 20,000 people without having to close the parking lot.
I think NHRA should look at these independent shows (match races) ......
The NHRA Mello Yello series takes a week off before the grind and spectacle that is Indy, but if you still need a drag racing fix I can recommend a trip to Cordova, Illinois for the 60th running of the World Series of Drag Racing. This is the biggest and longest running independent event in the country and if you have never been to it you should. Scott Gardner and his crew do a wonderful job and the weekend has a little bit of something for everyone. Plus, as a bonus this year, "Big Daddy" Don Garlits and "TV Tommy" Ivo will be there as special guests and that alone should make it worth the trip. It's a great race with a fantastic history and I can highly recommend it for any drag racing fan. Enjoy!