Columbus: Dave Connolly final summary

Faulty Shift Light Leads to Connolly's Quarterfinal Loss at Columbus

It was just one of those racing  things Sunday -- and a good run by Jason Line
-- that stood in the way of Dave  Connolly advancing to the semifinals of the
Pontiac Performance Nationals at  National Trail Raceway in nearby Hebron.

Connolly, who qualified  the SKULL GEAR Pro Stock Chevy Cobalt sixth (6.693
seconds at 205.94 mph), was  caught by surprise when the gear shift light came
on early in his quarterfinal  match against Line.

"When I pulled the shifter it knocked  out the clutch," Connolly said.  "I
thought we had a shot at him because we  got out on him (with a .013 of a
second reaction to Line's .039), but I shut it  off because we weren't going
anywhere.  It was just one of those things  that happen sometimes."

Line won with a time of 6.687 seconds at  206.64 mph while Connolly's Cobalt
limped to the finish line in 11.728 seconds  at 70.12 mph.

Connolly, a winner two weeks ago at Atlanta, produced  a 6.712 time at 205.66
mph to defeat Mike Edwards, 6.760 at  203.82.

Connolly moved up to eighth place in NHRA POWERade Series points with 392 in a tightly-bunched field.

The team moves to  Topeka, Kan., for next week's O'Reilly Summer Nationals
at Heartland Park  Topeka.

-dc-