NHRA

Dallas: Alan Bradshaw wrap up

Back Attack Racing Bradshaw loses close matchup in round two ENNIS, Texas - There's an old saying, 'you live by the sword, you die by the sword.' NHRA Federal Mogul Dragster driver Alan "Quick Draw" Bradshaw experienced the bitter end of that ...

Edited: Apr 15, 2002, 11:45 PM

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Back Attack Racing
Bradshaw loses close matchup in round two

ENNIS, Texas - There's an old saying, 'you live by the sword, you die by the sword.' NHRA Federal Mogul Dragster driver Alan "Quick Draw" Bradshaw experienced the bitter end of that saying during this weekend's O'Reilly Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec at the Texas Motorplex just south of Dallas.

Bradshaw, from Odessa, Texas, qualified his Tom Conway tuned Blown Alcohol Dragster ninth in the quickest field in the category's history with a career-best 5.485 at 258.54 mph. In round one, Bradshaw used his quick reflexes to take a holeshot win over close friend Billy Bybee with a 5.521 at 257.21 mph. Bradshaw, the quickest leaver in the category, had his brakes not hold in his quarterfinal matchup with Lee Callaway. As a result, the car deep staged, causing Bradshaw to slow his reaction time to keep from redlighting. Callaway took a .434 to .503 starting line advantage over Bradshaw, and was able to hang on to that lead with a 5.610 at 255.89 mph to Bradshaw's quicker 5.554 at 254.59 mph. Bradshaw attributes a broken pushrod to his dragster falling off of its earlier performance.

"We had a problem getting the car started against Callaway," said Bradshaw. "Tom Conway came to the rescue once again, and helped to get the car started. NHRA gave me instructions to do a short burnout, and out of respect for my competitor, we did a shorter burnout. In order to get the carbon fiber brakes we have hot enough to hold the car, we normally do a longer burnout and drag the brakes while backing up to heat them. Sure enough, it rolled in deep, which I knew was a possibility of happening, so I was prepared for it. I grabbed the brake, but the car just kept moving. Knowing that the top light was out, I knew I was guaranteed to redlight if I tried to cut my normal light like I typically do when I shallow stage. I decided to take the lesser of the two evils and make sure I had a full amber light before I left the starting line. We took a gamble on hoping the car would perform well enough to outrun Lee [Callaway]. His car ran decent, our car slowed down, and between all of the combinations, we came out with a second round loss. That is unfortunate, but that is part of racing. We'll learn from my mistakes, and we won't make them again."

Bradshaw's strong close to the year has him excited about his team's chances next year. Additionally, Bradshaw is pursuing leads to achieve his ultimate goal, which is to drive in Top Fuel.

"Our goal is to start out hard and strong next year in Division 4," stated Bradshaw. "We are going to hit the Division 4 races like Dallas and Houston. We want to hit about ten races next year, and our ultimate goal is to move up to Top Fuel. That will obviously require Corporate America to back that deal. We are looking at opportunities, and laying out invitations to drive for other teams out there that may be interested. At this point, we are going to try to run a ten race schedule with the Back Attack Racing Team, and go from there as far as what we can do in the alcohol class. We would love to move up in the ranks of Division 5 with maybe a first or second place finish. That's our short term goal. Our long term goal is to eventually move over into the Top Fuel ranks, either with Corporate America backing us, or driving for one of the pro teams already in the business."

For more Federal Mogul racing news, log on to InsideFMRacing.com

-BAR-

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