Norwalk: Thomas Carter final summary

Carter reaches semifinals in Norwalk

NORWALK, Ohio - IHRA Alcohol Funny Car driver Thomas Carter and his "Jawbreaker" Motorsports team kept their championship hopes alive with a semifinal finish during this past weekend's SKULL Gear World Nationals presented by AC Delco at Norwalk Raceway Park. On his way to the semifinals, Carter defeated current points leader Mark Thomas on a holeshot in round one to move within 30 points of first place.

Carter, a practicing Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon in Victoria, Texas, qualified his Jeff Fowler tuned Camaro seventh in the field with a 5.928 second pass at 237.80 mph. In the monster matchup with Thomas in the first round, Carter took a .050 to .072 jump off the line, then held on to win with a 5.878 at 236.30 mph to Thomas' quicker-but-later 5.868 at 240.68 mph.

That set the stage for another championship contender clash with defending three-time series champion Rob Atchison. Carter cut the tree too close, going red, and giving the automatic win to Atchison.

"We didn't win the race but we accomplished our goal of going rounds," said Carter. "Even though we fell to third place, we still picked up points on Thomas. I enjoyed winning the first round on a holeshot, but I'm not happy with myself on the redlight. I knew Atchison had us a little on performance, so I guessed at the tree."

With four races remaining on the tour, Carter trails Thomas by a mere 30 points and Atchison by 25 points.

"We just have to stay focused on going rounds," commented Thomas.  "One
of the three of us is going to win the championship.  It's going to go
down to the wire, no doubt.  I think it's going to boil down to who can
be the most consistent.  We're going to do our best to do that."

The team will get a week off to regroup, then head to Epping, N.H., for the Amalie Oil North American Nationals, Sep. 8-10.

-credit: www.JawbreakerRacing.com