Seattle: Dave Connolly final report

Mechanical Woes Slow Dave Connolly at Seattle

Gremlins got the best of Dave Connolly Sunday  in his pursuit of a place in
NHRA's Pro Stock top 10, unexpectedly ending his  competitive day in the
quarterfinals of the Schuck's Auto Supply Nationals at  Pacific Raceways.

Connolly, who put the Cagnazzi Racing Charter Communications/LifeLock Chevy Cobalt in the No. 1 starting position Friday with his career-best time of 6.573 seconds, defeated Ben Watson in the opening round, but he couldn't muster a challenge against Allen Johnson.

"We blew the engine on the burnout," said Connolly, who nevertheless lined up against Johnson. "The motor was running on seven cylinders and we were at the mercy of him going red (a foul start, which he didn't). We just can't catch a break." Johnson won with a 6.637-second time at 208.20 mph to Connolly 's coasting 9.731 at 88.85 mph.

Connolly beat Watson with a 6.640 at 6.743 at 203.65.

"We had a  great car all weekend and we could've made up some ground (in
points) and moved  into the top 10, but, unfortunately, engine failure held us up,
" Connolly  continued.  "All we can do is throw another bullet (motor) in it
and go to  Sonoma (Calif.) and hopefully pick up where we left off.  It was
just an  unfortunate deal."

So Connolly remains 11th with 570 points, 26 behind No. 10, going into Sonoma for the Fram Nationals -- Friday through Sunday at Infineon Raceway. This is the final event in the tough Western Swing. Only four races remain before the end of the Countdown to 10 regular season and the beginning of the Countdown to 1.

Connolly's two Cagnazzi Racing teammates, defending Pro Stock  champion Jeg
Coughlin and Ron Krisher, didn't get out of the first  round.

Coughlin lost to Mike Edwards by one-thousandth of a second -- 6.638 at 207.98 to 6.641 at 208.14 in the round's closest decision while Krisher fouled out.

-credit: vcr