Marty Thacker - Topeka National Wrap-up

Thacker Earns Second Straight Semi-Final Finish​

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In Topeka at the O’Reilly Summer Nationals last weekend, Marty Thacker and the Rapid Transit Race Team earned their second straight semi-final finish. The Team sponsored by Torco Racing Fuels made a lot of progress with their engine combination and continued to get faster each pass down the quarter mile.

“We have been fighting some gremlins this year and it appears that we may have found the problem. We kept hurting parts which made it hard to gain the data we needed to work on the tune-up. Hopefully, that is behind us now. I think we have shown over the past few years this operation is good enough to challenge for the championship. And even though we struggled a little in qualifying, we were in the mix during eliminations. That is what we need to continue to do next weekend,” remarked Thacker.

After qualifying in the 12th spot for the 16 car field with a 5.53 at 257.87 mph, the Team won its first round match-up with a 5.50 at 257.83 MPH. Second round, Thacker continued to bring his A-game at the starting line and the car got quicker running at 5.48 at 261.98 to take the win. In the semi-finals they ran a 5.46 at 259.96 MPH and missed their first final round of the season by just a few feet.

“We have some momentum now heading into the Torco Racing Fuels Nationals and the Jeg’s All-Star race next weekend. The car is running well and we have some direction with the tune-up. Our goal is simple, take it a race at a time and give it our all. Hopefully, that winner’s circle is just around the corner.”

Quick Facts

• This is the second straight National event semi-final finish for the Rapid Transit Race Team.
• This weekend the Team moved up into 12th place in the National standings, just 1 round win out of the Top 10.
• The Team went to three final rounds last year and earned one win at the prestigious Jeg’s All-Star event in Joliet, Illinois. They will be participating in the event again this year as the blocker.
• 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