NHRA Monday: Harold Martin Scores Impressive Runner-Up Finish in Indianapolis

Harold Martin Scores Impressive Runner-Up Finish in Indianapolis

Event: 50th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals
Location:  Indianapolis Raceway Park
       Indianapolis, IN
Day/Date: Monday September 6, 2004

Harold Martin made his initial appearance in the NHRA's AMS Staff Leasing Pro Mod Challenge a memorable one by powering to the final round at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, IN.  From the first qualifying session on Saturday, Martin's ACDelco Pontiac Grand Am was the class of the field, consistently posting the quickest elapsed time in the category.

After securing his first No. 1 qualifying position with a career-best 6.183-second, 229.12 mph pass, Martin was equally impressive in eliminations, opening with a blistering 6.196-second, 230.13-mph pass to eliminate veteran Mike Castellana.  In the second round, Martin defeated defending AMS Pro Mod champion Fred Hahn to advance to the championship round against No. 2 qualifier Jim Halsey.

With the prestigious U.S. Nationals title on the line, the two cars left the starting line almost simultaneously, and powered down the track.  However, just as Martin seemed poised to pull away for the win, a puff of white smoke indicated a mechanical malfunction, which slowed him to a 6.898-second elapsed time and allowed his opponent to edge him at the finish line.  Despite the initial disappointment, Martin realized the significance of his outstanding performance.

 "We leave here with a lot of positives we can build on.  We sat on the pole, ran our career-best elapsed time and speed, but in racing you still need a little luck to go with it, and unfortunately on that last run, our luck happened to expire on us.  Even so, it was a great weekend for the ACDelco Grand Am Racing team.

"There were some great competitors in attendance, and we were able to prevail with a consistently high level of performance. We made it to the final round of a very prestigious race, so our ACDelco team has a lot to be proud of.  We'll take everything we learned in Indianapolis and go on to New Hampshire to get ready for our race next weekend."