<img src="http://gallery.nitromater.com/files/6/5/S_Carlson.jpg" alt="S_Carlson" align="left"borders="0"/>
SOMONA, Calif.(July 29) -- Pro Stock rookie Shaun Carlson continued to break in the brand-new Jerry Haas-built Team Mopar/SRT Dodge Stratus R/T this weekend at Infineon Raceway, but was unable to qualify for this weekend's Fram-Autolite NHRA Nationals.
His best run of the weekend was a 6.731-second pass at 205.85 mph. Carlson's other passes were a 6.7318/205.85, a 7.986/124.78, when the car veered hard to the left at the launch, and a 10.192/88.92 after a parts failure.
"The first pass we ran into a few problems. We broke a rear-end, which is kind of a freak thing that just happens," he explained. "The thing with that pass that we paid a lot of attention to was how it turned to the left, hard. With it being a new car, we're still adjusting the four-link suspension, and that has something to do with it. On the second pass, we figured out the car needed some rear-steer (to keep it from veering left), so we tried that for the third pass.
"It got down the track in that third session, but still wasn't good enough to get in. So, for the fourth session we put a lot of rear-steer into the car, and it went pretty straight. We ran another .73, which wasn't enough to get us in. It was pretty sunny and warm for that session. Had we done that for the third session, when conditions were more favorable, it would have been awesome.
"The good thing is that we are figuring this car out. It's a good new car, it just needs some more track time."
Carlson has one weekend off before heading to Brainerd, Minn., for the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals (Aug. 10-13).
Rookie Carlson Exits on Saturday in Sonoma
SOMONA, Calif.(July 29) -- Pro Stock rookie Shaun Carlson continued to break in the brand-new Jerry Haas-built Team Mopar/SRT Dodge Stratus R/T this weekend at Infineon Raceway, but was unable to qualify for this weekend's Fram-Autolite NHRA Nationals.
His best run of the weekend was a 6.731-second pass at 205.85 mph. Carlson's other passes were a 6.7318/205.85, a 7.986/124.78, when the car veered hard to the left at the launch, and a 10.192/88.92 after a parts failure.
"The first pass we ran into a few problems. We broke a rear-end, which is kind of a freak thing that just happens," he explained. "The thing with that pass that we paid a lot of attention to was how it turned to the left, hard. With it being a new car, we're still adjusting the four-link suspension, and that has something to do with it. On the second pass, we figured out the car needed some rear-steer (to keep it from veering left), so we tried that for the third pass.
"It got down the track in that third session, but still wasn't good enough to get in. So, for the fourth session we put a lot of rear-steer into the car, and it went pretty straight. We ran another .73, which wasn't enough to get us in. It was pretty sunny and warm for that session. Had we done that for the third session, when conditions were more favorable, it would have been awesome.
"The good thing is that we are figuring this car out. It's a good new car, it just needs some more track time."
Carlson has one weekend off before heading to Brainerd, Minn., for the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals (Aug. 10-13).
