Will Hanna Baytown final summary

Hanna & Clack continue learning curve in Houston

BAYTOWN, Texas - Despite losing in the first round of this past weekend's O'Reilly Spring Nationals presented by Pennzoil at Houston Raceway Park, NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car rookie Will Hanna and Team Owner/Crew Chief Harry Clack are pleased with the team's progress at the event. That progress included the Advanced Transmission Center/Clack Motorsports Monte Carlo making it's first pass over 250 mph in qualifying.

Hanna, 26, who lives just over an hour from the track in Richwood, Texas, qualified 15th in the field with a 5.876 at 250.27 mph. In his first round match up with Jackie Stidham, Hanna took a significant jump off the line with a .025 to .119 holeshot, but quickly lost that lead when his mount went up in smoke.

"We knew we had it aggressive going into the first round," said Hanna. "Obviously, we didn't think it was that aggressive, but hindsight is always 20/20. We lost that last qualifying session due to a transbrake malfunction, and I'm not blaming it on that, but that extra run would have went a long way. We had it more hopped up for that run than the first round, so we might have been able to slap our own hands after that run and may have had it calmed down more for the first round."

"We made some adjustments, and were very happy to see that 250 mph speed pop up," continued Hanna. "After Gainesville I had a long talk with Marc White, and he pointed us in the right direction on some things. On that 5.87/250 run, it was unusually slow on the first half of the run, which is where this car is usually the quickest. Now we just need to put the two together."

Clack cites this was the progress he looks for in each outing.

"We always look to make forward progress from each outing," commented Clack. "Going from a 241 mph best to 250 mph was a big step for us. We're definitely not content with where we are, but I'm pleased with the direction we're heading. The team is definitely excited to get back out on the track. Depending on how busy the shop is, we may or may not hit the Dallas divisional, but we'll definitely be in Atlanta."

-cm