Pomona CA - Clint Thompson was looking to end the 2012 NHRA drag racing season with a big win at the Auto Club Finals. He has all the ingredients in place to do that but just needed a little bit of extra luck to get through the tough Pomona field. Thompson looked solid in qualifying, as he got in the show with a 5.61 at 253 MPH to land in the sixth position.
In round one, Thompson was matched up against Mickey Ferro who qualified Eleventh. At the line Ferro had a slight advantage but both cars suffered tire shake. Thompson’s shake was much more severe as he got out of shape and was unable to catch Ferro. “Losing our third qualifier due to weather really hurt us as I needed to try something different but we were not sure what changes to make. We took our best guess for the match up with Mickey but that didn’t work either” Thompson concluded.
After the event, Thompson had a chance to reflect on the final race of the season. “The car has been running really solid until we got to these conditions in Pomona” said Thompson, “the track was just so good that it was difficult to find the right combination to make good runs. In the first qualifying session the car left hard with the wheels up but began to shake and head to the center line. I was able to give it a quick pedal and save it and ended up with a 5.61 that qualified us. In the second qualifying session, the track was spectacular and the car shook real hard early, but when John Lombardo is in the other lane going 5.50 flat you know it’s not the track. We just didn’t have the right setup.”
The conclusion of the NHRA season leaves just one more event, the PSCA Street Car Super Nationals in Las Vegas this coming weekend. At the PSCA event, Thompson will be driving the Pro Extreme Camaro down the full quarter mile. Normally, at ADRL events the cars only race on the eighth mile so this will be a first for Thompson. Testing concludes on Thursday, with qualifying scheduled for Friday and Saturday which will include two runs each day. Eliminations will take place on Sunday.
In round one, Thompson was matched up against Mickey Ferro who qualified Eleventh. At the line Ferro had a slight advantage but both cars suffered tire shake. Thompson’s shake was much more severe as he got out of shape and was unable to catch Ferro. “Losing our third qualifier due to weather really hurt us as I needed to try something different but we were not sure what changes to make. We took our best guess for the match up with Mickey but that didn’t work either” Thompson concluded.
After the event, Thompson had a chance to reflect on the final race of the season. “The car has been running really solid until we got to these conditions in Pomona” said Thompson, “the track was just so good that it was difficult to find the right combination to make good runs. In the first qualifying session the car left hard with the wheels up but began to shake and head to the center line. I was able to give it a quick pedal and save it and ended up with a 5.61 that qualified us. In the second qualifying session, the track was spectacular and the car shook real hard early, but when John Lombardo is in the other lane going 5.50 flat you know it’s not the track. We just didn’t have the right setup.”
The conclusion of the NHRA season leaves just one more event, the PSCA Street Car Super Nationals in Las Vegas this coming weekend. At the PSCA event, Thompson will be driving the Pro Extreme Camaro down the full quarter mile. Normally, at ADRL events the cars only race on the eighth mile so this will be a first for Thompson. Testing concludes on Thursday, with qualifying scheduled for Friday and Saturday which will include two runs each day. Eliminations will take place on Sunday.
