Drag

Rockingham: John Vouros impressive in 2001 debut

ROCKINGHAM, NC. - We should consider John Vouros to be drag racing's version of a red-shirt freshman. Vouros, 35, of Victor, NY., made the transition to the Pro Funny Car division late last season and with only one event late last season under his ...

Edited: Apr 15, 2002, 11:45 PM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

ROCKINGHAM, NC. - We should consider John Vouros to be drag racing's version of a red-shirt freshman. Vouros, 35, of Victor, NY., made the transition to the Pro Funny Car division late last season and with only one event late last season under his belt, the CompetitionPlus.com-sponsored driver could be on his way to a tremendous career and has established himself as a bona fide contender for the Rookie of the Year accolades for the season. At the recently completed IHRA Holley Spring Nationals presented by Advance Auto Parts, the Tom Anderson-tuned machine stormed to a semi-final finish.

Believe it or not, Vouros was disappointed.

"Have you ever seen anyone that goes to a race to finish as a semi-finalist," Vouros explained, with a smile. "I am very pleased that we reached as far as we did. I really wanted to win, but that's the nature of a drag racer. I consider myself to be a diehard drag racer. Tom Anderson provided me with an excellent car, and before it is over I hope to provide him with a win."

Vouros failed to qualify at last season's rain-delayed CARQUEST Autumn Nationals, also in Rockingham, but had no such problems this go-round. His first run of the new season wasn't a pretty one, though. He drifted out of the groove in the left lane and took out a cone drawing a disqualification and negating a 6.33 lap. He fared better in the second session as he leapt to a 6.104/214.52 to end up in the fifth position. That lap would stand as his best run because of a failure to improve.

He completed qualifying in the 10th position and was scheduled to face Larry Dobbs in the first round. Vouros strapped a holeshot on Dobbs and scored his first career flopper victory with a 5.951/231.83.

If there was a defining moment in Vouros' fledgling career, it happened in the quarter-finals when he overcame a holeshot from the defending World Champion Scott Weney and blasted by for a 5.871/232.82.

His downfall came in the semi-finals when he had a burst panel explode costing him the race against eventual champion Monty Todd.

- Bobby Bennett

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Gumout: Port Royal Speedway special April events

Next article BITD: Team Hummer to begin defense of class championship April 7

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Zane Smith fined $50,000 by NASCAR for ramming Carson Hocevar after Phoenix Cup race

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Phoenix II

6 h

Zane Smith fined $50,000 by NASCAR for ramming Carson Hocevar after Phoenix Cup race

FIA expects F1 races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi to continue as planned

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

United States GP

10 h

FIA expects F1 races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi to continue as planned

TDS Racing doubles down on IMSA program with two-car LMP2 return

IMSA

IMSA IMSA 10 h

TDS Racing doubles down on IMSA program with two-car LMP2 return

Why Isack Hadjar doesn’t like F1 sprints anymore

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Singapore GP

11 h

Why Isack Hadjar doesn’t like F1 sprints anymore

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts