<img src="http://gallery.nitromater.com/files/6/5/1001_stott_daprile.jpg" alt="1001_stott_daprile" align="left"borders="0"/>
October 03, 2006 - Budds Creek, MD - Legendary promoter and team owner, Bill Veeck, was best known for his flamboyant publicity stunts, and the innovations he brought to Major League Baseball during his ownership of the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Browns, and Chicago White Sox. While Quain Stott and Tommy D'Aprile will never be confused with Bill Veeck, they may have ripped a page from Veeck's publicity play book, garnering their sponsors over 40 seconds of TV time in the finals and the most talked about finish of the season.
The backdrop, the 2007 Torco Race Fuels President's Cup Nationals in Budds Creek, Maryland. Quain Stott, driver of the LeeBoy Equipment Corvette, powered by Torco Race Fuels and Tommy D'Aprile, driver of the Evan Knoll sponsored, "Support Our Troops" Corvette, had just qualified for the quickest field in Torco's CompetitionPlus.com Pro Modified history, fifth and tenth respectively. Eleven of the top 16 cars had qualified with a 6.0 elapsed time, all flirting with the elusive five second pass before Scotty Cannon, Jr. set a new national ET record when his Skull Gear GTO posted a 6.019ET. The bump spot for the historical field would be anchored by Ed Hoover at 6.165ET.
The plot thickened as Stott and D'Aprile worked their way through the field that would eventually lead them to a head to head match up in the final round. "We were really concerned about how far our cars were going to make it," explained Stott. The team had tested the week prior to the event and had destroyed their backup motor. "After the first round we noticed a crack in the main bearing of our LeeBoy car and the "Support Our Troops" car broke a rocker arm in the quarter-finals. I was really starting to worry about which car would be our best shot to get to the finals."
Stott, wanting to make sure he was preparing for the race the best he could, called in engine builder Gene Fulton for his opinion on the cracked main bearing. "Scotty (Cannon) offered us a main bearing, but I just wasn't sure how we would get it fitted into the block. We really needed to have it back at the shop for some machine work," said Stott. "Gene took a look at it and thought we would be better off trying our luck with the cracked bearing." Stott would take Gene Fulton's advice and post a 6.122ET to eliminate Kerunsky in the quarter finals and a 6.086ET to eliminate Carl Spiering in semi final action. The 6.086ET pass would be low elapsed time of eliminations for advancing teams. The only quicker time was Cannon's 6.056ET which fell to D'Aprile's hole shot win with a 6.099ET.
The crescendo of the 'Veeck like' publicity stunt came as Stott and D'Aprile prepared for their final round match up. "We were trying to figure out how we were going to keep these cars together for one more round with a cracked main bearing and a back up rocker arm," said Stott. "We really just didn't want to oil the track, it was already a rained delayed event and there were sportsman racers scheduled behind us. Then Tommy came to me with an idea."
"This has been a strong team from the beginning," said D'Aprile who competed in his second final of the year. "Quain has never given me team orders. I just looked at this as the right thing to do. Look, we have two teams in the top five and he's got the best shot at the championship, he would have done the same for me. Evan Knoll and all the folks at LeeBoy do so much for these two teams, I'm going to do my part to make sure one of us is standing at the podium at the end of the year."
"So, we gathered the teams up," said Stott. "We talked about it and thought it would be a lot of fun and good publicity for our sponsors. I think some of the media people even got a kick out of it. How often do you see a car pull up to the lights with a big American flag flying from the back of it?"
So, D'Aprile and Stott staged their identically prepared 1963 Corvette's and waited for the lights on the tree to drop. "Just for the record," D'Aprile added. "I treed Quain on that pass," he joked later. The two teammates would make their final round show down a not so record setting pass that would set the stage for the IHRA World Finals in Rockingham later this month. Stott holds a slim lead atop the points standings and for the first time this season, Glen Kerunsky, would relinquish the top spot. "With all the pressure of this points chase, it was kind of fun to enjoy that last pass" said Stott. "We're back in the hunt. Who knows, we may leave Rockingham in fourth place, but we're going to have fun doing it."
Quain Stott Drag Racing partners with high performance companies like, LeeBoy Equipment, Torco Race Fuels, Mercer Transportation, Richmond Gear, Mickey Thompson Tires, NGK Spark Plugs, Auto Meter, Stroud Safety, Santhuff Shocks, Fulton Race Engines and Spartan Crank Shafts.
