NHRA
Atlanta: Mike Castellana Friday notes
COMMERCE, Ga.-Mike Castellana had chills of past failures go down his spine after his first qualifying pass at the 21st annual Advance Auto Parts NHRA Southern Nationals. Castellana failed to qualify for the eliminations rounds during ...
Edited: Apr 15, 2002, 11:45 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
COMMERCE, Ga.-Mike Castellana had chills of past failures go down his spine after his first qualifying pass at the 21st annual Advance Auto Parts NHRA Southern Nationals.
Castellana failed to qualify for the eliminations rounds during last weekend's NHRA tour stop in Bristol, Tenn., and the weekend before at the IHRA event in Dinwiddie, Va.
The sinking feeling hit again when he shook the tires and lifted around the half-track mark at Atlanta Dragway yesterday afternoon as he covered the quarter-mile with an elapsed-time run of only 7.809 seconds and 121.10 mph. The session left him in 11th place, well off what will be needed to qualify among the top eight for tomorrow.
The Western Beef-sponsored Pro Mod Chevrolet went a lot smoother on the second try for the supermarket chain owner from Westbury, N.Y., muscling his way into seventh place with his run of 6.361 and 220.80.
After the DNQ last weekend, Team Castellana stuck around Thunder Valley to test, and the extra effort may be starting to payoff. The Long Islander's machine appeared to be on the right track for the Atlanta race.
It just took two runs to find out.
"Team Castellana is on a mission, and we are going to do whatever it takes to be on top," Castellana said earlier in the week. "We are too good of a team to be down like this."
Time, however, will tell. Castellana must prove himself two more times today to advance to the finals.
The tough luck that has plagued Castellana visited his teammate Shannon Jenkins yesterday. He broke and never got off the starting line in the first heat. The two-time Pro Mod champ stepped up in his next run at 6.566/217.38, but he's only 11th and needs to be a little quicker today to make it into tomorrow's runs.
For more information on Team Castellana, visit its website at www.awesome57.com.
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
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article WSS: Brisbane race report
Next article BUSCH: Anheuser Busch announces new contingency program
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
Latest news
Alex Bowman hits out at critics in snarky post, shooting down early exit rumors
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
31 min
Alex Bowman hits out at critics in snarky post, shooting down early exit rumors
Ryan Blaney gets sweet redemption after 'nightmares' following 2024 Homestead loss
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
53 min
Ryan Blaney gets sweet redemption after 'nightmares' following 2024 Homestead loss
IndyCar 2026 season review: Dale Coyne Racing
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 1 h
IndyCar 2026 season review: Dale Coyne Racing
Noah Gragson apologizes to Daniel Suarez for spinning him at Homestead
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
1 h
Noah Gragson apologizes to Daniel Suarez for spinning him at Homestead
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
Subscribe