The only thing troubling Pro Stock driver Justin Humphreys lately is the time between the recent U. S. Nationals (at Indianapolis, Sept. 3) and the O’ Reilly Mid-South Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park this weekend. And it’s easy to see why.
Humphreys registered one of his finest first-season performances at Indy, qualifying his RaceRedi Motorsports Knoll-Gas Energy Pontiac GTO sixth and advancing to the quarterfinals. It was a solid showing, one he plans to continue at MMP.
“I don’t like being out of the car this long, ” said Humphreys, of Monrovia, Md. “I’m ready to go right now. Bob (Glidden) and Richard (Maskin) have been working on our motors. We should have our best motors ready for this weekend. Those were good motors we ran at Indy, but they are getting the better stuff back together. ”
Humphreys’ blue Pontiac recorded the third-quickest elapsed time (6.692 second) in the opening round of eliminations at Indy, but all it did was put him against eventual race winner Dave Connolly in the quarterfinals. Humphreys left the starting line first but couldn’t hold off Connolly.
“We didn’t do any testing before this race, ” added Humphreys, a former Sport Compact and Nopi series racer. “We needed a break. ”
Glidden, a Pro Stock icon, solved a chassis problem that made the car move to the left just off the starting line, boosting Humphreys’ confidence, and it showed. He had impressive starting-line reactions in defeating Richie Stevens in the first round and in his quarterfinal match against Connolly.
“The car is working good, ” he said. “Our game plan is to get to the finals, and hopefully we can do it at Memphis. ”
| 
|