Jack O'Bannon Pomona preview

O'Bannon hoping for 'home track' advantage in Pomona   POMONA, Calif. - In stick and ball sports, 'homefield advantage' can give a team an upper hand.  While in drag racing, the existence of a 'home track advantage' may be debatable, NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car rookie Sean O'Bannon's desire for a strong finish to the 2007 season is not.  Just a few miles from their Ontario, Calif., headquarters, O'Bannon and the Tequila Patron/Forest River RV's team are hoping for a little hometown magic during this weekend's Auto Club of Southern California NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif.   O'Bannon, 29, of nearby Fontana, Calif., cites a recent test session in Phoenix several weeks ago has the team excited to get to the track this weekend.   "We're really looking forward to this weekend," said O'Bannon.  "The car has run great at times, then it just would go into a spell where it wouldn't respond to the normal changes you would make to compensate for tireshake.  Our team Crew Chiefs Sam Shockley and Randy Anderson put their heads together and we went out to Phoenix to do some testing.  Outside of race conditions we were able to try some things we wouldn't normally try, and both of our cars really responded.  Both cars were making runs as smooth as glass with no tireshake.  The numbers to half track were 5.60 runs, so if we can duplicate that here this weekend, we should be right on track."    "Hopefully a strong showing this weekend will give us some momentum heading into next year," added O'Bannon.  "In fact, the team is looking at this race like it's the first race of next season."   O'Bannon cites doing well in front of the hometown fans wouldn't hurt, either.   "Anytime we race Pomona, we always have a lot of family, friends and guests out here," stated O'Bannon.  "We always want to win, but it would make it sweeter to do it at home."   -credit: jor