Marty Nothstein Norwalk wrap up

NHRA Inaugurates Norwalk
Nothstein and the Parkers add to the show

Milford, Michigan – The inaugural National Hot Rod Association POWERade Drag Racing Series event, at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park, Norwalk, Ohio, took place on one of the nicest summer days imaginable. And the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals gave fans some of the best drag racing action imaginable.

Part of that action was contributed by the Texas Roadhouse Dodge Charger Top Alcohol Funny Car and driver Marty Nothstein. Frank and Dan Parker put the car’s Mopar Hemi engine in sync with the weather and Nothstein put it in the third qualifying spot, laying down a 5.586 elapsed time at 259.06 mph – just .041 of a second and 3.02 mph behind the pole-sitter and multi-time class champion, Frank Manzo.

Prior to qualifying, Nothstein talked about the weekend. “This has all the makings of a great race. NHRA, the fans, the racers, everyone is looking forward to this first national race at Norwalk. We raced at the points meet, here, and recorded some data we hope will provide us an edge. The groove is narrow, but good. I don’t ever worry about the car. Frank and Dan always come up with a good set-up, so I can concentrate on reacting and driving.”

The first round of eliminations, late Saturday afternoon, echoed Nothstein’s comments. He was paired up with the Charger of Bobby Martin and they both left within .001 of each other – identical reaction times to the naked eye. From then on, though, the eye could easily see Nothstein pulling steadily away for the win at 256.06 mph and an elapsed time of 5.653.

After a casual evening – a rare treat – of prepping the car, the Texas Roadhouse team moved Nothstein into the water box for Sunday morning’s round two of Top Alcohol Funny Car eliminations. Again, the weather was ideal and the Parkers had Nothstein sitting on a bullet. This time, Bob Newberry’s Monte Carlo was in the next lane. Although Newberry left a tad before Nothstein, the Parkers’ Hemi bullet covered him right away. By the 660’ marker, Nothstein’s lead had steadily increased to .016 of a second and seemed insurmountable.

Near the 800’ point, the narrow groove became elusive and Nothstein moved off it momentarily. After a quick look at the centerline, then the guardrail, he got the car back in shape – but the engine over-revved and sent the blower belt packing. The cushion over Newberry popped with the belt and the Texas Roadhouse Charger was out of the running.

“We might have been able to make the finals,” said Frank Parker, after analyzing all the run data. “The car was, indeed, a bullet and the data gave us some ideas where a little more gunpowder could be found. But, it doesn’t take much to move off a narrow groove. Marty had the run nailed and wasn’t even aware of the move until the rear end pointed him at the centerline. He did a great job of catching it and, if the blower belt had held…, well, we can only speculate. We’ll take the run data to the next race and look for improvements there.”

That next race will be the July 13 – 15 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at Gateway International Raceway, Madison, Illinois. For ticket, race schedule and track information, call 618-875-7550 or visit www.gateway.com

As of July 1, the team still holds their number one status in Division 3 and the number nine position in national TAFC points.

ESPN2 will broadcast sportsmen highlights on July 7, 12 – 1 pm EST.

Texas Roadhouse opened in 1993 and, just 14 years later, now has more than 251 locations in 44 states. In 2006, readers of Consumer Reports named Texas Roadhouse the Top Concept in its Pub/Grill category and Forbes ranked it one of the 200 Best Small Companies. For restaurant locations, menus and more, visit Texas Roadhouse at www.texasroadhouse.com.



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Contact:

Charlie Henry

Challenger Consulting

248-477-1970

248-476-0191 fax

charlie@challengerconsultingllc.com