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COMMERCE, Ga., (April 24, 2007) – For native Australian Dave Grubnic, driver of the 330-mph Zantrex-3 Top Fuel dragster, and his team of nitro specialists the focus of this weekend’s, April 26-29, Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Ga., a few miles northeast of the Atlanta city limits, is capitalizing on consistency.
At the previous NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event in Las Vegas , Grubnic and the Zantrex-3 team made all but one lap (qualifying) down the track under full power and without traction-robbing tire smoke. It may be a small victory for the team that already has two semi-final appearances this year, but it certainly is the positive step they have been seeking throughout the beginning of the 2007 NHRA season.
“You bet, that’s what we’ve been trying to do all year,” Grubnic, a 44-year old resident of Ennis , Mont. , said. “Sure, we lost in the first round in Vegas, but we just got beat. We certainly didn’t beat ourselves and that’s been a problem for us a few times this year.
“We qualified No. 1 in Atlanta in 2004 so we know we can get down the track there. The key will be making that happen every single time, and after Vegas I feel confident we can do just that.”
In early 2004, Grubnic was hired to drive for Kalitta Motorsports. Since joining the Ypsilanti, Michigan-based multi-car nitro team, Grubnic has posted consecutive top-five championship points finishes. In the fall of 2004, he won the lucrative and coveted Budweiser Shootout in Las Vegas, becoming only the fourth driver in the special event’s history to win its $100,000 prize in his first attempt, and he picked up an emotional first NHRA national event win in May, 2005 in Topeka, Kans., to become the first non-native North American to win a Top Fuel trophy.
The Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals begins Friday, April 26, for the Top Fuel class with one qualifying session at 4:30 p.m. (ET), and then another qualifying session at 7:30 p.m. Two more qualifying sessions follow on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. The top sixteen qualified cars will race Sunday in final eliminations beginning at 11:00 a.m.
All times and dates subject to change.
The Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals is the 6th of 23 national events in the 2007 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.
NHRA Top Fueler Dave Grubnic is ready for redundancy in Atlanta
COMMERCE, Ga., (April 24, 2007) – For native Australian Dave Grubnic, driver of the 330-mph Zantrex-3 Top Fuel dragster, and his team of nitro specialists the focus of this weekend’s, April 26-29, Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Ga., a few miles northeast of the Atlanta city limits, is capitalizing on consistency.
At the previous NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event in Las Vegas , Grubnic and the Zantrex-3 team made all but one lap (qualifying) down the track under full power and without traction-robbing tire smoke. It may be a small victory for the team that already has two semi-final appearances this year, but it certainly is the positive step they have been seeking throughout the beginning of the 2007 NHRA season.
“You bet, that’s what we’ve been trying to do all year,” Grubnic, a 44-year old resident of Ennis , Mont. , said. “Sure, we lost in the first round in Vegas, but we just got beat. We certainly didn’t beat ourselves and that’s been a problem for us a few times this year.
“We qualified No. 1 in Atlanta in 2004 so we know we can get down the track there. The key will be making that happen every single time, and after Vegas I feel confident we can do just that.”
In early 2004, Grubnic was hired to drive for Kalitta Motorsports. Since joining the Ypsilanti, Michigan-based multi-car nitro team, Grubnic has posted consecutive top-five championship points finishes. In the fall of 2004, he won the lucrative and coveted Budweiser Shootout in Las Vegas, becoming only the fourth driver in the special event’s history to win its $100,000 prize in his first attempt, and he picked up an emotional first NHRA national event win in May, 2005 in Topeka, Kans., to become the first non-native North American to win a Top Fuel trophy.
The Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals begins Friday, April 26, for the Top Fuel class with one qualifying session at 4:30 p.m. (ET), and then another qualifying session at 7:30 p.m. Two more qualifying sessions follow on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. The top sixteen qualified cars will race Sunday in final eliminations beginning at 11:00 a.m.
All times and dates subject to change.
The Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals is the 6th of 23 national events in the 2007 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.
