Rockingham Ed Hoover Report

Hoover Falls In Quarter-finals, Tops Jenkins For Third Consecutive Time In First Round At "The Rock"

ROCKINGHAM, NC-- Ed Hoover went into Sunday eliminations at the IHRA CARQUEST Autumn Nationals looking like a man on a mission. Taking out his nemesis, Shannon Jenkins in the first round helped Hoover in his bid to gain ground on the IHRA championship points leader. However, his quarter-final match with Tommy Mauney stopped Hoover short of another event win.

Qualifying was an impressive venture for the Trussell team. Hoover had a respectable baseline run with a 6.515 during the first session of qualifying. He was one of the many that improved during the final session with a 6.460/219.45. He was the seventh quickest.

Hoover continued his improvement and stepped up with a 6.445/218.71 during the third session. He went into the final session as the sixth quickest. However, he had no intentions of resting on earlier performances. The veteran driver stormed to a 6.359/220.42 to qualify solidly into the program. He was the 3rd quickest entry and had to face Shannon Jenkins for the third consecutive race in a row.

Hoover let Jenkins know that he meant business immediately. The reaction times were close, but Hoover tracked the quarter-mile at 6.424/220.10, overtaking Jenkins for a third consecutive win. But Hoover's mission was cut short in the quarter-finals when he met Tommy Mauney at the starting line. Hoover could not recover the starting line deficit, but ran quicker and faster at 6.435/220.04. Unfortunately, Mauney had already taken the win light, sending Hoover in search of points at the next IHRA event.

The Trussell Motorsports team plans to continue his championship conquest at the IHRA Express Auto Parts.Com President's Cup in Budds Creek, Md., during the weekend of October 1-3. Hoover, along with each Pro Modified contestant, will be afforded four qualifying runs during the course of the event and the quickest sixteen entries will compete in final eliminations on Sunday.