Thomas Carter Rockingham wrap-up

Carter scores first win at 'The Rock'
photo courtesy Roger Richards, CompetitionPlus.com

<img border="0" src="http://insidetopalcohol.com/carter.jpg" width="360" height="238" align="left">ROCKINGHAM, N.C. - IHRA Alcohol Funny Car pilot Thomas Carter scored his first career win during this past weekend's Nicko's NY Style Pizza Spring Nationals presented by Advance Auto Parts at Rockingham Dragway. Carter used a holeshot victory to defeat his final round opponent, Frederick Tigges.

Carter, who is a practicing oral and maxillofacial surgeon from Cuero, Texas, qualified his Jeff Fowler tuned "Jawbreaker" Camaro eighth in the field with a 5.988 second elapsed time at 234.94 mph. In round one, he defeated Trevor Lebsack with a 5.911 at 230.88 mph, then defeated Mark Thomas with a 5.940 at 236.55 mph in the semifinals.

In Carter's final round bout with Tigges, Carter took the jump off the line with a .097 reaction time (.000 is perfect) to Tigges' .146, and never looked back, taking the win with a 5.944 at 236.42 mph to Tigges' quicker-but-later 5.931 at 240.39 mph. The margin of victory was a mere .036 of a second.

"It really feels great getting my first win," said Carter. "We had some difficulties along the way but we were able to over come them. The biggest scare was right before the first round. One of my crew guys, Dale Cannister, was driving the car while we towed it to the staging lanes for the round. He said the clutch pedal didn't feel right and we came to the conclusion we just couldn't run the car that way. We took it back to the pits and they changed the throw-out bearing in about 15 minutes. It cut it close, but we made it back and won the round. Then to be able to win on a holeshot in the final really made it that much sweeter."

"I really can't give enough credit to my crew," Carter continued. "I get to drive the car, but without the consistent race car that my Crew Chief Jeff Fowler, his wife Mary-Alison, Dale and Laurie Cannister, Chris Shafer and Bob Rauenswinter give me, we wouldn't have won the race. They really are the stars. It truly takes a team effort to get to this level."

With the win, Carter moves to third place in IHRA Alcohol Funny Car standings, just a mere 17 points out of first place.

"On top of winning, it's pretty exciting to be in the middle of the points chase this early in the season," stated Carter. "We just hope to stay consistent and carry this momentum into Grand Bend."

The next race for the Jawbreaker Racing Team will be the IHRA Mopar Canadian Nationals presented by Castrol in Grand Bend, Ont., Canada, Jun. 2-4.

For more news on the Jawbreaker Racing Team, log on to their website at www.jawbreakerracing.com

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