It has been three years since Kenny Koretsky was the surprise Pro Stock runner-up at the Mac Tools U. S. Nationals and uttered his famous, “I think I must be the happiest loser here today, ” remark – which he was – after the title round.
The reason was simple. That was the first final round of his long NHRA Pro Stock career. And it wasn’t until last July 8 at Bristol, Tenn., that he was able to win three rounds on Sunday and return to the championship round in POWERade Series action. And he came within two-thousandths of a second of securing that coveted first triumph.
Now, the driver nicknamed Captain Chaos is focusing on creating another opportunity to take home his first Wally.
“We’ve been testing twice since the race at Reading (Pa., Aug. 19) and Eddie (Guarnaccia, crew chief on Greg Hill’s Indicom Electric/Nitro Fish Chevy Cobalt) has been working on getting the car to run better (elapsed time) numbers in the first 60 feet. He’s not too far off, ” said Koretsky after test stops at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis and U. S. 131 Dragway in Martin, Mich.
“We wanted to get everything straightened out so we can go to the (Mac Tools) U. S. Nationals (Aug. 31-Sept. 3, at ORP) and go out and win some rounds on Monday. We were trying different things and now we have to get after it. ”
This will be Koretsky’s 205th Pro Stock race. He’s in the NHRA record books as being the only driver to ever qualify at a national event in Top Fuel and Pro Stock, at Phoenix in 1989. Soon thereafter, however, NHRA adopted a rule that forbids drivers from qualifying two different cars in the professional categories.
“The guys in Steve Schmidt’s engine shop at Indy have been working hard, going through our motors to make sure we have good horsepower, ” added Koretsky. “Just say that Captain Chaos and the team are really looking forward to running good at the ‘Big Go’ (once the moniker of the U. S. Nationals). ”
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