Sean O'Bannon Las Vegas preview

O'Bannon looking to find his way back to the Vegas winner's circle

LAS VEGAS - Second-year NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car driver Sean O'Bannon and the Tequila Patrón/Forest River RV's backed team will be looking to find their way back to the winner's circle of this weekend's SummitRacing.com Nationals at 'The Strip' at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. O'Bannon won this event two years ago behind the wheel of a Top Alcohol Dragster and would love to get his first win in a Funny Car in the same town where team sponsor Tequila Patrón is based.

O'Bannon, 29, of Ontario, Calif., cites progress made at the O'Reilly Spring Nationals in Houston two weeks ago has the team optimistic about the weekend.

"We keep running good numbers and big speed in qualifying, we just need to find the consistency on raceday," said O'Bannon. "We made some adjustments in the clutch department that the car really seemed to like. Basically we slowed the pedal ratio down a little bit. I can feel it better staging now. Before we had a real quick ratio, but you couldn't feel where you were at with the clutch while you were staging; there was no middle ground. We changed it back and now my lights are coming around and I'm able to nail the stage rpm better. Now we just need to make some adjustments to the rest of the tune up to compensate for that."

"It just takes runs down the track," O'Bannon added. "We run good mph everywhere we go, so it's just a matter of applying the power. I have all the faith in the world in this team. We'll get there."

The event is a big weekend for the team as Patrón Spirits Company CEO Ed Brown and the VP of Marketing Matt Carroll will be guests of the team. A film crew will also document the team's exploits this weekend.

"This being Tequila Patrón's home town, we really want to have a good outing for them," commented O'Bannon. "They're bringing a film crew out this weekend so we would love to get our first win here at The Strip."

Qualifying begins on Friday for the alcohol cars with two sessions, followed by one final session Saturday morning. Eliminations begin with first round Saturday afternoon with final eliminations concluding the event on Sunday.

Simply Perfect in every way, Patrón is the world’s No. 1 selling ultra-premium tequila. From the finest, most expensive Weaber Blue agave plants grown in the highlands of Jalisco, Mexico, to the centuries-old distillation process, to the signed, handcrafted glass bottles, Patrón is produced with unparalleled attention to detail. Imported and marketed by Las Vegas-based The Patrón Spirits Company, brands in the portfolio consist of Patrón Gran Platinum, Patrón Anejo, Patrón Reposado, Patrón Silver, Patrón XO Café (tequila and coffee blend), and Patrón Citrónge (extra fine orange liqueur), Ultimat Vodka (80 proof, Black Cherry and Chocolate Vanilla), as well as Pyrat Pistol, Pyrat Cask, and Pyrat XO Reserve Caribbean rums.

To find out more about the Jack O'Bannon Racing Team, visit their website at www.JackOBannonRacing.com

To find out more about Jack O'Bannon Racing's quality partners, visit these websites:

www.PatronSpirits.com - Find out more about the world's number one tequila - Tequila Patrón.

www.ForestRiverInc.com - Find out more about America's largest producer of towable RV's and Cargo Trailers

www.HoosierTire.com - "Tires Designed for Champions"

www.LE-Inc.com - Lubrication Engineers - "Leaders in Lubrication"

Contact: Will Hanna/ Pro Race Communications
Email: Will.Hanna@InsideTopAlcohol.com