NHRA

Memphis post-race notes

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: NHRA Communications (626) 914-4761 POST-RACE NOTES: PENNZOIL NATIONALS PRESENTED BY AUTOZONE, OCT. 2-5, MEMPHIS, TENN. TOP FUEL *Jim Head won three elimination rounds on a holeshot in the Close Call Phone Card ...

Edited: May 8, 2001, 12:19 PM

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: NHRA Communications (626) 914-4761 POST-RACE NOTES: PENNZOIL NATIONALS PRESENTED BY AUTOZONE, OCT. 2-5, MEMPHIS, TENN. TOP FUEL *Jim Head won three elimination rounds on a holeshot in the Close Call Phone Card Dragster, the most holeshot victories by a driver this season at an NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series national event. A driver wins on a holeshot when his advantage in reaction time to the starting light is greater than his opponent's advantage in elapsed time on the track. The time clocks in each lane start when the driver leaves the starting line, not when the starting light turns green. *Cory McClenathan recorded the second-fastest speed in NHRA history, 318.58 mph, in the McDonald's Dragster. The fastest speed is 318.69 by Kenny Bernstein in October 1996 at Dallas. Joe Amato set the NHRA speed national record of 318.24 at the U.S. Nationals on Sept. 1 at Indianapolis. Neither Bernstein nor McClenathan set a national record because they didn't back up their speeds within 1 percent at the same event where the speeds were recorded, required by NHRA rules for a national record. FUNNY CAR *John Force set an NHRA speed national record of 314.35 mph in the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang. Force broke the record of 313.15 that he set one race earlier, the Sears Craftsman Nationals Sept. 25-28 at Topeka, Kan. His speed is the fastest by a Funny Car in NHRA history. *John Force must earn no less than one qualifying point than second-place Whit Bazemore and win two elimination rounds at the Revell Nationals, Oct. 16-19 at Dallas, to clinch his seventh NHRA Winston championship. Force leads Bazemore by 338 points. PRO STOCK *Jim Yates must win two elimination rounds at the Revell Nationals, Oct. 16-19 at Dallas, to clinch his second consecutive NHRA Winston championship in the McDonald's Pontiac Firebird. Yates leads second-place Warren Johnson by 347 points. PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE *Matt Hines has advanced to at least the semifinals on the Vance & Hines Suzuki GSXR at all 13 NHRA national events this season that include Pro Stock Motorcycle. -30- 10/6/97-MT6-159

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