Mopar Bristol Friday

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NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series	    Contact David Harris -
David.Harris@sfx.com
Bristol Dragway	                      	 		          Team Mopar
NHRA Representative
Friday Qualifying Notes		                 Mobile :(704)
756-9301/Office: (704) 455-3500

Osborne Moves to 13th

BRISTOL, Tenn. (April 27, 2001) - The Mopar Parts Dodge R/T Pro Stock entry
of Mark Osborne, coming off a final-round appearance at the rain-delayed
Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., last weekend, drove to the
13th-qualifying position after the first day of the inaugural Thunder Valley
Nationals at the Bristol Dragway.

Osborne, who lives in nearby Abingdon, Va., pleased his many family and
friends on hand this weekend with a 6.987-second elapsed time at 197.71 mph.


"It was a pretty good run," Osborne noted. "We've got a little left in it.
We need a little more clutch and I need to drive a little better tomorrow.
I'm happy with the effort though."

Osborne's teammate and three-time Winston Pro Stock World Champion Darrell
Alderman failed to make the show with a 7.050-second pass at 196.44 mph in
round one. The Morehead, Ky. native did not make a second-round attempt.

"We just have some big ignition troubles with Darrell," said crew chief Mark
Ingersoll. "We completely changed the ignition wiring and box after the
first round. The tachometer went crazyoin the burnout. It barely had enough
power to start the car. 

"We're going to go back and rewire it," Ingersoll added.

Morgan In the Show

Larry Morgan and the Dodge Motorsports R/T slipped into the field with a
6.987-second elapsed time at 196.64 mph. The Newark, Ohio resident missed
the setup.

"We should have run a 6.95," said Morgan. "We hurt the engine in the first
session and had to change it. We weren't able to get a read on the setup for
the session. I think the engine is a lot better than we thought it would be
because it just ran through the clutch.

"We should be much better tomorrow," Morgan added. "We'll have some data to
analyze."




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Bristol Friday Notes
Page Two

Skuza On the Outside

Dean Skuza, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge R/T Nitro Funny Car, is just
outside the top 16 after the first day of qualifying. The two-time NHRA
national event winner had to shut off early on both runs, clocking a best
5.078-second elapsed time at 292.58 mph.

At the time of this release, the team had yet to discover the problem on the
run.

"We were running numbers better than our 4.80," said Skuza, commenting on
his 4.805-second elapsed time during qualifying for the NHRA event in
Phoenix earlier this year. "We think something happened to the blower
because it reacted funny before shutting off. We're probably going to change
the blower."

Team Koretsky Pleased

Rickie Smith, a future Mopar Parts-backed driver, grabbed the
15th-qualifying position with a 6.991-second elapsed time at 197.19 mph
during second-round activity.

"We left a little on the table on that run," Smith commented. "We could have
run a 6.97, but everybody probably thinks that."

Kenny Koretsky missed the show, but the Pennsylvania resident was pleased
with his team's progress after running a 6.994-second run at 196.96 mph.

"After the first round, we we're in the show," said Koretsky, who also owns
the team. "I'm very happy with the car because I'm equal with Rickie now.
It's nice when the car doesn't blow off the tires in fourth gear."







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