Connolly unhappy with quarterfinal setback
<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/d_connolly.jpg" alt="d_connolly" align="left"borders="0"/>
Memphis, TN (9/28/08): Dave Connolly was not pleased with his results Sunday in the O'Reilly Mid-South Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park.
The native of Elyria, Ohio, wanted to use the third of six NHRA Countdown to the championship races to pull closer to the front-runners on a hot, sunny day.
He got off to a good start by coming from behind to nip Greg Stanfield by one-thousandth of a second in the first round -- 6.611 seconds to 6.634. Stanfield made it close with a .012-second reaction to Connolly's .034.
But Mike Edwards beat him off the starting line and to the win light in 6.648 seconds at 207.18 mph while Connolly ran quicker, 6.641 at 207.82. Edwards had a.037-second reaction time to Connolly's .052. The winning margin was eight-thousandths of a second.
"We didn't lose any ground (to the leader), but we didn't gain any either," said Connolly. "And we are running out of races. Being five rounds down with three races and 12 rounds remaining isn't where we want to be.
"The car balked on me when I put on the two-step (at the starting line) and that broke my concentration," Connolly continued. "We had a good car all weekend but we weren't able to take advantage of it."
Connolly is sixth in Countdown points with 2183, 94 behind the leader and his Cagnazzi Racing teammate, Jeg Coughlin at 2277.
<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/d_connolly.jpg" alt="d_connolly" align="left"borders="0"/>
Memphis, TN (9/28/08): Dave Connolly was not pleased with his results Sunday in the O'Reilly Mid-South Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park.
The native of Elyria, Ohio, wanted to use the third of six NHRA Countdown to the championship races to pull closer to the front-runners on a hot, sunny day.
He got off to a good start by coming from behind to nip Greg Stanfield by one-thousandth of a second in the first round -- 6.611 seconds to 6.634. Stanfield made it close with a .012-second reaction to Connolly's .034.
But Mike Edwards beat him off the starting line and to the win light in 6.648 seconds at 207.18 mph while Connolly ran quicker, 6.641 at 207.82. Edwards had a.037-second reaction time to Connolly's .052. The winning margin was eight-thousandths of a second.
"We didn't lose any ground (to the leader), but we didn't gain any either," said Connolly. "And we are running out of races. Being five rounds down with three races and 12 rounds remaining isn't where we want to be.
"The car balked on me when I put on the two-step (at the starting line) and that broke my concentration," Connolly continued. "We had a good car all weekend but we weren't able to take advantage of it."
Connolly is sixth in Countdown points with 2183, 94 behind the leader and his Cagnazzi Racing teammate, Jeg Coughlin at 2277.
