The Pep Boys NHRA Carolina Nationals was postponed due to rain and deteriorating track conditions at zMAX Dragway. The decision was made to complete racing at the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex.
No. 14 qualifier Shane Tucker (above, file photo) and his Auzmet Chevrolet Camaro were slated to face off against No. 3 Dave Connolly in Charlotte; however, due to the rescheduling the match will occur when Pro Stock eliminations take place in Texas.
“Going up there we knew the starting line was really good,” Tucker said. “Knowing that, we made some changes in the staging lanes. We moved some weight around on the rear of the car to compensate for the really good starting line. We did that because we figured we probably miscalculated the transmission ratios. In saying that, we moved the weight because downtracking makes this thing really loose.”
The first round of eliminations was halted on Sunday when Pro Stock racer Vieri Gaines crashed during his run. Pro Stock drivers then returned to their pit area with Pro Stock Motorcycles following suit. The decision was later made by NHRA to postpone the event.
“You can’t really tell what the track is doing from the fuel cars,” Tucker said. “But as soon as the first pair of Pro Stock cars went, we ran to the car scrambling to move weight back in the car. We knew after seeing that first pair, Richie Stevens and Shane Gray, that it was going to be whoever has the biggest ego is probably going to get to the end first.
“The left lane was definitely not the lane to be in. In hindsight, it’s probably best for us that they moved the event to Dallas.”
Charlotte eliminations will take place at the next stop on the Countdown to the Championship, Sept. 18-21, in Dallas. A schedule of the Dallas event will be released at a later time.
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