PATRICK GAINS POINTS LEAD WITH GRAND BEND SEMI-FINAL FINISH
GRAND BEND, ONT. – Robert Patrick gained valuable Knoll Gas Nitro Jam points on defending Torco’s CompetitionPlus Pro Stock champion Peter Berner with an impressive semi-final finish at the IHRA Mopar Canadian Nationals.
Patrick’s weekend ended at the hands of Frank Gugliotta by a 6.374, 219.69 to 6.403, 219.04 margin. The loss of lane choice in the quarter-finals put Patrick into the less-than-advantageous left lane.
“It was just a tremendous weekend,” Patrick said. “We did the best we could with the conditions that we had. My hats off to Jim Weinert and the IHRA track prep crew, they did the best they could with what they had to work with. It’s unfortunate that it turned into a one-lane race track. All in all it was a great weekend.”
The Purvis Ford-sponsored Patrick entered final eliminations as the #2 qualifier on the strength of a 6.318 elapsed time at 220.15 MPH.
Patrick put together a string of 6.3-second laps to take out Larry O’Brien (6.343) and John Montecalvo (6.365).
In the semi-finals, Patrick was the first off the line against Gugliotta and appeared to have a lock on a second-consecutive Grand Bend final round until his Shelby Cobra SVT began moving around.
For Patrick, he’s hitting his championship stride at just the precise moment.
“I drove good this weekend and I felt that if we had lane choice then we might have had a legitimate chance at winning it all,” Patrick said. “I think we have as good of a chance to win this deal anyone going down the stretch. If I don’t win another race this year and just keep going to the semi-finals, I’ll take that.”
