Wally Stroupe - Darlington Report

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Wally Stroupe Produces Quickest Personal Lap En-route To Qualifying For Quickest-Ever Pro Modified Field At IHRA Prolong Winter Nationals

DARLINGTON, SC -- Wally Stroupe produced his personal best during the final session of qualifying at the IHRA Prolong Super Lubricants Winter Nationals and it proved to be an impressive shot. The Trim Parts-sponsored driver from Kings Mountain, N.C., ended up in the sixth spot during qualifying for the quickest-ever Pro Modified field. The veteran racer agrees that this year's event afforded him better luck than in 1998.

Stroupe, who still wears a protective glove from burns sustained from his devastating fire suffered during the 1998 Prolong Winter Nationals, was pleased with the efforts of his team. He said, "I think we pretty much shook off any phobias that we may have had following the fire during the end of last season. It's a part of racing that we should never have to encounter, but the painful part is that it is reality and a painful one at that. We expect to push the envelope a lot this year."

Stroupe had an outstanding performance at the 27th annual IHRA Prolong Super Lubricants Winter Nationals. On his first run, he ran a 6.51/214.08 for a number six spot in his quest to qualify. He failed to improve dring the second session and he ended up dropping into the number thirteen spot behind Shannon Jenkins. Stroupe began an improvement trend on Saturday with a 6.50/214.42, only to fall to the bump spot when other racers improved by greater margins. The final session, Stroupe ran a 6.42/196.3 to propel himself into the seventh spot.

His position pairs him opposite against Steve Cossis for the first round of eliminations. The event was postponed until May 8 because of rain.

Stroupe plans to continue his quest for victory at the IHRA Amalie Oil Nationals in Bradington, Fla on March 26-28; Stoupe's first return since his accident once year ago at the Winter Nationals held there. Stroupe suffered from second- and third-degree burns and was transported to the Tampa Burn Center, where he made a miraculous recovery, and thus was back to racing by August in the Prolong/ Ohio Lottery World Nationals in Norwalk, OH.

Stroupe, along with each Pro Modified entry will be afforded four qualifying runs during the course of the event and the quickest sixteen entries will compete in final eliminations on Sunday. This event will be televised on ESPN2 with the times TBA in an upcoming issue of the IHRA's Drag Review magazine.