Columbus: Mark Pawuk final summary

"The Cowboy" Bucked Off In Buckeye State!
Pawuk Continues The Fight In Pro Stock

5/22/05 COLUMBUS, OH It wasn't much of a "birthday" celebration for Mark "Cowboy" Pawuk. The beginning of qualifying for the Pontiac Performance Nationals was Pawuk's 21st Anniversary in Pro Stock, and while he had high hopes of ending the weekend in the winner's circle, it just wasn't to be. In the midst of his most difficult season as a professional racer, the struggle continued for Pawuk as he failed to qualify for eliminations. His car's best effort of 6.827 seconds left his Pontiac Grand Am well short of the field.

"We had a lot of fun entertaining the folks from Ohio CAT and the CAT Rental Stores," Pawuk said late on Sunday afternoon, "but we would've rather 'entertained' them by having the car out on the track, not sitting back here by our rig on display.

"Our engine program seems to be progressing, but at the same time we're obviously missing something important in what we're doing. We've gone over the car from front to back, but we're going to dig into things pretty deeply on Monday because something's just not 'right' with the car. If I could put my finger on whatever it is we'd certainly fix or replace a damaged part immediately, but so far we've haven't found anything.

"Now we're going to really strip the car down and look at every single component, every single piece of tubing, every shock mount, every inch of wiring -- everything -- until we find out what's wrong.

"We've been racing Pro Stock for 20 years, and have never had this kind of luck.

"Luck? What a joke! We're not having any luck at all!"

Next weekend Pawuk's team will compete at the O'Reilly Summer Nationals in Topeka with support from the Sutherlands Home & Improvement Centers and Dutch Boy Paints, so the pressure to perform continues.

"We don't mind the pressure," said Pawuk. "What we 'mind' is not performing up to our capabilities

"I wonder if Warren (Johnson) could be talked into trading cars, heads-up, right before qualifying begins in Topeka. Maybe I'll give him a call..."

Next: NHRA O'Reilly Summer Nationals, Heartland Park Topeka, May 27-29 with backing from Sutherlands and Dutch Boy Paints

-mpr-