Bill Reichert Topeka wrap up

Reichert wins third straight in Topeka
photo courtesy of David Smith, www.davesdragpics.com

<img border="0" src="http://insidetopalcohol.com/reichert.jpg" width="360" height="270" align="left">TOPEKA, Kan. - Former four-time NHRA Division 3 Top Alcohol Dragster Champion Bill Reichert scored his third straight win with the help of his new good luck charm, "Bar's Leaks the Monkey" during this past weekend's Division 5 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kan. Reichert dominated the event from wire-to-wire, qualifying No. 1 with the quickest and fastest pass ever recorded on 97% nitro and ran low e.t. of every round.

Reichert, who runs the family business, Reichert Racing Engines in Owosso, Mich., qualified the Bar's Leaks backed A/Fuel Dragster No. 1 with a 5.214 second elapsed time at 276.01 mph, the quickest and fastest pass to date since NHRA dropped the nitro percentage to 97% for the injected nitro combination. In round one, he defeated Richard Putz with a 5.305 at 273.00 mph and then took out Jeff Hamelink with a 5.420 at 263.56 mph.

Reichert's final round opponent would be defending Division 5 Champion Randy Meyer, who was racing at his home track. The race was quickly over as Meyer smoked the tires and Reichert sailed to a 5.334 at 272.89 mph.

The win was Reichert's third straight since Bar's Leaks President Bob Mermuys gave Reichert a toy monkey named 'Bar's Leaks.' After a second round redlight at the ACDelco Gatornationals, Reichert, angry at his mistake, told Mermuys that driving an A/Fuel car was easy enough a trained monkey could do it. To calm Reichert's nerves, Mermuys showed up at the shop the next day with the monkey, with the adage 'If the monkey can do it, you can do it.'

"The past few races have been so good I can't believe it," said Reichert. "Bar's Leaks the Monkey certainly has been a good luck piece. It's just amazing how simple it is once you get back to basics. Looking back on the times we've struggled, it's been a mental problem most of the time; we were just pushing too hard. The monkey just helps us remember that we're here not only to win, but we do this as a hobby and we're supposed to be having fun."

"Once again, we had a pretty good weekend," Reichert continued. "We went into that last qualifying run knowing we had it set up aggressive. The track was killer; there was no sun on the racetrack all weekend. I just never expected the run to be that quick. The car was kind of hunting around on the top end, which isn't normal, and I couldn't believe it after the run when they told me we ran a 5.21."

The next event for the Bar's Leaks A/Fuel team will be at the same setting of Heartland Park Topeka, for the upcoming O'Reilly Summer Nationals, May 25-28.

"When things are going smooth like they have been the past few races, it's pretty easy," commented Reichert. "The hard part is keeping things this smooth. It kind of scares you because when you're on the top, there's only one way to go, down. So we hate to change anything, and if we do, it's in very small changes, and we've made real detailed notes of how we have everything set up now."

For more information on Bar's Leaks products, visit their website at www.barsleaks.com

Contact: Will Hanna/ Pro Race Communications
Email: Will.Hanna@InsideTopAlcohol.com