Englishtown Chevy Friday Notes

CHEVROLET NOTES AND QUOTES MOPAR PARTS NATIONALS -- NHRA WINSTON DRAG RACING SERIES OLD BRIDGE TOWNSHIP RACEWAY PARK ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. -- FRIDAY, MAY 21, 1999

PRO STOCK TRUCK -- CHEVY S-10 -- FINAL QUALIFYING

BRAD JETER, Jeter Motorsports Chevy S-10, qualified No. 1 for the second time this season, with a track record-breaking elapsed time of 7.571 seconds at 177.95 mph. BOB PANELLA JR., Panella Motorsports Chevy S-10, is No. 2, with an e.t. of 7.573 and a track record-breaking top speed of 178.71 mph. With coaching from Roy Hill, Jeter had a string of good reaction times, winning a bet with fellow S--10 drivers Mark Osborne and Tim Freeman as to who would have the best reaction time in the final session.

Note: Brad Jeter is now No. 1 in the Holley Denominator Duel for Pro Stock Truck standings. This event will be held at the Fram Route 66 National in Joliet, Ill, in two weeks.

Note: CHEVY S-10s hold the top six qualifying positions.

JETER: "The Chevy S-10 has done a great job for us, the crew has been working very hard to keep us qualified in every event. The worst I've qualified so far is fifth. It's always great to be No. 1. We've been there before, but sometimes someone comes in and steals one away from you in the final session." ON COMING BACK AFTER BEING TOSSED OUT IN THE FIRST ROUND LAST WEEK: "We tested in Atlanta on Monday, and I think we're going in the right direction right now. Hopefully, it'll come around for us at this race." IS THERE ANY DIFFERENCE IN LANES: "Honestly, no. I didn't see much different lane to lane. Both lanes are really smooth. It makes our job a lot easier." YOU HAD CLUTCH PROBLEMS IN ATLANTA, WHAT CHANGED? "We had a few problems in the bell housing with the coating on the clutch, it was coming off. We put our other clutch in it and it changed things dramatically. The air on Monday (in Atlanta) was not real good, we did a 7.64 at 176 mph and in the second run we did a 7.62 at 177. We felt we got the problem cured right there." ON THE TOUGH COMPETITION IN PRO STOCK TRUCK: "It's getting real tough, a whole lot tougher than I thought it would be. I like it tough, I like the competition, it brings the best out of the driver. That's what I've worked hard on, to be the best I could be, especially at the starting line. We put some real good lights together during the course of qualifying. I had a little side bet with Mark Osborne and Tim Freeman on (our reaction times) at the tree this last run. I went .434, they were .466 and .502. We won that one, and $40, hands down." ON RACING HALF THE ELIMINATIONS ON SATURDAY AND THE OTHER HALF ON SUNDAY: "You always want to race on Sunday. I wish we could race the whole race on Sunday. That way you can prepare for one day of racing and two days of qualifying. As it stands now, you have four days; two days of qualifying and two days of racing. It makes it tough for us. But, you know, we're just glad that we're racing."

JOHN LINGENFELTER, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVY S-10, failed to qualify for the first time in two seasons of Pro Stock Truck racing. His 7.667 e.t. was good enough only for No. 21 spot. John elected to run his last year's Chevy S-10, one built by Jerry Haas, and allowed Larry Seay to run his Rick Jones-built chassis here. Seay also did not qualify with his 7.669-second e.t. at 176.67. He was 22nd quickest.

LINGENFELTER: ON RUNNING TWO CHEVY S-10s HERE: "We just wanted to compare the two chassis to see where they really stood against each other." WHAT DID YOU LEARN? "That we have a lot of work to do." BOTH TRUCKS RAN NEARLY IDENTICAL E.T.s: "That was just a fluke." WHY DID YOU PUT LARRY IN THE SECOND S-10? "I know he is a good driver, he's a good person -- loyal -- and a person I've respected for his personal life. He's raced a lot and I felt if we were going to put someone else on board, he was as good as anybody." WHY DIDN'T HE DRIVE HIS OWN TRUCK? "They haven't been able to get in, they didn't have enough power." HOW DOES IT FEEL TO NOT QUALIFY? "It makes you determined to go home and work harder yet. You just look at the competitiveness of the field, it goes from 7.571 to 7.637, that's only six hundredths of a second difference. That's closer than Pro Stock. I'm discouraged, disappointed. It just makes me more determined to go home and do better. We have been struggling the last couple of races. We'll do all we can to get it turned around." WHAT DOES IT TELL YOU ABOUT THE CLASS? "It's going to be a competitive class and you are going to have to work hard to qualify. The problem is you have to make a damned near perfect run to get into the field, and you can't miss the good session." WHAT NOW? "We have been testing every week. We have got to home and test some more. We need to go and try to figure out what's wrong. A lot of it is chassis. We will dyno all the engines on the same day, see where that stands, see if that relates with anything that's going on down the track."

