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TULSA, OK. – Pete Berner had bantered around a few nicknames for his new engine headed into this weekend’s IHRA Skull Shine and one of those proposed monikers was “Shaft” based on the name of an iconic fictional 1970s movie character.
Isaac Hayes sang in his tribute song, “That Shaft he’s a bad mutha.”
Hush your mouth. At least that’s what Hayes followed that memorable line with.
Berner used the line in not so many ways as he silenced the competition Saturday night. The defending IHRA Torco’s CompetitionPlus Pro Stock world champion not only won the Kaase Tuning Challenge and the Quarter-max Challenge, but claimed his first top qualifier of the 2007 season.
Berner’s 6.370 elapsed time and 219.72 mile per hour speed also served as new Tulsa Raceway Park track records.
“What more could you ask for,” said Berner, whose monumental run came during Saturday’s first session. “Our testing paid off. We made a lot of runs on this new engine to get it dialed in for this weekend. This is a new combination and each time we come out with it, we find something new to pick it up even more.”
Berner actually debuted the Jon Kaase-built “Shaft” in Rockingham. The new engine exhibited lots of potential, but was fairly green to the team. They spent most of the weekend acquainting themselves to its likes and dislikes. Then in an interesting twist, the then unnamed engine rode Berner to the final round.
“We had no tune-up for it in Rockingham outside of our traditional baseline,” Berner said. “We just kept throwing stuff at it and it kept responding. It has been a bad-to-the-bone engine.”
The one thing “Shaft” has loved more than anything has been the new 7520 carburetors prepared by specialist Dave Braswell. Berner says that has been a major factor in the secret of his success.
“These are custom made just for IHRA Pro Stock,” Berner said. “I rank him as one of the best ever in working with carburetors. The new ones have their own castings unique to them. They are bigger and better for tuning than any we’ve had before. Everything about this carburetor is better. The more we tune it, the better it gets.”
For Berner, it all comes down to the fact his team just works well together.
“We [our team] are just clicking and that’s what means the most,” Berner said. “Yeah, that includes ‘Shaft’ because he’s a bad mother.”
Berner will meet #9 seeded Frank Gugliotta in the first round of eliminations Sunday morning.
Photo courtesy IHRA.com
PETE BERNER NAILS THE PRO STOCK TRI-FECTA SATURDAY EVENING
Nails both ends of Tulsa Raceway Park track record
TULSA, OK. – Pete Berner had bantered around a few nicknames for his new engine headed into this weekend’s IHRA Skull Shine and one of those proposed monikers was “Shaft” based on the name of an iconic fictional 1970s movie character.
Isaac Hayes sang in his tribute song, “That Shaft he’s a bad mutha.”
Hush your mouth. At least that’s what Hayes followed that memorable line with.
Berner used the line in not so many ways as he silenced the competition Saturday night. The defending IHRA Torco’s CompetitionPlus Pro Stock world champion not only won the Kaase Tuning Challenge and the Quarter-max Challenge, but claimed his first top qualifier of the 2007 season.
Berner’s 6.370 elapsed time and 219.72 mile per hour speed also served as new Tulsa Raceway Park track records.
“What more could you ask for,” said Berner, whose monumental run came during Saturday’s first session. “Our testing paid off. We made a lot of runs on this new engine to get it dialed in for this weekend. This is a new combination and each time we come out with it, we find something new to pick it up even more.”
Berner actually debuted the Jon Kaase-built “Shaft” in Rockingham. The new engine exhibited lots of potential, but was fairly green to the team. They spent most of the weekend acquainting themselves to its likes and dislikes. Then in an interesting twist, the then unnamed engine rode Berner to the final round.
“We had no tune-up for it in Rockingham outside of our traditional baseline,” Berner said. “We just kept throwing stuff at it and it kept responding. It has been a bad-to-the-bone engine.”
The one thing “Shaft” has loved more than anything has been the new 7520 carburetors prepared by specialist Dave Braswell. Berner says that has been a major factor in the secret of his success.
“These are custom made just for IHRA Pro Stock,” Berner said. “I rank him as one of the best ever in working with carburetors. The new ones have their own castings unique to them. They are bigger and better for tuning than any we’ve had before. Everything about this carburetor is better. The more we tune it, the better it gets.”
For Berner, it all comes down to the fact his team just works well together.
“We [our team] are just clicking and that’s what means the most,” Berner said. “Yeah, that includes ‘Shaft’ because he’s a bad mother.”
Berner will meet #9 seeded Frank Gugliotta in the first round of eliminations Sunday morning.
Photo courtesy IHRA.com
