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NORWALK, Ohio, July 1, 2007 - Team Chevy's Dave Connolly made his second trip this season to the NHRA Pro Stock winner's circle with a final-round victory over Larry Morgan at today's inaugural Summit Racing Equipment Nationals at Summit Racing Motorsports Park. The 24-year-old Connolly, who hails from nearby Elyria, Ohio, turned in an impressive weekend performance that culminated in his 11th career victory, and low elapsed time of the meet for the Torco Racing Fuels Chevy Cobalt.
"This is pretty sweet," said Connolly. "I grew up at this track - I made my first run in a racecar here, so to come back at the first NHRA event ever held here, and to be this successful, the weather to be this nice, in front of 40,000 fans in the seats, this is about as good as it gets."
Connolly entered the Sunday eliminator with his Torco Racing Fuels Chevrolet qualified in the No. 4 position. He defeated Warren Johnson in round one with his Chevrolet running the quickest time of the meet at 6.628 seconds. He came back in round two to defeat Greg Stanfield and then advanced to the championship heat with a semifinal-round win over Cagnazzi Racing teammate Jeg Coughlin Jr.
"Warren was tough in the first round - he went red by just a few thousandths," said Connolly. "Then we had two world champions, (Greg) Stanfield and Jeggie (Coughlin), and those are always tough rounds. Today was just one of those deals where our Chevy Cobalt was running mean all day."
In the finals, Larry Morgan's Lucas Oil Dodge launched first and garnered a hundredth of a second advantage off the starting line, but by halftrack, the Chevy Cobalt caught the Dodge and then bolted past the finish stripe with a winning 6.660 e.t. at 207.11 mph. Morgan followed with a 6.718 second run at 205.54 mph. The margin of victory for the Chevrolet was .048 of a second.
"The final had me a little scared," said Connolly. "Larry's (Morgan) like a ticking time bomb, you don't know what he's going to give you. We went up there, and Larry was flickering the tree, and I didn't think the tree was ever going to come on. But when it did and that win light came on, it was awesome.
"You never know what to expect because the class is so tough, but I liked out chances after qualifying. We knew we left a little on the table Friday night, we came out Saturday and we were the second quickest in both sessions. I knew we had the car to win, I just had to get up on the wheel a little bit and concentrate on my driving."
It marked the 23rd career final-round appearance for Connolly, his third this season, and it provided Chevrolet with its 138th all time victory in NHRA Pro Stock competition. Connolly also tied Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins and Frank Iaconio for most wins by an NHRA Pro Stock driver.
"This was a great win for the whole Torco Racing Fuels Chevy race team," said Connolly. "We had a couple of fellow Ohioans that we raced, my teammate (Jeg Coughlin), and then Larry Morgan, who has a heart of gold, in the finals. Victor Cagnazzi (team owner) and Tommy Utt (crew chief), you gave me the hot rod to win today."
Watch Dave Connolly post-race interview; YouTube - Team Chevy's Dave Connolly NHRA Post-Race Norwalk 7-01-07
The next stop on the 23-race NHRA POWERade circuit is the 7th annual O' Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals on July 6 - 8 at Bristol Dragway in Bristol, Tenn.
PRO STOCK
Winner - Dave Connolly (Chevy Cobalt), 6.660ET/207.11MPH
Runner-up - Larry Morgan (Dodge), 6.718ET/205.54MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Greg Anderson (Pontiac GTO), 6.654ET/207.59
Low ET - Dave Connolly (Chevrolet Cobalt), 6.628ET (track record)
Top Speed - Jason Line (Pontiac GTO), 207.94MPH (track record)
Top 10 - 1. Greg Anderson (Pontiac GTO), 992; 2. Jeg Coughlin Jr. (Chevy Cobalt), 825; 3. Dave Connolly (Chevy Cobalt), 775; 4. Jason Line (Pontiac GTO), 682; 5. Allen Johnson (Dodge), 584; 6. V. Gaines (Dodge), 521; 7. Kurt Johnson (Chevy Cobalt), 517; 8. Larry Morgan (Dodge), 512; 9. Richie Stevens (Dodge), 491; 10. Warren Johnson (Pontiac GTO), 475.
FUNNY CAR
Winner - Mike Ashley (Dodge), 4.823ET/321.88MPH
Runner-up - Kenny Bernstein (Dodge), 12.080ET/80.40MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Robert Hight (Ford), 4.713ET/313.73MPH
Top 10 - 1. Ron Capps (Dodge), 819; 2. Robert Hight (Ford), 721; 3. Tony Pedregon (Chevy Impala), 636; 4.. Mike Ashley (Dodge), 635; 5. Gary Scelzi (Dodge), 595; 6. Jim Head (Toyota), 574; 7. Ashley Force (Ford), 500; 8. Jack Beckman (Dodge), 473; 9. Tommy Johnson Jr. (Chevy Impala), 463); 10. Cruz Pedregon (Chevy Impala), 461.
TOP FUEL
Winner - Tony Schumacher, 4.537ET/322.04MPH
Runner-up - Rod Fuller, 7.087ET/114.49MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Rod Fuller, 4.533ET/323.50MPH
Top 10 - 1. Rod Fuller, 786; 2. Larry Dixon, 688; 3. J.R. Todd, 677; 4. Brandon Bernstein, 671; 5. Tony Schumacher, 655; 6. Dave Grubnic, 533; 7. Bob Vandergriff, 524; 8. Melanie Troxel, 519; 9. Whit Bazemore, 512; 10. Cory McClenathan, 487
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Dave Connolly Puts Chevy Cobalt in Pro Stock Winner's Circle at Summit Racing Nationals
Ohio native drives to third win of the season in front of hometown crowd
NORWALK, Ohio, July 1, 2007 - Team Chevy's Dave Connolly made his second trip this season to the NHRA Pro Stock winner's circle with a final-round victory over Larry Morgan at today's inaugural Summit Racing Equipment Nationals at Summit Racing Motorsports Park. The 24-year-old Connolly, who hails from nearby Elyria, Ohio, turned in an impressive weekend performance that culminated in his 11th career victory, and low elapsed time of the meet for the Torco Racing Fuels Chevy Cobalt.
