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Dave Northrop, a newcomer to the ultra-competitive category this year, could write a chapter about them.
For example, at the last race in Richmond, Va., Northrop drove Kenny Koretsky’s red Nitro Fish/ISC Racers Tape Dodge Stratus to his quickest elapsed time (6.640 seconds) and fastest speed (207.37 mph) and still missed the starting 16 by one-hundredth of a second. He wound up 20th overall in the quickest field in history (from Jason Line’s record-setting 6.571 seconds to 6.630 in 16th).
“Something like that is frustrating,” Northrop said. “We lost to two runs to track conditions and you can’t do that in Pro Stock and still qualify. There were several other drivers who also ran their quickest runs and didn’t make it.”
Northrop and crew chief Eddie Guarnaccia plan to make amends for that in the ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor speedway, Friday through Sunday.
“We are looking forward to it,” added Northrop, of Perkasie, Pa. “Larry Morgan (team engine builder) took our motor back to the shop to work on it and I think we’ll be able to get after it when qualifying starts Friday. We were only off a little bit at Richmond.
“We are fortunate because Eddie has a lot of data on running at the Vegas track. He and Kenny have made a lot of runs there. We definitely want to be part of eliminations on Sunday. We were getting used to qualifying.”
Northrop, a former Competition Eliminator driver, has qualified for seven races while driving a limited 2206 schedule with Koretsky’s Nitro Fish team. His only round win was quite memorable. Northrop, the 16th qualifier at Dallas, left the starting line first and stunned three-time defending series champion Greg Anderson in the opening round.
Northrop’s .052-second reaction time and 6.697-second effort got him to the finish line three-thousandths of a second ahead of Anderson’s .099, 6.653 at 207.24.“It’s nice to know we have a good chance of qualifying,” said Northrop, who has caught both sides of racing’s whimsical outcomes.
Qualifying is slated for Friday at 2:30 and 5 p.m. and Saturday at 11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Sunday’s eliminations commence at 11 a.m.
KPK Motorsports appreciates all its sponsors. We couldn't do this without them. Our thanks to Werner Enterprises, Nitro Fish, OCC, Motel 6, Goodyear, Royal Purple, Champion, Speed Pro, Fel Pro, FRAM, Prestone, Autolite, ISC Racers Tape, Cyclo, Matco Tools, Boninfante Clutches, American Racing Wheels, Jerry Bickel Race Cars and VHT.
Northrop Seeing Good and Opposite Sides of Tough Pro Stock Competition
The vagaries of NHRA Pro Stock racing are usually unexplainable.
Dave Northrop, a newcomer to the ultra-competitive category this year, could write a chapter about them.
For example, at the last race in Richmond, Va., Northrop drove Kenny Koretsky’s red Nitro Fish/ISC Racers Tape Dodge Stratus to his quickest elapsed time (6.640 seconds) and fastest speed (207.37 mph) and still missed the starting 16 by one-hundredth of a second. He wound up 20th overall in the quickest field in history (from Jason Line’s record-setting 6.571 seconds to 6.630 in 16th).
“Something like that is frustrating,” Northrop said. “We lost to two runs to track conditions and you can’t do that in Pro Stock and still qualify. There were several other drivers who also ran their quickest runs and didn’t make it.”
Northrop and crew chief Eddie Guarnaccia plan to make amends for that in the ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor speedway, Friday through Sunday.
“We are looking forward to it,” added Northrop, of Perkasie, Pa. “Larry Morgan (team engine builder) took our motor back to the shop to work on it and I think we’ll be able to get after it when qualifying starts Friday. We were only off a little bit at Richmond.
“We are fortunate because Eddie has a lot of data on running at the Vegas track. He and Kenny have made a lot of runs there. We definitely want to be part of eliminations on Sunday. We were getting used to qualifying.”
Northrop, a former Competition Eliminator driver, has qualified for seven races while driving a limited 2206 schedule with Koretsky’s Nitro Fish team. His only round win was quite memorable. Northrop, the 16th qualifier at Dallas, left the starting line first and stunned three-time defending series champion Greg Anderson in the opening round.
Northrop’s .052-second reaction time and 6.697-second effort got him to the finish line three-thousandths of a second ahead of Anderson’s .099, 6.653 at 207.24.“It’s nice to know we have a good chance of qualifying,” said Northrop, who has caught both sides of racing’s whimsical outcomes.
Qualifying is slated for Friday at 2:30 and 5 p.m. and Saturday at 11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Sunday’s eliminations commence at 11 a.m.
KPK Motorsports appreciates all its sponsors. We couldn't do this without them. Our thanks to Werner Enterprises, Nitro Fish, OCC, Motel 6, Goodyear, Royal Purple, Champion, Speed Pro, Fel Pro, FRAM, Prestone, Autolite, ISC Racers Tape, Cyclo, Matco Tools, Boninfante Clutches, American Racing Wheels, Jerry Bickel Race Cars and VHT.
