Texas Speedzone - Gilbertson breaks Nitro Funny Car record at The Rock

Gilbertson Shatters Nitro Funny Car Mark

Sets Rockingham Dragway track record while securing #1 qualifying post Saturday

By Mike Perry | IHRA Communications

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. (April 22, 2006) – Rain washed away the final pro qualifying round at Rockingham Dragway Saturday. Prior to that Bob Gilbertson washed away the Torco Racing Fuels Pro Nitro Funny Car track record. Gilbertson, from nearby Gastonia, N.C., clocked a 4.837 second / 312.86 mph pass during afternoon qualifying to claim the top spot and erase Cruz Pedregon’s previous Rockingham best of 4.884 set in 1998. When thunderstorms washed out the evening qualifying session Gilbertson found himself atop the ladder at the Nicko’s NY Style Pizza Spring Nationals presented by Advance Auto Parts.

“This is wonderful,” Gilbertson said. “Being at our home track and breaking the track record…it just doesn’t get any better than that. It felt real good, but that was a mediocre run for me. We left a lot on the table but we wanted to make sure we got down the track.”

Gary Densham (Bellflower, Cal.) claimed the second qualifying spot with a 5.050/234.13 pass while Dale Creasy, Jr. (Beecher, Ill.) closed out the top three with a 5.132/250.92 run Friday.

Vincent Arcadi (Lancaster, N.Y.), Terry Haddock (Lynwood, Wash.), Paul Lee (Bala Cymwyd, Pa.), Jack Wyatt (Corydon, Iowa) and Gary Cooper (Omaha, Neb.) rounded out the Torco Racing Fuels Pro Nitro Funny Car field.

Cory McClenathan (Lake Havasu City, Ariz.) claimed the top qualifying spot in Torco Racing Fuels Pro Nitro Top Fuel, but it was Andrew Cowin’s Saturday afternoon pass that sent a buzz through Rockingham Dragway. Cowin, originally from Sydney, Australia but now residing in Wrightsville Beach, N.C., drove the Scott Griffin Motorsports/Serta Mattresses ’06 Hadman Dragster to the #2 qualifying position with a time of 4.559 and a speed of 322.88.

Griffin hired Cowin to drive his entry in December, and Cowin was pleased to be able to put down a strong number at his boss’ home track.

“Scott gave me a chance to drive this car and I am so grateful for that,” Cowin said. “This was the second time I have run a .55 at Rockingham and it meant a lot for me that I was able to do it for Scott Griffin Motorsports. We’re getting a handle on this car, if I can put a couple of runs like that together tomorrow it could get really interesting.”

After failing to break into the top eight Friday, five-time defending Top Fuel World Champion Clay Millican (Drummonds, Tenn.) and the winner of the season-opening Amalie Oil Texas Nationals Doug Foley (Sewell, N.J.) were able to jump into the field Saturday. Millican’s 4.641/308.57 pass put his Werner Enterprises dragster into the #4 position while Foley’s 4.628/319.67 placed him third.

Rick Cooper (Boise, Id.), Michael Gunderson (Middleburg, Fla.), Rhonda Hartman-Smith (Williamston, S.C.) and Bruce Litton (Indianapolis, Ind.) rounded out the Torco Racing Fuels Pro Nitro Top Fuel field.

Rob Atchison (London, Ontario) laid down the best Alcohol Funny Car pass Saturday, posting a 5.774/245.14 to vault into the #1 qualifying spot. The three-time defending AFC World Champion fell to Mark Thomas in the finals at the season opener in San Antonio, but he nosed in front of Thomas in Rockingham. Thomas (Louisville, Ohio) posted a 5.826/243.02 to claim the second seed while Fred Tigges (Holbrook, Mass.) finished third with a 5.840/242.63 pass.

Trevor Lebsack (Slave Lake, Alb.), Neal Parker (Millville, N.J.), Melinda Green-King (Norfolk, Va.), Larry Dobbs (Welland, Ont.) and Thomas Carter (Cuero, Tex.) rounded out the Alcohol Funny Car field.

Tommy D’Aprile (Port Charlotte, Fla.) proved his Torco Pro Modified finals appearance in San Antonio was not a fluke. In his first year of driving Quain Stott’s second car, D’Aprile ran a 6.132/230.69 to end up on the pole when qualifying was finished. Three weeks ago D’Aprile fell in the final to Glen Kerunsky at the San Antonio Raceway.

Former Pro Mod World Champion Mike Janis (Lancaster, N.Y.), trying to overcome a difficult ’05 race season, continued his strong ’06 campaign by running a 6.138/230.84 pass to finish in the #2 qualifying position. Calgary resident Rick Distefano, the #1 qualifier in San Antonio, ended up in the third position while ’05 World Champion Mike Castellana (Westbury, N.Y.) was fourth.

Frank Gugliotta (Mt. Airy, Md.) followed up his Torco Pro Stock victory in San Antonio by claiming the pole at Rockingham Dragway. Gugliotta’s 6.420/216.51 put him in front of the #2 man Robert Patrick (Fredericksburg, Va.), who posted a 6.428/214.35 pass. Tony Gillig (Lake Bluff, Ill.), John Nobile (Dix Hills, N.Y.) and Jeff Dobbins (Wilmington, N.C.) rounded out the top five.

