Dallas: Tom Martino Friday notes

With temperatures in the 90's and humidity to match, the majority of the NHRA Pro Stock crews struggled to make power with their normally-aspirated engines during the first day of qualifying for the Castrol Nationals. Tom Martino and the CENTURY 21 Pro Stock Firebird Racing Team made the most of the situation with the second quickest pass in each session. His 7.040-second, 196.16 mph effort in the evening time trial placed Martino 2nd halfway through qualifying. With two opportunities to improve even further on Saturday, Martino commented on the day's events. "The first run was nowhere as good as the second, but I think everyone else misread the track just like we did, so we were fortunate to end up second. Tonight's pass, however, was a really nice run. Other than low gear, I don't know how I could have made our CENTURY 21 Firebird any better.

"The track was in great shape - considering how hot it was, and that the sun was shining on it all day, I think the NHRA did a great job in preparing the surface. Depending on the cloud cover, tomorrow morning's session could be a little faster than tonight's. If it is, we'll just go faster."