Baytown: Dave Connolly Saturday summary

It's Dave Connolly vs. Mike Edwards in First Round at Houston

BAYTOWN, Texas, April 9, 2005 -- Dave Connolly's starting berth isn't as high as he wanted, but the most important thing is that the POWERade Series Pro Stock point leader will be among the 16 drivers contending for the O'Reilly Spring Nationals title Sunday at Houston Raceway Park.

An unpredictable racing surface and some mechanical woes prevented Connolly from putting the Bullet Motorsports Chevrolet Cavalier in the top half of the field.

Not only will Connolly be attempting to pad his slim advantage (243-223) over Warren Johnson on Sunday, he'd also like to pick off another series win. He won the season-opener at Pomona, Calif. and was runner-up at Gainesville, Fla.

"The car went to the right on our last qualifying run," said Connolly, who finished 12th (6.744 seconds at 204.35 mph). He runs Mike Edwards (6.723 at 204.70 mph) in the opening round. "We haven't made a good run yet this weekend. This was the hottest track we've run all year."

Connolly, of Elyria, Ohio, believes crew chief Terry Adams and engine builder Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins will give him a good car when he pulls to the starting line.

"The car was spinning so bad on our last run that it felt like it wasn't going any place," Connolly said. "But we have another shot to make it run better Sunday. I think the track will be OK and we'll be ready to go."