DAVE McCONNELL, McCONNELL MOTORSPORTS/PICKUPS PLUS CHEVY S-10, will not compete in today's final eliminations. Although Dave qualified No. 14, 7.630/176.03 -- the first time he's qualified this season -- he will be unable to race due to lack of a spare engine. His e.t. and speed are his career best.

McCONNELL: "I broke the good motor in qualifying, in the third session, and I don't have a spare. I told Jerry Haas that he has a bye run so he may have an opportunity to test something under race conditions that he wouldn't otherwise. And we are going t leave here and go back so that we have everything ready in Chicago in two weeks." ON FIRST TIME QUALIFYING THIS YEAR: "It feels good to finally figure the thing out a little bit. We ran within five hundredths (of a second) of the No. 1 qualifier, which is the first time we have been this close. Clearly with the help of Todd Bevis and Gary Jennings (chassis builders), the Chevy S-10 is working very well so that I can fully utilize the horsepower tht Larry Pritchett has been providing me last year and this year. I'm excited about our opportunities for the remaining portion of the season." WHEN DID THE S-10 TURN AROUND FOR YOU? "It's a unique opportunity tht I have that I have two outstanding chassis builders working with me and they're relentless. It was constant picking that turned it around. And Pritchett keeps finding me more horsepower. This weekend I ran our career best speed by two full miles per hour, which indicates that Pritchett's hard work is paying off in substantial horsepower gains."

FUNNY CAR -- CAMAR0 Z28 -- FIRST DAY OF QUALIFYING

CHUCK ETCHELLS, SICKLES MOTORSPORTS CAMARO Z28, is No. 5 qualifier in his first drive of 1999, 5.034/293.03.

ETCHELLS: "It was fun to be out there again. The car ran really well. (Crew chief) Tom Anderson and the Sickles Motorsports Team did a great job. That is the quickest this car has run since Jim Sickles bought it. It ran out of fuel about four to four and-a-half seconds into the run, so it could have gone quicker. Even so, it was a pretty representative run to go out there cold, not having run the car all year and make the best run it's ever made. That's good, but it's got more in it. If they tune it up right, it'll be a race car."

RON CAPPS, COPENHAGEN CAMARO Z28, is No. 7 qualifier, 5.063/281.60.

CAPPS: "We were really confident after going down the track three times in a row in Atlanta. We made a lot of ground, it showed. Both times today it went down the track. The motor was unhappy at the top end in the first run. We made some big changes in tonight's run. I clicked it off a little early, but the Camaro is still showing signs of what it wants. We're very happy. We're sneaking up on it. It's nice to get into the show pretty decently early, so we can try some things instead of getting behind the 8-ball like we have been.

WHIT BAZEMORE, KENDALL OIL/SUPERWINCH CAMARO Z28, is not qualified at this time. He's 20th, 9.885/84.69.

PRO STOCK -- CAMARO Z28

MIKE EDWARDS, DEWCO SALES CAMARO Z28, is No. 3 qualifier, following a stellar run in tonight's qualifying session of 6.909-seconds at 199.49 mph.

EDWARDS: "It was awesome, a great run. That was probably the best run all season. That's not our career best, we did a 6.87 in Richmond, but it was just a good run. The Camaro did what we thought it should do. We are really happy with it right now. I'd like to go out on Saturday and see if we can repeat and be close to the top again." ON THE CAMARO'S CONTINUED IMPROVEMENT: "We just keep making changes to the car and it keeps responding to them. If we continue to get better and better we probably can run even faster, we just have to keep working on it." ON THE RESPONSE TO THE 800 NUMBER ON THE CAMARO FOR DONATIONS TO THE OKLAHOMA TORNADO RELIEF FUND: "It's been real good. We actually had people come by and give us money in Atlanta. That's going to be real good for everybody. We hope so, anyway."

KURT JOHNSON, ACDELCO CAMARO Z28, is still having trouble getting down the track. He's 15th with an e.t. of 6.981 seconds at 200.56 mph.