Pr - Marty Thacker - Wrap-up - Brainerd National

Thacker Earns Quarterfinal Finish in Brainerd​

Marty Thacker and the Rapid Transit Race Team were at the Lucas Oil Nationals last weekend in Brainerd, Minnesota. The Team sponsored by Knoll Gas – Torco Race Fuels was the fastest blown car on the property, but they were unable to hold off the eventual winner and a-fuel competitor in the quarterfinal round.

"Electronics can be so frustrating! We spent the better part of Friday, at beautiful Brainerd International Raceway, chasing an invisible electronic gremlin that ruined both of our qualifying attempts. We worked late Friday evening and finally solved the problem so we would be ready to go Saturday morning; our final qualifying attempt. Being on the outside looking in that session was horrifying. While I had no doubt that the car and team were more than capable of jumping into the top half of the field, with all the crazy things that have been happening to us lately, we had to wonder what could happen next,” Thacker commented.

“Fortunately, using the tune-up information we had accumulated in the first two sessions, we were able to jump right into the #7 position with a 5.44 second pass. When 2nd round rolled around Sunday, we came up against Reichert in the A-Fuel car. Being the fastest blown alcohol car on the grounds wasn't nearly enough. I told the team we had nothing to be ashamed of and performed very well. Just got beat by the rules again."

The Team qualified 7th for the event with a 5.44 at 261 MPH early Saturday afternoon. Later that day, during first round, Thacker left on his opponent and never looked back as he ran a 5.43 at 261 MPH to take the win. On Sunday, Thacker cut a .041 light and put another 5.44 second pass on the board, but it wasn’t enough to hold off his challenger.

The next stop for the Rapid Transit Race Team will be Bowling Green, Kentucky August 25th – 27th for the Lucas Oil Divisional Series Event.

Quick Facts

• The Team has been to two final rounds this year earning one win at the prestigious Jeg’s All-Star event earlier this year in Joliet, Illinois.
• The defending Division 3 Champions currently sit in the #2 spot in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series points standings.
• The Team will be racing at 4 events this month. Starting in St. Louis and ending at the legendary U.S. Nationals Labor Day weekend.
• The Team, based out of Robinson, Illinois, has won 5 UDRA National Championships and 2 NHRA Divisional championships.
• Four of the Rapid Transit Race Team crew members race in the NHRA Super Comp class.

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:

Atlantic Industrial – www.atscaf.com

Valvoline - www.valvoline.com/pages/racing

Hoosier Racing Tire – www.hoosiertire.com

Fatheadz – www.fatheadz.com

Submitted by: Shanna Snyder-Bell

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