CHARLOTTE, NC (April 3, 2011) – Heading into the 12th annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals, Rickie Smith and his Nitrous Injected Chevy Camaro were ready to once again ready to get after it.
The Carolina Drilling/Coffman Tank Trucks Chevy went into the Las Vegas race this past weekend third in the points, determined to gain some more ground on the points leader.
Qualifying in the fourth position going into eliminations, Smith would face a very tough field of Pro Modified racers.
“We are running well,” said Smith. “We need a little bit more, but overall we got a bad little hot rod. All the cars out here are tough, especially the Turbo ones; so we will just keep digging.”
Smith would face off against the very strong Turbo car of Brad Personett first round. Running his quickest pass of the weekend at a 5.975 et at 239.48 mph, Smith would take the win light and move to the next round.
In the second round, Smith would go up against yet another Turbo car. He would run the yellow and black car of Troy Coughlin, but Smith would once again do his job and get the win.
Having to take on the number one qualifier of Roger Burgess in the semi-finals, Smith would have to prove why they call him the Trickster, hence the name “Tricky Rickie.” Beating Burgess on a holeshot, Smith proved he still had it. Smith ran a 6.019 et to a losing 5.944 et by Burgess.
Advancing to the final round, Smith would take on the point’s leader, Khalid Balooshi. However Balooshi would run a tad quicker and end up taking the win.
“We almost had it,” said Smith. “We keep having some issues with the clutch on Sunday, so once we get that figured out, we should be good to go. We had a great day overall though. I have to thank Larry Tutterow of Carolina Drilling, JD and Terrisa Coffman of Coffman Tank Trucks and V. Gaines for backing me. Without them, none of this would have been possible.”
Smith moved up a spot and is now second in the Championship point standings. Trailing Balooshi by only 56 points with eight races to go.
The next race on the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge tour will be in Houston, Texas the weekend of April 29-May 1.
The Carolina Drilling/Coffman Tank Trucks Chevy went into the Las Vegas race this past weekend third in the points, determined to gain some more ground on the points leader.
Qualifying in the fourth position going into eliminations, Smith would face a very tough field of Pro Modified racers.
“We are running well,” said Smith. “We need a little bit more, but overall we got a bad little hot rod. All the cars out here are tough, especially the Turbo ones; so we will just keep digging.”
Smith would face off against the very strong Turbo car of Brad Personett first round. Running his quickest pass of the weekend at a 5.975 et at 239.48 mph, Smith would take the win light and move to the next round.
In the second round, Smith would go up against yet another Turbo car. He would run the yellow and black car of Troy Coughlin, but Smith would once again do his job and get the win.
Having to take on the number one qualifier of Roger Burgess in the semi-finals, Smith would have to prove why they call him the Trickster, hence the name “Tricky Rickie.” Beating Burgess on a holeshot, Smith proved he still had it. Smith ran a 6.019 et to a losing 5.944 et by Burgess.
Advancing to the final round, Smith would take on the point’s leader, Khalid Balooshi. However Balooshi would run a tad quicker and end up taking the win.
“We almost had it,” said Smith. “We keep having some issues with the clutch on Sunday, so once we get that figured out, we should be good to go. We had a great day overall though. I have to thank Larry Tutterow of Carolina Drilling, JD and Terrisa Coffman of Coffman Tank Trucks and V. Gaines for backing me. Without them, none of this would have been possible.”
Smith moved up a spot and is now second in the Championship point standings. Trailing Balooshi by only 56 points with eight races to go.
The next race on the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge tour will be in Houston, Texas the weekend of April 29-May 1.
