NHRA
Columbus: Doug Herbert preview
Herbert makes his way back to National Trail Raceway COLUMBUS -- This weekend National Trail Raceway will play host to an NHRA national event for the 41st year. In more than four decades of racing, National Trail has been good, bad and even ...
Published: May 18, 2005, 11:55 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Herbert makes his way back to National Trail Raceway
COLUMBUS -- This weekend National Trail Raceway will play host to an NHRA national event for the 41st year. In more than four decades of racing, National Trail has been good, bad and even sometimes ugly.
Snap-on Top Fuel pilot Doug Herbert has just positive thoughts about Ohio's most famed drag strip. He's earned two victories (1993, '99) and one runner-up finish ('02) and has plans to keep the fun streak alive.
"Sometimes we deal with shaky weather conditions, but that's the Midwest," Herbert said. "But a lot of people can bring a bad attitude into the Columbus race and that probably doesn't help them too much. I love the track and we've done well there in the past and I'm always happy to race there.
"For some reason, we've had success there and it helps me bring a positive attitude to that track every year. I think we can win that race every time we go there."
The NHRA POWERade Series starts pro qualifying for the 41st annual Pontiac Performance Nationals on Friday. Qualifying continues Saturday before final eliminations start at 11 a.m. Sunday.
Herbert knows the team hasn't reached the potential he knows is lurking near the surface. He also knows the point standings are close. Herbert and the Snap-on team sit in the No. 9 spot, 233 points out of first place and less than a 100 points away from fifth place.
"The good thing is that all the teams in the top 10 have been keeping everyone honest," Herbert said. "It's a tight chase and there is room to move up, but we can't take too long making a move. There are just 23 events each season and we're headed to the eighth race already."
Tuner Rob Flynn and consultant Jim Brissette have made strides toward a more consistent and competitive setup. The tuning alliance with Wayne Dupuy, crew chief of the fourth-place car driven by Morgan Lucas, has also helped.
"The relationship between both teams has helped, but it has taken a little longer for the positive results than I thought it would," Herbert said. "These are complicated cars and it takes a while to make changes. Wayne has helped us a lot and both teams are using more similar parts now so we can really start to help each other."
ESPN2 will air coverage of this weekend's event starting with qualifying at 11 p.m. (ET) on Saturday. Final eliminations will start at 7 p.m. (ET) on Sunday.
-gs-
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 Columbus: David Baca preview
Next article Columbus: Morgan Lucas preview
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Doug Herbert
Massey, Edwards and Worsham claim top qualifying positions at Thunder Valley Nationals
NHRA
NHRA
Massey, Edwards and Worsham claim top qualifying positions at Thunder Valley Nationals
Mike Wallace leads at Charlotte, finishes 15th
NASCAR O'Reilly
NASCAR O'Reilly
Mike Wallace leads at Charlotte, finishes 15th
Final pairings are set for Charlotte Four-Wide Nationals
NHRA
NHRA
Final pairings are set for Charlotte Four-Wide Nationals
Latest news
Jesse Love barely holds off Sam Mayer for NASCAR O'Reilly win at Phoenix
NASCAR O'Reilly
NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly
Phoenix II
5 h
Jesse Love barely holds off Sam Mayer for NASCAR O'Reilly win at Phoenix
Lando Norris faces anxious wait as F2 prepares to decide future of his racing team
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
8 h
Lando Norris faces anxious wait as F2 prepares to decide future of his racing team
NASCAR Cup Phoenix starting lineup: Blaney earns pole as Larson struggles
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
9 h
NASCAR Cup Phoenix starting lineup: Blaney earns pole as Larson struggles
Ryan Blaney kind of faces a must-win scenario this weekend at Phoenix
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
10 h
Ryan Blaney kind of faces a must-win scenario this weekend at Phoenix
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