Dennis Taylor Dallas wrap up

Taylor scores semifinal finish in Dallas

ENNIS, Texas - NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car ace Dennis Taylor scored a semifinal finish during this past weekend's O'Reilly Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec at the Texas Motorplex just south of Dallas. On his way to the semifinals, Taylor and his Plumbing Concepts backed team took out Bob Newberry to remain in third place nationally.

Taylor, who runs his racing safety equipment company Taylor Motorsports Products in Anaheim, Calif., qualified his Ora Vasquez tuned Camaro sixth in the field with a 5.710 at 248.57 mph. In round one, he defeated Thomas Frickenshmidt with a 5.736 at 248.07 mph, then took out Newberry in a top five match up with a 5.754 at 248.07 mph. In the semifinals, Taylor's 5.751 at 246.35 mph wasn't enough to hold off Branch's 5.720 at 253.18 mph.

"We're disappointed we didn't get the win, but happy we made a good showing," said Taylor. "The consistency of the car was once again a testament to my crew lead by Ora Vasquez. This team always gives me a great car to drive, and that makes my job much easier. Even though we didn't get the win, we still picked up some valuable points towards our national total."

"Aside from what happened this weekend, I would really like to commend David Smith for the Darrell Russell Memorial Low E.T. Challenge," added Taylor. "Even though we didn't win it, I think it's way cool a fan like him would step up to the plate and do something for the alcohol cars."

The Plumbing Concepts team will take a week off and hit the road again for the Division 6 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event in Medford, Ore. There he will be battling for the Division 7 Championship, where he trails Doug Gordon by a mere one point.

-wcm-