Houston Pennzoil Post-Race Story

Pennzoil products help Finish Line Racing Engines gain big advantage

HOUSTON (April 13) -- The Pro Stock portion of the recently completed 12th Annual O'Reilly Nationals presented by Pennzoil at Houston Raceway Park was a virtual showcase for Finish Line Racing Engines and Pennzoil motor oil. The impressive numbers speak for themselves.

Six drivers out of the field of 16 cars that qualified for Sunday's elimination rounds were powered by Finish Line Racing Engines -- Mike Thomas, Richie "The Kid" Stevens, Mike Trumble Jr., "Tricky" Rickie

Smith, Mike Edwards and Ron Krisher. The group managed to be involved in nine of the 15 races contested on Race Day. They went on to place two cars in the semifinal round and one car in the finals. In all, Finish Line Racing Engines produced six elimination round wins on the day with three races featuring head-to-head battles of Finish Line drivers.

"We've reached levels that we never expected to reach," said Thomas, whostarted Finish Line Racing Engines in October of 1996. "I'm extremely proud of how these engines preformed in Houston. We have known for some time that we were producing a lot of horsepower and this last weekend really proved it. This has to make our engine development program one of the best in the business.

"The help we've received from Mark Ferner and the rest of the chemists at Pennzoil-Quaker State's research and development department has also been instrumental to our success. They have spent a lot of time and effort developing new types of racing oils that have literally extended the life of these engines exponentially. We hardly ever hurt any internal parts because the lubricants are working so well under the extreme conditions we put them through when we're racing. Simply stated, Pennzoil works."

Last year, Finish Line Racing Engines helped three men finish in the top 10 of the Winston championship Pro Stock points standings. They also powered three different drivers to four national event victories and assisted in 61 elimination round wins overall.