Bristol: Dave Connolly preview

Connolly, Adams Believe Improved Performances Are on the Way

In the last few weeks, Terry Adams has  spent many hours in his garage
working on the SKULL GEAR Chevrolet Cobalt Dave  Connolly will drive in the O'Reilly
Thunder Valley Nationals, Friday through  Sunday.

He painstakingly took things apart, checked them and put them back together. Its part of his job as crew chief of the Dave Connolly-driven Pro Stock entry, but it's also part Adams' drag racing personality. He is hands-on when it comes to the Cobalt.

This  new one, built by Jerry Haas, is older than the current Cobalt, but is
the  current chassis of choice when it comes to racing.

"If this  car will run good 60-foot times and run the rest of the track good
the rest of  the way, we'll be very happy," said Adams.  Their former car has
been slow  off the starting line, sometimes as much as two-hundredths of a
second slower  which, in Pro Stock, is too much of an advantage to give up.   "
We  have good power (provided by Victor Cagnazzi Racing) and we hope to turn
things  around, starting at Bristol. If we do that, we'll be in good  shape."

Connolly was No. 1 qualifier at Bristol last year and advanced to the quarterfinals before losing a close decision -- by one-thousandth of a second -- to eventual race runner-up Richie Stevens.

"I'm looking forward to racing at Bristol," said Connolly. "That is one of my favorite tracks. The fans are into the racing. There are a lot of Pro Stock fans there. I qualified well there and lost that close race to Richie. Maybe our luck will change this time around and I'll win the close ones . . . like I did in Las Vegas.

"I think running the old car is  a step in the right direction," Connolly
continued.  "I think we'll run a  lot better than we have been.  We are looking
good in the horsepower area,  and Terry and the crew are working hard to get
the chassis working the right  way.  When we get the car running better down
low (in the gears), we'll  have an opportunity to climb in the standings."

Connolly and the  SKULL GEAR team enjoyed their best outing of 2006 at Las
Vegas, reaching the  finals (4/9).  The impressive showing -- Connolly had
quicker reaction times  than his rivals on all four runs -- boosted him into 11th
place with 217  points.  Only four points separate him from the top 10 and he's
80 points  (four rounds) out of fourth in the tightly-bunched field.

His best  reaction time (.006) came in the finals.  He came within
three-thousandths  of a second of beating Kurt Johnson, 6.842 to 6.874.

This is the  first of another two races in a row.  Connolly and crew move to
Atlanta  Dragway in Commerce, Ga., for the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals,
May  5-7.

-jls-