Las Vegas - Clint Thompson has had some tremendous late season success in qualifying for the Top Alcohol Funny Car class. For an example, In Dallas, Thompson qualified on the pole, and got the win. At Maple Grove in Pennsylvania Thompson qualified third. In Vegas, Thompson was qualified third before slipping down to fourth in the final session after Jay Payne ran an identical 5.590 but was faster by just .05 mph But still, he remained in the top five in an extremely tough 16 car field with twenty cars knocking on the door to get in.
When the smoke cleared, Thompson's 5.59 at 259 MPH was just two hundredths of a second off the number one qualifier, Tony Bartone who lead the field with a 5.57
In round one, Thompson took on two time nostalgia funny car champion Jason Rupert. Sadly for Rupert, he would break on the burnout so Thompson was able to advance to the second round unopposed. A single didn’t stop Clint from making an impressive run as he still stopped the clock with a sizzling 5.58 at 259 MPH.
"I knew I had a single when Rupert broke but wanted to make a full pass and go for lane choice" Thompson said. "Unfortunately the engine broke a valve right at the stripe and banged the blower so we had a lot of work to do between rounds to get ready. My crew did a great job" Thompson continued.
Round two got a little more difficult as Clint took on California’s Shane Westerfield. At the hit, Clint went red giving the win to Westerfield.
"I felt terrible about red lighting against Shane" Thompson acknowledged, " they worked so hard and then I let them down. Shane and I both took a little longer to stage and my brain just said 'time to go' and I did"
"The car is running great and the crew is doing a real good job, I think we've got a good chance at the Regional this weekend and next weekend at Pomona" said Thompson.
When the smoke cleared, Thompson's 5.59 at 259 MPH was just two hundredths of a second off the number one qualifier, Tony Bartone who lead the field with a 5.57
In round one, Thompson took on two time nostalgia funny car champion Jason Rupert. Sadly for Rupert, he would break on the burnout so Thompson was able to advance to the second round unopposed. A single didn’t stop Clint from making an impressive run as he still stopped the clock with a sizzling 5.58 at 259 MPH.
"I knew I had a single when Rupert broke but wanted to make a full pass and go for lane choice" Thompson said. "Unfortunately the engine broke a valve right at the stripe and banged the blower so we had a lot of work to do between rounds to get ready. My crew did a great job" Thompson continued.
Round two got a little more difficult as Clint took on California’s Shane Westerfield. At the hit, Clint went red giving the win to Westerfield.
"I felt terrible about red lighting against Shane" Thompson acknowledged, " they worked so hard and then I let them down. Shane and I both took a little longer to stage and my brain just said 'time to go' and I did"
"The car is running great and the crew is doing a real good job, I think we've got a good chance at the Regional this weekend and next weekend at Pomona" said Thompson.
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