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Success in drag racing includes a little bit of luck, which was the one thing eluding veteran Funny Car driver Gary Densham at the 38th annual ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals this weekend. Each of the four rounds of qualifying are important to the Torco Racing Fuels/Racebricks Collectibles team and not getting information from one 1,320-foot pass proved to be a critical component of making the 16-car field.
“We lost oil pressure after we fired the car for Round 1 on Friday,” Densham said. “It was a mechanical problem that anybody can have at any given time but it jumped up and bit us at one of the biggest races of the year. That hurts. You can’t get behind in this sport because everybody else is nipping at your heels.
“As luck would have it, we were the second pair out in Round 2 and since we didn’t have any info from Round 1 we were guessing what the track would hold. It turns out that it wouldn’t hold what we thought it would and we lost traction pretty early in the run.”
Not having any full runs, Densham played it safe during Saturdays third round, making a conservative, full pass in 5.041 seconds at 278.75 mph, finally getting the much-needed information to bump into the field of qualifiers.
“At that point we were up against the wall,” Densham said, referring to the fourth and final round of qualifications. “We felt that if we made a solid run and not try to set any records we could show everybody what we are capable of Sunday. So we took a shot at the No. 10 slot, thinking that a 4.8-something would keep us in the field. We bumped in with a 4.887-second pass at 318 mph that put us in the No. 12 slot, but the track got better with each run and we wound up on the outside looking in.
“We’re going to make a stop in San Antonio next weekend to do a little testing before the Houston race in two weeks. This is disappointing but it’s not the end of the world. This is what makes us better and more determined than ever. We’ve never won Houston and I think it might be the prefect place to ride this buckin’ bronco to victory circle.”
Densham looks to Houston race
Success in drag racing includes a little bit of luck, which was the one thing eluding veteran Funny Car driver Gary Densham at the 38th annual ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals this weekend. Each of the four rounds of qualifying are important to the Torco Racing Fuels/Racebricks Collectibles team and not getting information from one 1,320-foot pass proved to be a critical component of making the 16-car field.
“We lost oil pressure after we fired the car for Round 1 on Friday,” Densham said. “It was a mechanical problem that anybody can have at any given time but it jumped up and bit us at one of the biggest races of the year. That hurts. You can’t get behind in this sport because everybody else is nipping at your heels.
“As luck would have it, we were the second pair out in Round 2 and since we didn’t have any info from Round 1 we were guessing what the track would hold. It turns out that it wouldn’t hold what we thought it would and we lost traction pretty early in the run.”
Not having any full runs, Densham played it safe during Saturdays third round, making a conservative, full pass in 5.041 seconds at 278.75 mph, finally getting the much-needed information to bump into the field of qualifiers.
“At that point we were up against the wall,” Densham said, referring to the fourth and final round of qualifications. “We felt that if we made a solid run and not try to set any records we could show everybody what we are capable of Sunday. So we took a shot at the No. 10 slot, thinking that a 4.8-something would keep us in the field. We bumped in with a 4.887-second pass at 318 mph that put us in the No. 12 slot, but the track got better with each run and we wound up on the outside looking in.
“We’re going to make a stop in San Antonio next weekend to do a little testing before the Houston race in two weeks. This is disappointing but it’s not the end of the world. This is what makes us better and more determined than ever. We’ve never won Houston and I think it might be the prefect place to ride this buckin’ bronco to victory circle.”
