Marty Thacker - Gainesville Divisional Wrap-up

Thacker Earns Quarterfinal Finish in Gainesville​

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Marty Thacker and the Rapid Transit Race Team sponsored by Knoll Gas – Torco Racing Fuels opened the National event portion of their schedule this past weekend in Gainesville, Florida. The Team qualified in 7th position for the 16 car field with a 5.33 at 267 MPH.

“We had a pretty good weekend. We would always like to win, but for the most part we were really happy with the performance of the car. This race was a stepping stone for the rest of the season and we feel good that we are so far ahead of where we were last year at this time. It is a great feeling to be the last blown dragster standing, but we need going to go back and try to figure out how to get around these A-fuelers,” said Thacker.

In first round, Thacker matched his qualifying efforts running a 5.33 at 265 MPH to take the win light. Unfortunately, in the second round, despite a nearly a tenth of a second advantage off the line and another great pass of 5.35 at 265 MPH, he was unable to make it to the finish line first.

“It gets frustrating sometimes but this is a great team. We are going to have a little luck and get everything to come together at the same time very soon and then we won’t even think about these types of weekends. Our number one goal is to represent our sponsor Knoll Gas – Torco Racing Fuels and give them the exposure they deserve. We do our best every weekend to do this and hopefully they are happy with what we have accomplished so far. There is definitely more to come from us in 2007.”

For their next event the Team will travel to Houston, Texas for the NHRA Spring Nationals, March 29th thru April 1st.

Quick Facts

• The Team went to three final rounds last year and earned one win at the prestigious Jeg’s All-Star event in Joliet, Illinois.
• 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