To learn more about Quain Stott, Tommy D'Aprile and the Quain Stott Drag Racing team, visit http://www.quainstott.com/
Stott and D'Aprile Fly LeeBoy and Torco Colors Into Final Round
October 03, 2006 - Budds Creek, MD - Legendary promoter and team owner, Bill Veeck, was best known for his flamboyant publicity stunts, and the innovations he brought to Major League Baseball during his ownership of the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Browns, and Chicago White Sox. While Quain Stott and Tommy D'Aprile will never be confused with Bill Veeck, they may have ripped a page from Veeck's publicity play book, garnering their sponsors over 40 seconds of TV time in the finals and the most talked about finish of the season.
The backdrop, the 2007 Torco Race Fuels President's Cup Nationals in Budds Creek, Maryland. Quain Stott, driver of the LeeBoy Equipment Corvette, powered by Torco Race Fuels and Tommy D'Aprile, driver of the Evan Knoll sponsored, "Support Our Troops" Corvette, had just qualified for the quickest field in Torco's CompetitionPlus.com Pro Modified history, fifth and tenth respectively. Eleven of the top 16 cars had qualified with a 6.0 elapsed time, all flirting with the elusive five second pass before Scotty Cannon, Jr. set a new national ET record when his Skull Gear GTO posted a 6.019ET. The bump spot for the historical field would be anchored by Ed Hoover at 6.165ET.
The plot thickened as Stott and D'Aprile worked their way through the field that would eventually lead them to a head to head match up in the final round. "We were really concerned about how far our cars were going to make it," explained Stott. The team had tested the week prior to the event and had destroyed their backup motor. "After the first round we noticed a crack in the main bearing of our LeeBoy car and the "Support Our Troops" car broke a rocker arm in the quarter-finals. I was really starting to worry about which car would be our best shot to get to the finals."
Stott, wanting to make sure he was preparing for the race the best he could, called in engine builder Gene Fulton for his opinion on the cracked main bearing. "Scotty (Cannon) offered us a main bearing, but I just wasn't sure how we would get it fitted into the block. We really needed to have it back at the shop for some machine work," said Stott. "Gene took a look at it and thought we would be better off trying our luck with the cracked bearing." Stott would take Gene Fulton's advice and post a 6.122ET to eliminate Kerunsky in the quarter finals and a 6.086ET to eliminate Carl Spiering in semi final action. The 6.086ET pass would be low elapsed time of eliminations for advancing teams. The only quicker time was Cannon's 6.056ET which fell to D'Aprile's hole shot win with a 6.099ET.
The crescendo of the 'Veeck like' publicity stunt came as Stott and D'Aprile prepared for their final round match up. "We were trying to figure out how we were going to keep these cars together for one more round with a cracked main bearing and a back up rocker arm," said Stott. "We really just didn't want to oil the track, it was already a rained delayed event and there were sportsman racers scheduled behind us. Then Tommy came to me with an idea."
"This has been a strong team from the beginning," said D'Aprile who competed in his second final of the year. "Quain has never given me team orders. I just looked at this as the right thing to do. Look, we have two teams in the top five and he's got the best shot at the championship, he would have done the same for me. Evan Knoll and all the folks at LeeBoy do so much for these two teams, I'm going to do my part to make sure one of us is standing at the podium at the end of the year."
"So, we gathered the teams up," said Stott. "We talked about it and thought it would be a lot of fun and good publicity for our sponsors. I think some of the media people even got a kick out of it. How often do you see a car pull up to the lights with a big American flag flying from the back of it?"
So, D'Aprile and Stott staged their identically prepared 1963 Corvette's and waited for the lights on the tree to drop. "Just for the record," D'Aprile added. "I treed Quain on that pass," he joked later. The two teammates would make their final round show down a not so record setting pass that would set the stage for the IHRA World Finals in Rockingham later this month. Stott holds a slim lead atop the points standings and for the first time this season, Glen Kerunsky, would relinquish the top spot. "With all the pressure of this points chase, it was kind of fun to enjoy that last pass" said Stott. "We're back in the hunt. Who knows, we may leave Rockingham in fourth place, but we're going to have fun doing it."
Quain Stott Drag Racing partners with high performance companies like, LeeBoy Equipment, Torco Race Fuels, Mercer Transportation, Richmond Gear, Mickey Thompson Tires, NGK Spark Plugs, Auto Meter, Stroud Safety, Santhuff Shocks, Fulton Race Engines and Spartan Crank Shafts.
To learn more about Quain Stott, Tommy D'Aprile and the Quain Stott Drag Racing team, visit http://www.quainstott.com/
