Marty Thacker - Dallas National Preview

Thacker to Drive in Dallas​

After winning the U.S. Nationals a couple weeks ago, Marty Thacker is ready to go racing again. Only this time he won’t be driving his car; he will be climbing into the blown alcohol dragster owned by Evan Knoll. The Knoll Gas – Torco Racing Fuels sponsored car tuned by Brian Pfeifer, is a twin of the car Marty has been driving for the last couple years. And although he can’t claim points here, Thacker is looking forward to seeing just how well they can get this car to run in the hot Dallas conditions.

“When Latrell, CFO Knoll Gas – Torco Racing Fuels, first proposed the idea to me I have to admit I was a little surprised. To leave the car that just won the U.S. Nationals at home and go to the Dallas event with our teammate’s car sounds a little strange. After all, my car ran like a dream at Indy and we have really gotten a handle on the tune-up lately,” said Thacker.

This weekend will be a total team effort between Thacker’s crew and the crew that usually works on the Evan Knoll owned machine. With the teams working closely together all year, they shouldn’t have any problems working together to make this car get down the track this weekend.

“We all know no two cars are alike, but these two are probably as close as you can get. I have been involved with this car since it was being built right next to mine at Spitzer Enterprises. I've consulted on the tune-up for this car since it was new, but Brian Pfeifer is the crew chief and he's the one who knows it the best. The neat thing is Evan and Latrell said go play and we'll see what happens. Now that almost sounds like an invite to have fun and race easy. That just makes me want to go step on that old girl that much harder and see if we can surprise a few people. You suppose that is what Evan had in mind?”

Qualifying begins on Friday at noon and continues with a second shot at 2 PM. At 1 PM on Saturday the Team will receive their 3rd and final qualifying shot. Eliminations will be held later that evening at 4:15 PM and continue on Sunday morning following the pro session.

Quick Facts

• Thacker has been to 6 final rounds this season and earned three wins. He is currently sitting in 4th place in the National points standings.
• Thacker currently sits in second place in the Divisional points standings.
• The Team went to three final rounds last year and earned one win at the prestigious Jeg’s All-Star event in Joliet, Illinois. This year, Thacker went to the final round of the Jeg’s event, but missed out on a second straight victory by just inches. He currently leads the Division 3 points chase to represent Division 3 in the race in 2008.
• The Team set a personal best ET of 5.26 at the TORCO Racing Fuels National event in Richmond, Virginia the end of last season.
• The 2005 Division 3 Champions finished 3rd in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series points standings and finished in 16th place nationally in 2006.
• The Team, based out of Robinson, Illinois, has won 5 UDRA National Championships and 2 NHRA Divisional championships.

Please visit the official team website www.rapidtransitracing.com.

You can access the full line of innovative products offered by our major sponsor TORCO Racing Fuels including racing gasoline, additives, and Skull Gear at www.torcoracefuels.com.

Visit the websites of our current associate and product sponsors at the following websites:

Hoosier Racing Tire – www.hoosiertire.com

Lucas Oil – www.lucasoil.com

Fatheadz – www.fatheadz.com

Submitted by: Shanna Snyder-Bell

Contact Person: Marty Thacker
Contact email address: mlthacker@marathonpetroleum.com