AHTEN’S 2nd ROUND FINISH PROVIDES INSPIRATION FOR 2010

Pomona, Calif. – There are several certainties in life for NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster competitor Johnny Ahten. First is his dedication to family and friends, second is devotion to his job as a fire-fighting specialist in Los Angeles County. Finally is the fact, the Lucas Oil / Island Renovations A/Fuel Dragster team learns from their mistakes.

After qualifying in the 3rd position for the 50th Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals contested this past weekend in Pomona, Calif., the Ahten Racing team began their quest to capture the team’s first NHRA National Event ‘Wally’ in the first round versus number 14 qualifier, Mike Austin. Ahten left the starting line with a stellar 0.019 second reaction time, nearly four hundredths quicker than Austin’s 0.061 light.

As the Lucas Oil / Island Renovations approached the 100 foot mark, the injected nitromethane powered engine began to fire on only seven cylinders, robbing the car of nearly 500 horse power. Austin began to close the gap between himself and Ahten with each passing incremental timing cone, however Ahten’s starting line advantage and 5.455 second E.T. was good enough to hold off Austin, giving Ahten the important round one victory.

The Lucas Oil / Island Renovation A/Fuel Dragster then matched up against the Blown Alcohol Dragster of Joey Severence. In this round, the roles were reversed as Severence nabbed a starting line advantage against Ahten. The A/Fuel Dragster left the starting line, dropping cylinders all the way down the quarter mile, while Severence was clean, straight and normal, recording a 5.416 second elapsed time to take the round two victory.

“In retrospect, we had a pretty productive weekend,” noted Ahten. “The car ran well on Friday’s qualifying session, but we expect it to produce better results. I know the more run data we gather with the new fuel cooling rules in effect, we will soon return to the level of success we’ve recently become accustomed.”

While the Ahten Racing team did not accomplish their goal of winning the 50th Winternationals, they were able to host several special guests to the teams pit area. Several fire fighters from local stations with whom Ahten associates with came by to show their support of the ‘flamer chaser’ and his A/Fuel Dragster team.“Having the guys come by to show their support of our team truly inspires us to work hard for them. We also had the chance to meet with Mr. Michael Cordani, the President of Gel Tech Solutions which produces several amazing products which keep us fire fighters safe. We’d like to thank him for his time.”