<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/H_Wil07.jpg" alt="H_Wil07" align="right"borders="0"/>
Crew chief Jim Oberhofer had a few smiles on his face as his driver Hillary Will advanced to the second round during eliminations at today’s 38th annual ACDelco Gatornationals.
In the opening round, both Will and Doug Herbert smoked the tires. Will recovered first but lost a blower belt on the way to the finish line. Herbert meanwhile also recovered and was charging toward the finish line as Will continued to coast. At the line, in a close finish, Will’s win light came on first moving the KB Racing LLC-owned, Kalitta Motorsports-managed Top Fuel dragster to the second round.
“I was really pleased in the first round on how Hillary responded to the tire shake the KB Racing dragster incurred. It was one of the first times that she has had the opportunity to respond and she did a great job,” said Jim O.
In the quarterfinals, Will was matched against Whit Bazemore, who is driving in Top Fuel for the first time this year after many years in Funny Car. Oberhofer had the car set to repeat the performance from Saturday’s final qualifying session – a 4.634-second run at 326.40 mph.
It was a good race until about the midpoint on the Gainesville Raceway quarter-mile, when Bazemore began to pull away and take the win light.
“As in qualifying, it ran the numbers we expected to half track but then began to spin the tires from there on out,” recounted Jim O.
“Overall, I’m pleased with the way the motor responded this weekend. All-in-all, it was a decent weekend. It was a lot better than the last race in Phoenix. We’re making progress and I think we’re heading in the right direction.”
Will makes progress as team heads to Houston
Crew chief Jim Oberhofer had a few smiles on his face as his driver Hillary Will advanced to the second round during eliminations at today’s 38th annual ACDelco Gatornationals.
In the opening round, both Will and Doug Herbert smoked the tires. Will recovered first but lost a blower belt on the way to the finish line. Herbert meanwhile also recovered and was charging toward the finish line as Will continued to coast. At the line, in a close finish, Will’s win light came on first moving the KB Racing LLC-owned, Kalitta Motorsports-managed Top Fuel dragster to the second round.
“I was really pleased in the first round on how Hillary responded to the tire shake the KB Racing dragster incurred. It was one of the first times that she has had the opportunity to respond and she did a great job,” said Jim O.
In the quarterfinals, Will was matched against Whit Bazemore, who is driving in Top Fuel for the first time this year after many years in Funny Car. Oberhofer had the car set to repeat the performance from Saturday’s final qualifying session – a 4.634-second run at 326.40 mph.
It was a good race until about the midpoint on the Gainesville Raceway quarter-mile, when Bazemore began to pull away and take the win light.
“As in qualifying, it ran the numbers we expected to half track but then began to spin the tires from there on out,” recounted Jim O.
“Overall, I’m pleased with the way the motor responded this weekend. All-in-all, it was a decent weekend. It was a lot better than the last race in Phoenix. We’re making progress and I think we’re heading in the right direction.”
