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Baytown test 2003-01-31

Delgado, Allen and Pawuk quickest in testing Friday in Baytown. BAYTOWN, Texas - Arturo Delgado, Bruce Allen and Mark Pawuk were quickest among NHRA Pro Stock competitors participating in testing Friday at the Pontiac Excitement Pro Stock ...

Delgado, Allen and Pawuk quickest in testing Friday in Baytown.

BAYTOWN, Texas - Arturo Delgado, Bruce Allen and Mark Pawuk were quickest among NHRA Pro Stock competitors participating in testing Friday at the Pontiac Excitement Pro Stock SuperBowl at Houston Raceway Park.

NHRA teams are utilizing the test sessions to preparation for the 2003 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series season, which begins Feb. 6-9 with the K&N Filters Winternationals in Pomona, Calif. The $2 million race, which will be televised on ESPN2, is the first of 23 events in the $50 million nationwide circuit.

Delgado recorded the quickest effort of the day in a Pontiac Grand Am with a 6.774-second run at 202.09 mph. Bruce Allen was second quickest with a 6.784 at 202.67. Mark Pawuk was third in testing coming in at 6.791 at 202.45. Ron Krisher was the only other drive to dip below the 6.80 mark with a 6.792 run at 202.24.

Greg Stanfield posted the fastest speed of the day at 202.73.

Jim Yates was the most consistent driver of the day, powering his Splitfire/Peak Pontiac Grand Am to three runs in the 6.80's, his best came in at 6.818 at 201.91. Despite the consistent numbers, Yates was concentrating on testing the chassis and suspension.

"We have a tire test motor in there and we are not really working on making a lot of horsepower," Yates said. "We're just trying to make the car go straight. We changed the rear end suspension around quite a bit over the winter. Right now we are just trying to sort it out and repeat run after run."

Delgado used the early session to post the best number of the day while trying to find the best race day tune-up.

"We are trying a different clutch combination," Delgado said. "Today we were expecting to run faster than last year. We had some problems in the car and we are trying to figure it out why we weren't going fast."

Pawuk struggled during the 2002 POWERade season but has since brought on ten-time Pro Stock champion Bob Glidden as crew chief.

"Bob hasn't committed to the whole season yet," said Pawuk. "He wanted to get back (into drag racing) after he has been away for five years and see if it is something he really wants to do. We obviously want him to stay around. He's a really smart guy and he's got a lot of years of experience. We are going to go through Pomona and reevaluate the program and hopefully he will want to stay on board with the Summit Racing team. He's making some changes and it's starting to show a little bit."

Testing will continue Saturday with over 20 Pro Stock competitors vying for eight qualifying spots in the Pontiac Excitement Pro Stock SuperBowl. Two qualifying sessions will commence at 10 a.m. and noon for a 2 p.m. eliminations start.

The following lists each driver's best effort on Friday: {TB2) PRO STOCK Arturo Delgado 6.774 202.09 Bruce Allen 6.784 202.67 Mark Pawuk 6.791 202.45 Ron Krisher 6.792 202.24 Bo Nickens 6.800 202.21 Greg Stanfield 6.803 202.73 Kenny Koretsky 6.811 202.58 Mark Whisnant 6.816 201.67 Tom Martino 6.817 201.22 Jim Yates 6.818 201.73 Vinny Barone 6.822 201.85 Taylor Lastor 6.825 201.61 Tom Hammonds 6.842 201.43 Jerry Haas 6.856 201.20 Ben Watson 6.853 199.67 Mike Thomas 6.856 200.38 Jose Maldonado 6.884 199.91 George Marnell 6.928 198.12 Mike Weinle 7.059 191.62 Nick Fratt 12.415 64.56

PRO STOCK BIKE Geno Scali 7.217 179.64 David Feazell 7.402 177.60 Chris Reuter 8.034 122.23

-nhra-

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