Pomona III: Martino Friday qualifying notes

Martino powers to 4th at Pomona qualifying midpoint

Date: Friday, November 9, 2001
Location: Pomona Raceway, Pomona, CA

After his opening attempt on Thursday left him outside the top sixteen, Tom Martino looked to bounce back with his second attempt on Friday and secure a spot in Sunday's final eliminations of the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals. He accomplished his goal with a 6.893 second 200.47 mph pass, which placed the CENTURY 21 Pro Stock Grand Am 4th with two rounds remaining on Saturday.

"Overall, we're pretty pleased with that run. We changed the suspension for today trying get off the starting line a little better. Fortunately it worked, and it made a really nice move out of the box, and drove right down the center of the track. We were a little aggressive on the clutch, and I think it might wanted a little less than what we had in it, but if handled it nicely, and we ended up 4th.

"Of course, things could change dramatically with the cooler temperatures forecast for tomorrow. In that case, we have a good baseline to work from, and we'll see what we can do about moving the CENTURY 21 Grand Am even higher up in the standings."

-TMR-