Rockingham II: Bob Bertsch preview

Bertsch shooting for top ten finish at 'The Rock'

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. - Second year IHRA Torco's CompetitionPlus.com Pro Stock driver Bob Bertsch and his Rislone Engine Treatment backed team hope to cap off a strong second half of the 2007 season with another strong outing during this weekend's IHRA World Finals at Rockingham Dragway. Bertsch, enters the event in eleventh place, a mere nine points out of ninth place and 23 points out of eighth.

Bertsch, from Willis, Mich., credits his team's move up the charts to small changes at each race.

"We have had a good year," said Bertsch. "We started the year off a little slow with some new car blues, but we've built from there. We've qualified in the top half several times and made the semifinals at several events. We keep making small changes. We have a new motor Jon Kaase built us that is supposed to be better, but we're going to wait to test it on Monday. Right now the car is really balanced and running well; we don't want to upset that."

"We're really focused on qualifying in the top half and going rounds," Bertsch continued. "We're just one round out of eighth place, so that's our focus - to get into the top ten in points. We're not going to get crazy. It's also important to qualify in the top half so we can qualify for the Torco Shootout next year. Evan [Knoll] really stepped up making it $50,000 to win that baby. That's next year though. Right now we're focused on making a good showing to end up in the top ten and reward Rislone Engine Treatment for all of their support this year."

-credit: bars