At two of the previous three annual runnings of the Schuck’s Auto Supply NHRA Nationals at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Wash., just outside of Seattle, Dave Grubnic, driver of the black and electric blue-flamed Zantrex-3 Top Fuel dragster, has been only one round win away from the winner’s circle with final round showings last season and in 2004. This year the fan-favorite NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series veteran hopes to go that extra step and claim victory in the Pacific Northwest.
“Man, we’ve been so close a couple of times in Seattle, ” Grubnic, a 44-year old resident of Ennis, Mont., said. “Hopefully this year we can get that last good lap and get the Zantrex-3 car in the winner’s circle.
“Most importantly, we need to qualify well and put ourselves in position to go rounds. We’re hanging on to that No. 8 in points, and we sure would like to move up and get some breathing room. ”
This season the NHRA instituted the new Countdown to the Championship points system. Only the top eight in POWERade points after the first 17 national events will be allowed to vie for the season championship. This weekend’s event is the 14th of the season.
Going into this weekend’s event at Pacific Raceways, Grubnic and the Zantrex-3 team are in 8th position in POWERade Top Fuel championship points.
In early 2004, Grubnic was hired to drive for Kalitta Motorsports. Since joining Team Kalitta, Grubnic has posted consecutive top-five championship points finishes. In the fall of 2004, he won the lucrative and coveted Budweiser Shootout in Las Vegas, becoming only the fourth driver in the special event’s history to win its $100,000 prize in his first attempt. Grubnic picked up an emotional first NHRA national event win in May, 2005 in Topeka, Kans., to become the first non-native North American to win a Top Fuel trophy. His only other event victory to date came at the 2006 running of the famed Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla.
The Schuck’s Auto Supply NHRA Nationals begins Friday, July 20, for the Top Fuel and Funny Car classes with one qualifying session at 3:30 p. m. (PT), and then another qualifying session at 6:30 p. m. Two more qualifying sessions follow on Saturday at noon and 3:00 p. m. The top sixteen qualified cars will race Sunday in final eliminations beginning at 11:00 a. m.
All times and dates subject to change.
The Schuck’s Auto Supply NHRA Nationals is the 14th of 23 national events in the 2007 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.
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