(9-21-2011) CONCORD, NC – Capitalizing on an unseasonably cool September weekend at zMax Dragway, located just outside of Charlotte, NC, Roy Hill and teammate Grant Lewis qualified numbers one and two in Super Stock and Hill once again took home the Super Stock / A Automatic trophy at the 4th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals.
Driving the James Finch-owned Phoenix Racing 2010 Ford Mustang Cobra Jets, Lewis and Hill posted qualifying elapsed times of 8.432 and 8.480 seconds respectively, well under the 9.70 class index. The numbers, along with Lewis’ top speed of 161.96 MPH, were also new track and national records.
“Charlotte was a great outing for us,” Hill said. “We debuted our new Roush Yates engines, and they were tremendous. We also had Coca-Cola on the quarter panels of both cars, along with a large group from both Coca-Cola corporate and Coca-Cola Bottling Company Consolidated, so to run as well as we did in front of everyone was a great thing.”
“We also won the NHRA Best Appearing Crew award thanks to one of our supporters, Advertising Edge,” Hill continued. “They produce our team shirts, and we had them on board as a sponsor for this race. To win the award with Don and Earl from AE at the track this weekend was very neat.”
While the extreme performance exhibited by the Cobra Jets is all well and good, they did go far enough under the class index to warrant further penalty and adjustment by NHRA. However, Hill has his focus squarely on the future.
“I firmly believe that NHRA is working on building a new class for these cars for next year, especially after the performance they’ve seen at the last couple of races,” said Hill. “We’re excited about that. I think you’ll see something like in the old days, where we can run these Ford, Dodge, and GM factory drag cars heads-up. Just like the old days of AFX and BFX in the ‘60s. Like Bob Tasca said, when you run fast with these cars on Sunday, it sells cars on Monday, and I think the manufacturers want to see that.”
Not one to rest on his laurels, Hill and Roush Yates have already gone to work on a new lower compression engine for the team’s next national event, the 27th annual Uni-Select Auto Plus NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, PA on September 29 - October 2.
“I feel like this new engine will give us a chance to come back and set another record,” Hill said. “We’ll go in Super Stock / A Automatic or Super Stock B / Automatic, or maybe enter one car in each category. We’ll just have to see.”
Meanwhile, Hill is headed to car owner James Finch’s hometown, Panama City, FL, for a car show and match race this weekend, something Hill sees as a building block for his future Super Stock plans.
“Match racing these cars heads-up is the next big thing, and fans want to see it,” the Sophia, NC native said. “We’re trying to put together a whole series of these races for next year, and we even have a match-race specific Cobra Jet coming from Petty’s Garage very soon.”
“The bottom line is that we’re very excited about all the things we have going on with the race program and the drag racing school for the remainder of this season and into 2012, as well as the continued support of Coca-Cola, Alsco, Jacky Jones Ford, and many more,” Hill said in closing.
Driving the James Finch-owned Phoenix Racing 2010 Ford Mustang Cobra Jets, Lewis and Hill posted qualifying elapsed times of 8.432 and 8.480 seconds respectively, well under the 9.70 class index. The numbers, along with Lewis’ top speed of 161.96 MPH, were also new track and national records.
“Charlotte was a great outing for us,” Hill said. “We debuted our new Roush Yates engines, and they were tremendous. We also had Coca-Cola on the quarter panels of both cars, along with a large group from both Coca-Cola corporate and Coca-Cola Bottling Company Consolidated, so to run as well as we did in front of everyone was a great thing.”
“We also won the NHRA Best Appearing Crew award thanks to one of our supporters, Advertising Edge,” Hill continued. “They produce our team shirts, and we had them on board as a sponsor for this race. To win the award with Don and Earl from AE at the track this weekend was very neat.”
While the extreme performance exhibited by the Cobra Jets is all well and good, they did go far enough under the class index to warrant further penalty and adjustment by NHRA. However, Hill has his focus squarely on the future.
“I firmly believe that NHRA is working on building a new class for these cars for next year, especially after the performance they’ve seen at the last couple of races,” said Hill. “We’re excited about that. I think you’ll see something like in the old days, where we can run these Ford, Dodge, and GM factory drag cars heads-up. Just like the old days of AFX and BFX in the ‘60s. Like Bob Tasca said, when you run fast with these cars on Sunday, it sells cars on Monday, and I think the manufacturers want to see that.”
Not one to rest on his laurels, Hill and Roush Yates have already gone to work on a new lower compression engine for the team’s next national event, the 27th annual Uni-Select Auto Plus NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, PA on September 29 - October 2.
“I feel like this new engine will give us a chance to come back and set another record,” Hill said. “We’ll go in Super Stock / A Automatic or Super Stock B / Automatic, or maybe enter one car in each category. We’ll just have to see.”
Meanwhile, Hill is headed to car owner James Finch’s hometown, Panama City, FL, for a car show and match race this weekend, something Hill sees as a building block for his future Super Stock plans.
“Match racing these cars heads-up is the next big thing, and fans want to see it,” the Sophia, NC native said. “We’re trying to put together a whole series of these races for next year, and we even have a match-race specific Cobra Jet coming from Petty’s Garage very soon.”
“The bottom line is that we’re very excited about all the things we have going on with the race program and the drag racing school for the remainder of this season and into 2012, as well as the continued support of Coca-Cola, Alsco, Jacky Jones Ford, and many more,” Hill said in closing.