"This is pretty sweet," said Connolly. "I grew up at this track - I made my first run in a racecar here, so to come back at the first NHRA event ever held here, and to be this successful, the weather to be this nice, in front of 40,000 fans in the seats, this is about as good as it gets."
Connolly entered the Sunday eliminator with his Torco Racing Fuels Chevrolet qualified in the No. 4 position. He defeated Warren Johnson in round one with his Chevrolet running the quickest time of the meet at 6.628 seconds. He came back in round two to defeat Greg Stanfield and then advanced to the championship heat with a semifinal-round win over Cagnazzi Racing teammate Jeg Coughlin Jr.
"Warren was tough in the first round - he went red by just a few thousandths," said Connolly. "Then we had two world champions, (Greg) Stanfield and Jeggie (Coughlin), and those are always tough rounds. Today was just one of those deals where our Chevy Cobalt was running mean all day."
In the finals, Larry Morgan's Lucas Oil Dodge launched first and garnered a hundredth of a second advantage off the starting line, but by halftrack, the Chevy Cobalt caught the Dodge and then bolted past the finish stripe with a winning 6.660 e.t. at 207.11 mph. Morgan followed with a 6.718 second run at 205.54 mph. The margin of victory for the Chevrolet was .048 of a second.
"The final had me a little scared," said Connolly. "Larry's (Morgan) like a ticking time bomb, you don't know what he's going to give you. We went up there, and Larry was flickering the tree, and I didn't think the tree was ever going to come on. But when it did and that win light came on, it was awesome.
"You never know what to expect because the class is so tough, but I liked out chances after qualifying. We knew we left a little on the table Friday night, we came out Saturday and we were the second quickest in both sessions. I knew we had the car to win, I just had to get up on the wheel a little bit and concentrate on my driving."
It marked the 23rd career final-round appearance for Connolly, his third this season, and it provided Chevrolet with its 138th all time victory in NHRA Pro Stock competition. Connolly also tied Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins and Frank Iaconio for most wins by an NHRA Pro Stock driver.
"This was a great win for the whole Torco Racing Fuels Chevy race team," said Connolly. "We had a couple of fellow Ohioans that we raced, my teammate (Jeg Coughlin), and then Larry Morgan, who has a heart of gold, in the finals. Victor Cagnazzi (team owner) and Tommy Utt (crew chief), you gave me the hot rod to win today."
Watch Dave Connolly post-race interview; YouTube - Team Chevy's Dave Connolly NHRA Post-Race Norwalk 7-01-07
The next stop on the 23-race NHRA POWERade circuit is the 7th annual O' Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals on July 6 - 8 at Bristol Dragway in Bristol, Tenn.
PRO STOCK
Winner - Dave Connolly (Chevy Cobalt), 6.660ET/207.11MPH
Runner-up - Larry Morgan (Dodge), 6.718ET/205.54MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Greg Anderson (Pontiac GTO), 6.654ET/207.59
Low ET - Dave Connolly (Chevrolet Cobalt), 6.628ET (track record)
Top Speed - Jason Line (Pontiac GTO), 207.94MPH (track record)
Top 10 - 1. Greg Anderson (Pontiac GTO), 992; 2. Jeg Coughlin Jr. (Chevy Cobalt), 825; 3. Dave Connolly (Chevy Cobalt), 775; 4. Jason Line (Pontiac GTO), 682; 5. Allen Johnson (Dodge), 584; 6. V. Gaines (Dodge), 521; 7. Kurt Johnson (Chevy Cobalt), 517; 8. Larry Morgan (Dodge), 512; 9. Richie Stevens (Dodge), 491; 10. Warren Johnson (Pontiac GTO), 475.
FUNNY CAR
Winner - Mike Ashley (Dodge), 4.823ET/321.88MPH
Runner-up - Kenny Bernstein (Dodge), 12.080ET/80.40MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Robert Hight (Ford), 4.713ET/313.73MPH
Top 10 - 1. Ron Capps (Dodge), 819; 2. Robert Hight (Ford), 721; 3. Tony Pedregon (Chevy Impala), 636; 4.. Mike Ashley (Dodge), 635; 5. Gary Scelzi (Dodge), 595; 6. Jim Head (Toyota), 574; 7. Ashley Force (Ford), 500; 8. Jack Beckman (Dodge), 473; 9. Tommy Johnson Jr. (Chevy Impala), 463); 10. Cruz Pedregon (Chevy Impala), 461.
TOP FUEL
Winner - Tony Schumacher, 4.537ET/322.04MPH
Runner-up - Rod Fuller, 7.087ET/114.49MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Rod Fuller, 4.533ET/323.50MPH
Top 10 - 1. Rod Fuller, 786; 2. Larry Dixon, 688; 3. J.R. Todd, 677; 4. Brandon Bernstein, 671; 5. Tony Schumacher, 655; 6. Dave Grubnic, 533; 7. Bob Vandergriff, 524; 8. Melanie Troxel, 519; 9. Whit Bazemore, 512; 10. Cory McClenathan, 487
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