BATON ROUGE, La. – Defending two-time IHRA Division 4 Top Sportsman Champ Chris Gulitti started his 2009 season off with a bang, scoring a runner-up finish at this past weekend’s IHRA Mardi Gras Nationals at State Capital Dragway in Baton Rouge, La. The event marked the sixth national event final for Gulitti, who finished fifth in last year’s national standings.
Gulitti, from Spring, Texas, is happy with the strong performance, but won’t be content until he collects his first national event “Ironman.” Gulitti qualified 11th with a 7.117 second elapsed time at 193.57 mph. He started his march to the final by defeating Jimmie Dickey in round one, Chris Wright in round two, Glen Wright in the quarters and received a competition bye in the semi’s.
Gulitti would square off with another heavy hitter in the finals, Gary Bingham, who finished eighth in IHRA national standings last year. Gulitti gained the jump off the line, but his mount slowed to a 7.19 on his 7.15 dial, which couldn’t hold off Bingham’s 7.09 on a 7.07 dial.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to go to the final, but to go to six straight final rounds and not win one of them, well it kind of gets to you,” said Gulitti. “The car was dead on all day and I was hitting the tree. The car showed to be on a 7.14 in the semi’s, so I put a .15 on it in the final. I knew I was behind, so I squeezed the second nitrous kit, but it just started popping and gurgling. I knew I wasn’t going to get there, so I just let off and gave it up.
“I don’t know if something is going away or if the one bottle can’t support two kits on the quarter mile,” cited Gulitti. “It may have just been fat. I hope everything is good, because the car was flawless up until the final. I’m glad we made a good showing for Torq Tools, All-Star Properties and InsideFastBrackets.com.”
Gulitti, from Spring, Texas, is happy with the strong performance, but won’t be content until he collects his first national event “Ironman.” Gulitti qualified 11th with a 7.117 second elapsed time at 193.57 mph. He started his march to the final by defeating Jimmie Dickey in round one, Chris Wright in round two, Glen Wright in the quarters and received a competition bye in the semi’s.
Gulitti would square off with another heavy hitter in the finals, Gary Bingham, who finished eighth in IHRA national standings last year. Gulitti gained the jump off the line, but his mount slowed to a 7.19 on his 7.15 dial, which couldn’t hold off Bingham’s 7.09 on a 7.07 dial.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to go to the final, but to go to six straight final rounds and not win one of them, well it kind of gets to you,” said Gulitti. “The car was dead on all day and I was hitting the tree. The car showed to be on a 7.14 in the semi’s, so I put a .15 on it in the final. I knew I was behind, so I squeezed the second nitrous kit, but it just started popping and gurgling. I knew I wasn’t going to get there, so I just let off and gave it up.
“I don’t know if something is going away or if the one bottle can’t support two kits on the quarter mile,” cited Gulitti. “It may have just been fat. I hope everything is good, because the car was flawless up until the final. I’m glad we made a good showing for Torq Tools, All-Star Properties and InsideFastBrackets.com.”
