Shane Tucker knows that in Las Vegas good luck can make or break someone’s tale of success.
During the 20th annual DENSO Spark Plug NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Tucker, the No. 13 qualifier, was ousted in the first quad. The loss was a tough one for the young Australian when his losing numbers are examined. Tucker crossed the finish line in third place right behind quad winners Matt Hartford and Chris McGaha.
His Auzmet/StructGlass Chevrolet Camaro was steadily improving throughout the weekend of qualifying and in the first round posted a solid 6.733 second run at 203.06 mph. Tucker was first off the starting line and just needed a little more power at the top end to advance to the next round.
The unique format of the four-wide nationals was not kind to Tucker as he had to watch a number of drivers advance with slower elapsed times or times that Tucker’s reaction time and elapsed time combination would have defeated.
“We just ran into some bad luck,” said Tucker. “I will never make excuses but it is crazy to think how our day would have gone if we would have been in a different quad. We will keep working hard and are running better. The fact that we are not hurting the motor and we are getting good data is a big plus. All my guys are working hard and we’ll have some time off to service all our parts and be ready for the next one.”
During qualifying Tucker improved his performance nearly every session out-running a number of multi-car teams. Coming into race day Tucker was looking for his first four-wide round win. His previous two attempts at the Four-Wide Nationals were contested in Charlotte.
