Reading2: David Baca Saturday summary

David Baca No. 11, faces Paul Romine in eliminations

MOHNTON, Penn. (October 4, 2003) -- The NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series continues to make up race dates previously rained out as David Baca, driver of the Henkelman & Baca Motorsports American Racing/Waterloo Tool Storage/Skill Clean dragster, returned to Maple Grove Raceway to finish qualifying and eliminations for the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals.

On September 12, NHRA was forced to reschedule the Lucas Oil Nationals due to rains with only one qualifying session complete. At the time, Baca was in the ninth qualifying spot by virtue of a pass of 4.609 seconds at 311.99 mph.

In today's first try, after a morning rain once again delayed qualifying, tire shake forced Baca to shut down the American Racing/Waterloo/Skill Clean dragster, coasting to a run of 9.856 seconds. Baca held the No. 11 qualifying spot after two qualifying sessions were completed (first session being on Sept. 12, the second being completed today).

Well, after one session was complete today, it rained some more this afternoon. In fact it was still raining at 6 p.m., causing NHRA to cancel any remaining qualifying. The field is now set for tomorrow's eliminations based on the completed sessions.

Sunday's opening round of eliminations begins at 11 a.m. (EDT - local time). Baca, who is currently in sixth place in the POWERade Top Fuel standings, qualified No. 11 on the final ladder and will face Paul Romine, who qualified sixth with a run of 4.564 seconds at 310.13 mph, in the opening round. In May, the pair met in Englishtown, N.J., with Romine coming away with the win. Baca hopes to reverse the tables tomorrow.

"I don't believe lane choice will make a difference. It seems like a pretty even race track at the moment. We've raced Paul (Romine) one time and the outcome wasn't what we had hoped for that time. I feel if we do the job we are capable of doing, this American Racing/Waterloo/Skill Clean car will come out and even the score. The weather forecast for tomorrow shows clear and cool. Johnny West (crew chief) has been pretty successful of late with his cool weather setup," said Baca.