Kelly
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Clint Thompson Returns to "Big D"
<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/clintheadshot1.jpg" alt="clintheadshot1" align="left"borders="0"/>Dallas - (September 21, 2008) -- Clint Thompson and the Cascade Chevrolet team returned to the great state of Texas for the 23rd annual O'Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals. After spinning the tires on the first two attempts Thompson qualified eighth with a fine 5.64 at 253.33 MPH.
That set Thompson up against number nine qualifier and Division six foe Sean O'Bannon in the first round of eliminations. O'Bannon ran a 5.65 in qualifying so it would be a very competitive race on paper. At the green O'Bannon got a good head start with a 0.064 reaction time to Thompson's 0.223. O'Bannon never looked back as he crossed the stripe first with a 5.68 at 254 MPH to get the hole shot win. Thompson recorded a 5.61 at 255 MPH. "I got distracted at the line when I staged,"Thompson said, "the bottom bulb was flickering and at first I didn't even know what to do. I decided to pull in a little deeper and in the process got caught off guard when the tree flashed". "It's still no excuse though", he continued," as a driver you have to be able to focus even when weird things happen and I just didn't. I feel bad for the team. The car was fast enough to be a contender and I let them down, but now we just regroup and head for the next race. With the Division 6 championship on the line in Medford it will be really important for us to do our best. I am confident we can pull it off though, I can hardly wait"
This weekend Thompson returns to his home track at Champion Raceway near Medford for the final Division 6 event of the season. Thompson Racing invites all of their local fans and friends to come out to Champion this weekend. Qualifying is Friday Sept 26th at 1:00, 4:00, and 7:00 and eliminations begin at 1:00 on Saturday.
