Marty Thacker Gainesville National Event Preview

Thacker Looking Forward to Gatornationals​

The Rapid Transit Race Team will open their National event schedule this weekend in Gainesville, Florida at the infamous Gatornationals. The last time the Team had their Knoll Gas - TORCO Racing Fuels Top Alcohol Dragster on a nationally event prepped track, they ran some of the quickest passes ever by the blown alcohol combination. This weekend they are hoping to have more of the same success.

“We haven’t had the kind of start to the season we were hoping for, but we feel we are making progress. This car has the ability to run well; we have shown that in the past. We just raced here a few weeks ago at the divisional event and we know the track will be prepped even better this weekend. The weather is supposed to be good so we are looking forward to running some good numbers,” said Thacker.

Just two events into a 16 race season, the two time divisional champs are coming off a semi-final finish at the Gainesville divisional event. With a good showing this weekend, the team is hoping to jump up into the Top 10 of the Lucas Oil National points standings.

“When you are from the Midwest it is always nice to get out of the cold weather and come to Florida racing. The fans here really love the sport of drag racing. Hopefully, we will be able to lay down some good passes this weekend for them and go some rounds for Evan, Latrell, and all the rest of the people behind us at Knoll Gas – TORCO Racing Fuels.”

Qualifying for the event will begin on Friday morning at 10:45 AM and continue at 4:45 PM that afternoon. On Saturday, they will have one more qualifying shot at 10:45 and first round of eliminations will be held at 4:45 PM. Eliminations will continue following the pro session on Sunday. For up to the minute coverage of the event please log onto www.dragracecentral.com.

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