NHRA: Wilson Grabs Fifth in Atlanta
Mopar Motorsports NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals Notes & Quotes May 4, 2002 TELEVISION TIMES: (ALL TIMES EASTERN) QUALIFYING: Sat., May 4; 9-11 p.m.; ESPN2 FINAL ROUND: Sun., May 5; 5:30 p.m 7:30 p.m.; ESPN2 REPEAT: Sun., May 5; 11:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m.; ESPN2 COMMERCE, Ga. -- Mopar Parts NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series teams completed the final day of qualifying for this weekend¹s Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at the Atlanta Dragway. NOTABLE: Mopar Motorsports welcomed four honorary crewmembers for this weekend¹s Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Atlanta Dragway. The members are all students of the Atlanta-area CAP (Chrysler Apprenticeship Program), which trains future Mopar Parts employees. Eric Jamgocmian, Grant Hendry, Drew Radford and Pete Lute joined the Mopar NHRA program today. Today also offered unseasonably cold and wet weather, which delayed qualifying activities for four hours. The following are notes and quotes following today¹s qualifying activity. DEAN SKUZA, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Stratus R/T Dean Skuza made a statement with a strong 4.947-second elapsed time at a speed of 316.33 mph. The run logged the Brecksville, Ohio resident the 10th-qualified position. Skuza has a round-one match up with No. 7 qualifier Frank Pedregon ³We had to be conservative on our last run because we lost the first one from the weirdest thing that I¹ve experienced in all the years that I¹ve been out here,² Skuza said. ³We¹ve made just about every mistake, but we had water in the nitromethane from all the rain. The O-ring that we seal our drum with was broke and the water leaked past it. We went up to the starting line and the thing just had no power. We though we had messed up on the overdrive of the blower. We looked at everything, including the cam to see if it was okay, and we wondered what caused it. My dad (owner Don Skuza) started to take a nitro sample and it looked so milky. The percentages were way down. We felt it hydraulic a little because it could not burn the water. We¹re just happy that the car is doing what it needs to do for the first time all year.² GENE WILSON, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T Despite slick track conditions, Gene Wilson vaulted his Hemi-powered Mopar Parts Neon R/T to the fifth-qualified position. The Canton, Ga., resident logged a 6.842-second lap at 201.67.26 mph and will face off against V. Gaines in round one. ³Man, that was unbelievable,² Wilson said. ³When I dropped the clutch, I knew we were on a pass. It feels really good to finally come up to the plate here in my hometown and get the fifth-qualifying position. This Mopar Parts Hemi definitely has a lot of power and my crew is doing an excellent job. (Crew chief) Tommy Utt is doing an unbelievable job of preparing my car. We just need to go rounds.² LARRY MORGAN, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T Larry Morgan missed the top 16 in his Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T. Morgan drove to a 6.932-second lap at 198.95 mph. ³We blew through the clutch,² Morgan said. ³We did accomplish something this weekend because we found that we had a bad fuel pump. It¹s something we¹ve been chasing for three races now, and we finally fixed it. I put a new Barry Grant fuel pump on and we had so much power that it just run through the clutch.² DARRELL ALDERMAN, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T Darrell Alderman improved his elapsed time at 6.866 seconds at 201.34 mph, but his Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T fell to the 10th slot for tomorrow¹s elimination activity and takes on Ron Krisher in round one. ³We have to be pleased with qualifying,² Alderman said. ³This last run we changed transmission ratios because we figured it¹s going to be hotter tomorrow. We slowed down a little bit in 60 (foot time). The crew made some adjustments in the engine, and it like that. We¹re getting the tune up right.² -