Houston: Martino wrap up

As expected, Martino did his part, leaving nearly six hundredths of a second ahead of his rival, and seemed headed towards the upset victory. As it neared the midpoint, Martino's race car suddenly veered to the right and out of the groove. The New Jersey native fought to pull the car back in the racing line under power. Unfortunately, his efforts proved futile, forcing him to lift off the throttle and allowing his opponent to edge by for the win.

"Sometimes it seems like you can't win a round, no matter what you do. We got a good jump at the start, but that was about it. The CENTURY 21 Firebird seemed to be on a solid run when it suddenly pulled out of the groove and started shaking the tires. I finally had to get off the throttle to regain control, and we were done. The worst part is that we were unable to get any data from that pass to see if the changes we had made for this morning were the right ones. We have a short week before the rescheduled Dallas race, and I'm flying home tonight, so I can spend even more time in the dyno room checking our motors. We have two races left to find the power we had earlier this season and make a good showing, and we're determined to do it."