[coverattach=1]Mt. Pleasant, Texas - On a roll having won the last TOPMA race at HMP, Ken and Crew arrived at Texas Raceway prepared to do battle. In the first round of qualifying the newly wrapped Bad Bird saw a little tire shake but drove to a good 3.931 @ 187. This would be good enough for the #1 spot after one session.
Ken felt increasing tire shake in his second qualifying attempt as he was forced to abort the run. Then LenMar Motorsports Bad Bird fell to the 3rd qualifying spot behind teammate Gaylen Smith and fellow competitor Frankie Taylor.
“The clutch was not cooperating with us early in the night,” Thomas said.
“We installed new clutch disks and they were not responding to our normal tune-up.”
Round one of eliminations saw the TMS team paired against Gene Hector and the Small Block Mafia. The two left the starting line in a dead heat but the Bird pulled away to a great 3.893 @ 187 MPH. This stellar run would hold up as low ET of eliminations.
Ken’s next challenge would be Steve Wiley in the Texas Grim Reaper. Steve would grab the holeshot, but Thomas was able to reel him in with a consistent 3.93ET and put the Bad Bird in its third TOPMA final in a row.
The final would be a comfortable one for Ken and his Crew. He would be lining up next to Heath Harvey and his blown ’94 Grand Prix entry. During the week, the Bad Bird and the Grand Prix share the same shop floor at Ken’s Performance Auto in Mt. Pleasant , TX . In the winner’s race, Heath let out the clutch a little too soon and fouled the tree as Ken motored to another low 3.9 second lap in the LenMar Motorsports Bad Bird.
TMS would like to thank LenMar Motorsports, The House of Hotrods, Fat Daddy’s, and ABC Auto Parts for their continued support. Also, a big thank you to Cindi and her crew at TXR for having us each month.
Photo’s courtesy of maxcacklephotos.com
Ken felt increasing tire shake in his second qualifying attempt as he was forced to abort the run. Then LenMar Motorsports Bad Bird fell to the 3rd qualifying spot behind teammate Gaylen Smith and fellow competitor Frankie Taylor.
“The clutch was not cooperating with us early in the night,” Thomas said.
“We installed new clutch disks and they were not responding to our normal tune-up.”
Round one of eliminations saw the TMS team paired against Gene Hector and the Small Block Mafia. The two left the starting line in a dead heat but the Bird pulled away to a great 3.893 @ 187 MPH. This stellar run would hold up as low ET of eliminations.
Ken’s next challenge would be Steve Wiley in the Texas Grim Reaper. Steve would grab the holeshot, but Thomas was able to reel him in with a consistent 3.93ET and put the Bad Bird in its third TOPMA final in a row.
The final would be a comfortable one for Ken and his Crew. He would be lining up next to Heath Harvey and his blown ’94 Grand Prix entry. During the week, the Bad Bird and the Grand Prix share the same shop floor at Ken’s Performance Auto in Mt. Pleasant , TX . In the winner’s race, Heath let out the clutch a little too soon and fouled the tree as Ken motored to another low 3.9 second lap in the LenMar Motorsports Bad Bird.
TMS would like to thank LenMar Motorsports, The House of Hotrods, Fat Daddy’s, and ABC Auto Parts for their continued support. Also, a big thank you to Cindi and her crew at TXR for having us each month.
Photo’s courtesy of maxcacklephotos.com
