RT66 Thursday Story

by Larry Sullivan

JOLIET, Ill. - SUMMIT FastNews - Engine-builder John Lingenfelter put his Chevy S-10 in the first-day pole position for the Inaugural NHRA FRAM Route 66 Nationals and his engines are in three of the top four positions.

Clocked at 7.754 seconds and 174.44 mph during the second qualifying session Thursday, Lingenfelter was the quickest of the fifteen qualifiers, bettering perennial number one qualifier Larry Kopp's 7.761 and first-round quickest Scott Tidwell's 7.796.

It was a "first" for Lingenfelter and for the brand-new Route 66 Raceway facility, which he described as, "The smoothest I've ever been on. The starting line is every bit as good as Englishtown (the site of the preceding event) and the other end of the track is surprisingly good considering how few cars have been down it so far."

Though conditions for the second session were hotter than earlier in the day, several teams managed to post quicker elapsed times. Lingenfelter explained that in his case, he was running a new clutch, one he was not familiar with. "We took a guess at it and didn't have enough clutch in for the first run."

As for the hot, humid weather expected here this weekend, the Decatur, Indiana native felt it would be to his advantage, "As long as the track holds up, it's good for us. I'm from pretty close to here and I'm used to racing in this kind of weather."

Two more qualifying sessions Friday will set the sixteen-truck ladder for eliminations Saturday, while qualifying sessions Friday and Saturday will set the rest of the Professional fields for Sunday eliminations. Professional qualifying sessions are scheduled for 3:00 and 7:00 PM Friday, 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM Saturday, with final eliminations at 11:00 AM Sunday.

Results provided by the FastNews Network, courtesy of Summit Racing Equipment ** http://www.summitracing.com/ **