Commerce: Justin Humphreys preview

Justin Humphreys' Goal: Keep Tires Glued To Atlanta Dragway's New Track Surface

Mother Nature interfered with Justin Humphreys' preparation for this weekend's Summit Racing Equipment Nationals at Atlanta Dragway, but it did not prevent his RaceRedi Motorsports team from picking up some valuable tuning information.

"We went to Rockingham Dragway planning to test Monday and Tuesday," said Humphreys, "but it rained Tuesday. But things were going pretty good Monday. The car ran well and we were pleased."

A nominee for the 2007 NHRA rookie of the year award, Humphreys still has a grip on 10th place (200 points) in NHRA's POWERade Series title chase all the while yearning to take strides toward the top of the ladder. Traction problems recently have stymied his plans, prompting crew chief Bob Glidden and engine builder Richard Maskin to gather the team in Rockingham (N.C.) for pre-race runs.

"We tried some new things and the car responded the way they wanted," said Humphreys of his new Pro Stock RaceRedi Motorsports Pontiac GXP. The car made its competitive debut three races ago.

"It is running pretty good right now. We are definitely looking forward to racing in Atlanta," he continued. "We are looking for more consistency and we need to start winning more rounds so we can improve our position."

Humphreys is a little more than two round wins (45 points) behind eighth-place Mike Edwards and No. 9 Greg Stanfield is 44 ahead, deficits that could be erased with a good Sunday performance.

When it comes to the car setup, Glidden faces a daunting challenge -- race cars have yet to run on Atlanta Dragway's new racing surface. Because of that, however, he won't be the only one in the predicament.

"It will be very interesting to see what the track conditions will be," Humphreys commented. "We'll give it our best shot . . . as always."

-credit: rrm