NHRA: Recent performance has Team Amato dreaming big

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Rob Geiger at 281-913-3316.

Recent performance has Team Amato dreaming big

HOUSTON (April 11) – If a driver in the POWERade Drag Racing Series is
only as good as his last outing then Top Fuel pilot Darrell Russell
should once again be considered an early favorite at this weekend’s 15th
annual O’Reilly Auto Parts Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park.

Just a few days ago at the NHRA national event in Las Vegas, Russell
drove Joe Amato’s Bilstein Engine Flush System Dragster through the
second-quickest pass of the opening session during an elimination round
win over Yuichi Oyama. Of the 16 cars making laps, only reigning series
champion Kenny Bernstein could better Russell’s 4.730-second elapsed
time. Not even Larry Dixon, the early-season runaway points leader with
three wins in four events, could keep up with Team Amato’s effort.

“That pass was exciting for all of us,” said Russell, a 33-year-old from
nearby Hockley. “Whenever you can post numbers that put you at or near
the top of this class, you’ve really accomplished something. We’ve made
a lot of changes in the last few weeks and to have the car respond this
quickly, especially on race day, is a real testament to the hard work
and determination of everyone involved with this team.”

Although Russell exited in the second round of the Las Vegas event after
ignition problems translated to tire smoke on the race track, the
popular pro still managed to move his team into the Top 10 of the
POWERade championship points standings. Now the crew is ready to
collectively take the next step towards winning a race and ultimately
the POWERade title.

“What’s Darrell’s career-best time and top speed?” crew chief Wayne
Dupuy asked. When told Russell’s personal-best numbers show a
4.544-second quarter-mile pass at 322.96 mph, Dupuy responded
confidentially. “If the humidity doesn’t get out of control, we’ll reset
those numbers this weekend. I’m sure of that. This track is all about
going as fast as you can and giving the car all the tune-up it wants.
We’re at sea level here so everybody goes for broke. We need to keep
moving up so we sure won’t be shy.”

ESPN2’s primetime television coverage of this event begins with
qualifying highlights from 7:30-10 p.m. (ET), Saturday. The elimination
rounds will air from 8-10 p.m. (ET), Sunday, with a repeat showing from
2:30-4:30 p.m., Tuesday.

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