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Ron Krisher Breaks Through with Victory in Tough Pro Stock Class
Valvoline Chevy Driver One of Eight to Win in 2008
JOLIET, Ill., June 4, 2008 - When Chevy driver Ron Krisher won the NHRA Summer Nationals this past weekend at Topeka, the ultra-competitive Pro Stock class crowned its eighth different winner in this season's first nine races of the NHRA POWERade Series. Although he knocked on the door last year with a runner-up finish to Allen Johnson at Denver, Krisher's sixth career victory was the veteran's first in nearly five years. But there will be no time to celebrate for the Ohio native as the factory hot rods head to Route 66 Raceway for this weekend's 11th annual Torco Racing Fuels Route 66 NHRA Nationals.
"Winning is a hard memory to get out of your mind," Krisher said. "Every race you win is exciting, believe me. I don't think there's any one that's more exciting than the next. When you finally get that win light down at the other end, there's really nothing quite like it. If I came out here with the thought I was never going to win again, then I wouldn't be out here. I'd quit. But we won this one, and we're going to win some more this year, you wait and see. This Valvoline Cobalt is hauling the mail.
"I can't say enough about the guys on my team. (Crew chief) Tommy Utt, Tommy Lee, Kenny, just all the guys that work out here. They're a big part of this thing. Not everybody understands that they have to get this thing ready to go in 45 minutes every time (during eliminations). There can't be any mistakes and they don't make any."
Krisher's win moved him up two positions to eighth in the Pro Stock points standings, and his No. 2 qualifying effort at Topeka leaves him just outside the top eight qualifiers for the K&N Horsepower Challenge bonus event to be competed at Norwalk later this month.
"Believe me, we're watching the points," Krisher said. "We're watching the points for the Countdown and we're watching the points for the Pro Stock Challenge. I don't know if we can get into that or not because we had a bad year last year, but we're sneaking up on 'em. We've got two races left to get in."
Racers will first hit the track at Route 66 Raceway in the professional classes at 2:30 pm on Friday, June 6, for the first of four scheduled qualifying sessions for Sunday's eliminations.
11th annual Torco Racing Fuels Route 66 NHRA Nationals GM RACING STATS AND FACTS
* Ron Krisher's victory at Topeka in the Valvoline Chevy Cobalt was his sixth career win in 14 final-round appearances, and it was Chevrolet's 151st all-time win in the NHRA Pro Stock category.
* Krisher has also advanced to the money round at Route 66 Raceway with a win in 2000 over Troy Coughlin and a runner-up finish to Troy's brother Jeg in the discontinued fall Chicago race in 2002.
* Chevrolet currently leads the NHRA Manufacturers Cup standings with 2360 points. Chevrolet won its 16th Manufacturers Cup in 2007, the most of any manufacturer in the history of the sport.
* By winning the 2007 NHRA POWERade Pro Stock title, Jeg Coughlin Jr. joined Bob Glidden, Warren Johnson, Lee Shepherd, Greg Anderson, and Darrell Alderman as the only Pro Stock drivers in the history of the sport to win three or more championships.
* Greg Anderson's most recent victory at Houston was his 51st career win behind the wheel of a Pontiac and his 53rd overall. Of Pontiac's 184 all-time wins in NHRA Pro Stock competition, Anderson has the most Pontiac wins with 51, Warren Johnson is next on the list with 42 wins in a Pontiac and Jim Yates is third with 25.
* Jeg Coughlin is the defending event Pro Stock champ at Route 66 Raceway with a final-round win last year over Pontiac driver Jason Line. Coughlin also won back-to-back fall races here in 2002-03. Other Team Chevy winers at Route 66 Raceway include Kurt Johnson (2006, 2003), Ron Krisher in 2000, and Dave Connolly with a win in the 2004 fall race.
* Jason Line in the Summit Racing Pontiac is tied with Coughlin for most Pro Stock career wins at Route 66 Raceway with three. Line swept both Chicago races in 2005 and also won in 2004. Other Pontiac winners include Warren Johnson in 1999 and the fall race in 2001, and Mike Edwards in this event in 2001.
* The Route 66 Raceway Pro Stock track record for both elapsed time and speed is held by Greg Anderson in the Summit Racing Pontiac. Anderson set a track-record e.t. of 6.617 seconds at a track-record speed of 208.94 mph in last year's race.
* After nine of 24 races, eight drivers in GM-branded cars occupy a spot in the top 10 of the NHRA POWERade Pro Stock standings. Kurt Johnson in the ACDelco Chevy Cobalt is in first place with 621 points, Jeg Coughlin (Chevy Cobalt) is second with 601 points, Greg Anderson (Pontiac GXP) is third with 592 points, Jason Line (Pontiac GXP) is fourth with 591 points, Mike Edwards (Pontiac GXP) is sixth with 497 points, Ron Krisher (Chevy Cobalt) is eighth with 444 points, Greg Stanfield (Pontiac GXP) is ninth with 436 points, and Warren Johnson (Pontiac GXP) is in 10th with 388 points.
* Team Chevy drivers have set the pace so far in Funny Car qualifying by claiming the No. 1 spot in seven of the season's first nine races. Tim Wilkerson leads Team Chevy with four No. 1 qualifiers, Gainesville winner Tony Pedregon was also No. 1 qualifier there, Cruz Pedregon was No. 1 at Houston in a Chevy Impala, and Tony Bartone claimed his first pole since Englishtown 2006 at Topeka.
* After nine of 24 races, three Chevy drivers occupy a spot in the top 10 of the NHRA POWERade Funny Car standings including points leader Tim Wilkerson in the Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevy Impala SS. Wilkerson leads all Funny Car drivers with 643 points, Tony Pedregon in the Q Horsepower Chevy is tied with Ron Capps for sixth with 435 points, and Gary Densham in the Racebricks Chevy Impala SS is eighth with 407.
Two hours of qualifying coverage of the Torco Racing Fuels Route 66 NHRA Nationals will be telecast on ESPN2 on Saturday, June 7, beginning at 5:00 p.m. Eastern. NHRA Race Day will kick off eliminator coverage on Sunday, June 8, starting at 11 a.m. Eastern on ESPN2, and two hours of final eliminations will be televised beginning at 5:00 p.m. Eastern on the same station.
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