Englishtown: Dave Connolly final report

Runner-up Finish Boosts  Connolly into 11th

Place in Quest for Pro Stock Top 10  Ranking

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J., June 22, 2008 -- Dave Connolly resumed his march to a top-10 NHRA regular season finish Sunday by advancing to the finals of the Lucas Oil SuperNationals at Raceway Park. It was his third title round in six 2008 NHRA POWERade Series events.

Connolly  eliminated Greg Stanfield, No. 2 qualifier Kurt Johnson and V
Gaines with solid  quarter-mile runs in the first three rounds, but the Cagnazzi
Racing Charter  Communications/LifeLock Chevy Cobalt was slowed by tire shake in
the title round  and Greg Anderson claimed the victory.  The Cobalt lost
traction early and  Connolly was forced to shut it off.  He coasted to the finish
line in  20.285 seconds at 36.59 mph while Anderson, who also experienced
traction  trouble, won with a 7.578 at 200.20 mph.

The death of veteran Funny  Car driver Scott Kalitta in a horrific crash
Saturday put a damper on Sunday's  activities.

Connolly's performance boosted his point total to 428  and his moved into
11th place.  He now trails Warren Johnson by 71 points  with seven races to go.

"We won some close races and luck was with us," said Connolly. "And any day we can get to the finals is a good day for us. We picked up a lot of points. The points battle is pretty tough right now but hopefully we'll get it all straightened out. We have a good race car again and it's getting down good and back tracks.

"We  picked up three rounds on Warren in the countdown and any time you do
that makes  it a good day.  We had a good car all day."

Track conditions,  Connolly said, were responsible for the unusually slow
times in the  finals.  "Greg had a 1.07 (second) 60-foot (time) and I had a 1.09
because  the car shook hard. He got his car into second gear and was able to
win the  race."

Connolly beat Stanfield with a 6.673 to a 6.690 that  set up a crucial
quarterfinal race against Johnson, the point leader coming to  New Jersey.  Johnson
left the line first but Connolly overhauled him,  getting the win light
four-thousandths of a second ahead of his rival -- 6.661 to  6.682.

In the semifinals, Connolly left the line first and never looked back -- 6.6676 to 6.683.

The Elyria, Ohio native  returns to his home track in Norwalk this weekend
for the second Summit Racing  Equipment Nationals.  Connolly is the defending
Pro Stock  champion.

-credit: dcr