The Nicko’s NY Style Pizza Spring Nationals will continue Sunday morning at Rockingham Dragway with professional elimination rounds beginning at 11 a.m. Gates open at 8 a.m. Saturday tickets will be honored Sunday with corresponding ticket stub.

About IHRA

Headquartered in Norwalk, Ohio, the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA), a division of Live Nation, promotes professional, semi-professional and local level racing opportunities for drivers at all levels. The eMax Drag Racing Series is an 11-event North American professional drag racing circuit. In 2006, the series will be comprised of eight events in major cities throughout the United States and three in Canada. The Mr. Gasket Pro-Am Championship consists of competition at national events and 35 events in six regional divisions, while IHRA’s Summit SuperSeries is conducted nearly every weekend at over 90 IHRA-sanctioned tracks. Providing a safe environment to develop future stars, IHRA offers the PM-1 Junior Dragster Racing Series for youths ages 8-17. Stand-alone events include Live Nation’s entertainment-filled “Thunder Jam” shows and the street legal racing and lifestyle event series Kumho Street Warriorz presented by Hooters. More information can be found at www.ihra.com.

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for the Nicko's NY Style Pizza Spring Nationals presented by Advance Auto Parts at Rockingham Dragway, the second of 11 events in the 2006 eMax Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday.

Top Fuel -- 1. Cory McClenathan, 4.549 seconds, 326.32 mph vs. 5. Rick Cooper, 4.664, 314.17; 2. Andrew Cowin, 4.559, 322.88 vs. 6. Michael Gunderson, 4.677, 316.23; 3. Doug Foley, 4.628, 319.67 vs. 7. Rhonda Hartman-Smith, 4.790, 299.40; 4. Clay Millican, 4.641, 308.57 vs. 8. Bruce Litton, 4.794, 304.94.

Pro Modified -- 1. Tommy D'Aprile, Chevy Corvette, 6.132, 231.24 vs. 9. Mike Bell, Ford Mustang, 6.198, 229.35; 2. Mike Janis, Chevy Cobalt, 6.138, 230.84 vs. 10. Chip King, Dodge Daytona, 6.201, 231.95; 3. Rick Distefano, Corvette, 6.141, 231.16 vs. 11. Josh Hernandez, Chevy Camaro, 6.201, 231.28; 4. Mike Castellana, Chevy Cavalier, 6.157, 229.70 vs. 12. Alan Pittman, Chevy Bel Air, 6.208, 227.15; 5. Quain Stott, Corvette, 6.173, 230.80 vs. 13. Steve Vick, Corvette, 6.214, 222.66; 6. Jim Halsey, Camaro, 6.183, 224.92 vs. 14. Jason Hamstra, Corvette, 6.216, 226.73; 7. Burton Auxier, Corvette, 6.190, 223.47 vs. 15. Carl Spiering, Corvette, 6.218, 226.77; 8. Glen Kerunsky, Bel Air, 6.196, 228.04 vs. 16. Matt Hagan, Corvette, 6.218, 227.46.

Alcohol Funny Car -- 1. Rob Atchison, Chevy Monte Carlo, 5.774, 246.08 vs. 5. Neal Parker, Monte Carlo, 5.963, 235.39; 2. Mark Thomas, Monte Carlo, 5.826, 243.02 vs. 6. Melinda Green-King, Dodge Avenger, 5.967, 232.87; 3. Frederick Tigges, Avenger, 5.840, 242.63 vs. 7. Larry Dobbs, Chevy Corvette, 5.975, 232.63; 4. Trevor Lebsack, Ford Mustang, 5.905, 231.08 vs. 8. Thomas Carter, Chevy Camaro, 5.988, 234.94.

Pro Stock -- 1. Frank Gugliotta, Ford Escort, 6.435, 216.90 vs. 9. Michael Bruno, Pontiac GTO, 6.488, 214.93; 2. Robert Patrick, Ford Cobra, 6.438, 214.93 vs. 10. Dan Sweeney, GTO, 6.492, 213.94; 3. Jeff Dobbins, Escort, 6.446, 215.86 vs. 11. Steve Spiess, Chevy Cobalt, 6.496, 214.14; 4. John Nobile, Ford ZX2, 6.449, 215.62 vs. 12. Bert Jackson, Chevy Cavalier, 6.520, 212.33; 5. Cary Goforth, Cobalt, 6.466, 216.17 vs. 13. Tony Gillig, Ford Mustang, 6.522, 212.39; 6. Jason Collins, Mustang, 6.473, 214.52 vs. 14. Doug Kirk, Escort, 6.529, 214.31; 7. John Bartunek, Cobalt, 6.483, 213.03 vs. 15. Ron Miller, Cavalier, 6.541, 210.80; 8. Larry O'Brien, Dodge Stratus, 6.484, 214.35 vs. 16. Bob Bertsch, Mustang, 6.550, 211.83.

Nitro Funny Car -- 1. Bob Gilbertson, Dodge Stratus, 4.837, 312.86 vs. 5. Terry Haddock, Chevy Monte Carlo, 5.421, 266.11; 2. Gary Densham, Monte Carlo, 5.050, 234.13 vs. 6. Paul Lee, Chevy Camaro, 5.908, 163.99; 3. Dale Creasy Jr., Monte Carlo, 5.132, 250.92 vs. 7. Jack Wyatt, Pontiac Firebird, 6.441, 157.50; 4. Vincent Arcadi, Camaro, 5.402, 281.71 vs. 8. Gary Cooper, Stratus, 6.521, 170.32.