NHRA: Victory invigorates Russell and Team Amato

CHICAGO (May 27) -- Fresh off a surprising but dominating final-round
victory over Top Fuel points leader Larry Dixon in Topeka, Kan.,
reigning NHRA Rookie of the Year Darrell Russell arrives at Route 66
Raceway for this weekend’s fifth annual Chicagoland Dodge Dealers NHRA
Nationals as an early favorite to claim the race’s title.

Piloting drag racing legend Joe Amato’s Bilstein Engine Flush System
dragster to its first victory of the year and the third of his brief
career, Russell proved once again that he has the ability and the
horsepower to compete for the POWERade championship. His heroics in
Topeka lifted him three spots in the standings to a season-high
sixth-place ranking, which has the team dreaming of moving into the
elite top-five in Chicago.

“Every since Joe hired Wayne Dupuy to be our crew chief and he took over
this team in Las Vegas, our performance has been increasing at a real
strong clip,” said Russell, a 33-year-old from Hockley, Texas. “The team
has come together and worked through some very difficult transitions but
we never lost sight of our main goal -- to bring honor and victory to
Joe Amato Racing.

“Joe built a dynasty over the course of his career. Five championships
and 52 national event wins are marks that won’t be broken for a long
time. I’m still humbled that he picked me to drive his car a year and a
half ago and I still try to do everything in my power every lap to
convince him that he made the right choice.”

Russell certainly proved his mettle in Topeka. After riding Dupuy’s
steady tune-up to a career-high third-place starting slot, he marched
through the first two rounds of eliminations with fairly easy victories
over Andrew Cowin and Melanie Troxel.

It was in the third round where Russell really earned his pay. Racing
out of the less-than-desirable left-hand lane, Russell posted a stellar
.433 to .490-second holeshot on semifinal foe Cory McClenathan to win
with a 4.761 at 301.54 mph to McClenathan’s quicker 4.714 at 313.66 mph.
Then, to cap off the perfect day, he simply outran runaway early-season
points leader Dixon, winning with a 4.63 to Dixon’s 4.67.

“I had an 0-7 mark against Dixon and he had lane-choice,” Russell said.
“But Wayne-o came up with the perfect tune-up and we just flat-out beat
them. That hasn’t happened to them all year. I think we got some
people’s attention, at least for a day. It’s very satisfying and it has
this entire Bilstein Engine Flush System team very pumped up.”

Qualifying highlights of this race will air in primetime from 7:30-9:30
p.m. (CST), Saturday, on ESPN2. Elimination round coverage runs from
6:30-10 p.m. (CST), Sunday, also on ESPN2, with a repeat showing from
1-3:30 p.m. (CST), Tuesday, June 4, on ESPN2.