Sean O'Bannon Sonoma preview

O'Bannon looking for continued success in Sonoma

SONOMA, Calif. - Rookie NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car driver Sean O'Bannon and the Tequila Patrón/Forest River RV's team will be looking for continued success during this weekend's Division 7 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. O'Bannon enters the event hot on the heels of running career-best numbers on his way to scoring a semifinal finish during last weekend's Fram-Autolite Nationals held here.

O'Bannon, 28, who finished second nationally in Top Alcohol Dragster last season, lost in the semifinals last weekend after valvetrain failure lead to extensive engine damage and ultimately, the round loss. After running a career best 5.62 last weekend at 257 mph, the Sam Shockley lead team hopes more of the same is in store this weekend.

"The team is really pleased with the performance of the car," said O'Bannon. "We had a mechanical failure get us in the semifinals last weekend. We made a lot of progress. Hopefully we can get in the groove this weekend and see what we got. We would love to get this Tequila Patrón/Forest River RV's in our first winner's circle this weekend."

O'Bannon is also quick to cite the road to the winner's circle will be no easy road to hoe.

"This could easily be the quickest field ever for a divisional," stated O'Bannon. "Most of the cars from last weekend are here, and I was No. 8 with a 5.632 last weekend. The air should be a little better, so there's no telling what the bump will be. We're going to have to bring our "A" game, but we're definitely looking forward to the challenge."

Qualifying begins on Friday for the alcohol cars, followed by two more sessions on Saturday. Final eliminations will conclude the event on Sunday.

About The Patrón Spirits Company:
Headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, the company's eight distinctive products now share the Patrón label; Gran Patrón Platinum, Patrón Añejo, Patrón Reposado, Patrón Silver, Patrón XO Café, Patrón Citrónge, Pyrat Cask 23, Pyrat XO Reserve. Each brand is the finest in their category. The newest, Gran Patrón Platinum, is an extraordinary triple distilled pure tequila. sPatrón Tequila is today, the world’s number one ultra premium tequila. In 2004 & 2005, Patrón Tequila was recognized with the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences Five Star Diamond Award. Patrón is the first spirits brand ever to receive this prestigious honor. Patrón Tequila continues to set new sales records every year.

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.HoosierRacingTire.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