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Columbus: Dave Connolly Friday summary

Ohio Native Dave Connolly Provisional Pro Stock Top Qualifier at Columbus COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 19, 2006 -- Dave Connolly returned to National Trail Raceway in nearby Hebron -- one of his favorite race tracks -- Friday and claimed the provisional ...

Published: May 20, 2006, 8:31 AM

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Ohio Native Dave Connolly Provisional Pro Stock Top Qualifier at Columbus

COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 19, 2006 -- Dave Connolly returned to National Trail Raceway in nearby Hebron -- one of his favorite race tracks -- Friday and claimed the provisional No. 1 Pro Stock qualifying position for Sunday's Pontiac Performance Nationals.

Connolly, of Elyria, Ohio, established track record with his  6.693-second
elapsed time at 205.94 mph in the day's second  qualifying attempt.  He led the
16-car field after the first run  with a 6.715.

"We made a decent start in the first session and got some good data,"  said
Connolly, 23.  "We fixed a few problems in low gear and made  a beautiful run
with our SKULL GEAR Chevy Cobalt.  Tommy Utt, our  new crew chief, worked hard
all week getting this racecar prepared and  it definitely paid off."

Connolly, who has made many runs at National Trail in the  Sportsman ranks,
won his last race (at Atlanta, May 7) in Utt's first  race.

A faulty fuse almost prevented Connolly from making his first run. "It was a 50-cent part and the car wouldn't start," he said. "But Warren Johnson was a gentleman and waited on us as long as he could. We shortened up the burnout, the car went down the track and we got enough data to come back in the second run . . . which will probably be the best session of qualifying. It's been a while since we've run like this and we're hoping we can hang on to the No. 1 spot."

If he does, when qualifying concludes Saturday, it would the third of his career and his first since April 2005 at Bristol, Tenn.

"I have a lot of friends and family who came in Friday, and they'll be here the rest of the weekend," added Connolly. "I'm excited about running in front of our home crowd. It would be nice to go a few rounds on Sunday. That's what we'll be shooting for."

-jls-

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