Driving his FRAM/Autolite Top Fuel dragster, Spencer Massey collected the second starting spot here Saturday during final qualifying for the 24th-annual FRAM/Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway.
Massey’s 3.834-second pass at 312.50 miles per hour from Friday was solid enough to fall in behind his Don Schumacher Racing teammate, Tony Schumacher, in the race-day lineup.
“I’m ready to go,” said an energetic Massey. “We want to win every race, but you can imagine how much we want this one since it has our sponsor’s name on it. We would love to celebrate a victory tomorrow with all our friends from FRAM/Autolite.”
After winning in Denver last Sunday, the Fort Worth resident will be looking to pocket the second leg of the NHRA’s infamous Western Swing.
“People have been asking me if we can sweep the Western Swing,” he said. “We got the first one in Denver and now we have an opportunity here in Sonoma. You can’t start thinking about a sweep and I won’t talk about it until you have two in the bank.”
The final race of the Western Swing, the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways outside of Seattle, is scheduled for next weekend.
“It would be a huge feat (to sweep the swing),” said Massey. “Only five Top Fuel drivers have ever swept ‘The Swing,’ so we would love to put our name up there with them.
“But, we can’t get ahead of ourselves. We have to be focused come tomorrow. Like I always say – we take it one round at a time; one race at a time.”
Massey’s first round opponent will be 15th-place qualifier, Bob Vandergriff, who he beat in the final round at Topeka and in the opening round at Englishtown, N.J. last month while en route to his second win of the year.
“Bob has assembled a good team,” said Massey. “He’s also a very good driver, so we can’t come up to the line counting on a free pass. We will have to earn everything we get.”
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