Rookie Carlson looks forward to Gateway double night qualifying
DON SCHUMACHER RACING 2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES Round 12 of 23 O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals Gateway International Raceway Madison, Ill. Race Date: June 23-25, 2006 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Judy Stropus, 203-438-0501; cell 203-243-2438; jstropus@earthlink.net ROOKIE CARLSON LOOKS FORWARD TO GATEWAY DOUBLE NIGHT QUALIFYING MADISON, Ill. (June 22, 2006) - Pro Stock Rookie Shaun Carlson hopes to be racing against his peers come Sunday, but first he will look to capitalize on one of two night qualifying sessions for this weekend's O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway International Raceway. Carlson is eager to have the two night-time rounds, instead of just the usual single, to qualify for the ultra-competitive NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Pro Stock field. "It will be nice to have two sessions under the cooler conditions to try and get into the top 16," says Carlson. "It seems like in this class more than any other, if you don't get in on Friday night, then you're out of luck. "I think that the test-driving of the Team Mopar/SRT Dodge Stratus R/T that Terry (Adams, assistant crew chief) did here in May will be helpful. We already have some data from this track, so I'm looking forward to driving here," adds the Southern California native. Crew chief David Nickens also expects the data to help. "The track conditions might not be the same, but the more data you have, the better. You really have to take what it's telling you and apply it to the conditions at the time. I think we'll really run good this weekend. When Terry drove the car here in May it really ran well on this track," says the Pro Stock tuner with 30 NHRA national event wins and one championship under his belt. Carlson's Don Schumacher Racing crew recently tested at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis with Adams doing the driving once again and Nickens overseeing the effort to get the Team Mopar/SRT Dodge Stratus up to speed for this weekend. "We are working on getting Shaun's car performing well in the 60-ft. (section of the track), much like Richie's (teammate Stevens) car, which is always one of the stronger cars at the 60-ft. mark," says Nickens. "We have a different clutch we are trying, to see if that will help us out and get Shaun up where he belongs." SHAUN CARLSON QUICK FACTS: * Qualified for his first event of 2006 in Las Vegas (No. 12) * Rookie season in Pro Stock class * First year with Don Schumacher Racing * Was named second DSR Pro Stock driver after February '06 test session at LVMS * Born 5/17/74 * Born, raised, and currently lives in Alta Loma, Calif. * Quickest Pro Stock elapsed time to date: 6.708 seconds (Chicago 6/10/06) * Fastest speed to date: 205.60 mph (Pomona 1) * Owned and drove his Team Mopar SRT4 in the NHRA Xplod Sport Compact Racing Series in 2005, grabbing one win and finishing fourth in points. * Finished fourth in 2004 Sport Compact points standings * Is a two-time Sport Compact event winner * Subbed for an injured Darrell Alderman in the 2004 NHRA Winternationals Pro Stock event at Pomona, grabbing an early round win and nearly advancing to the semifinals in his Pro Stock debut * Finished third in '03 Pro FWD points * 2002 Xbox Cup champion in the Pro Outlaw class * A famous engine builder and FWD performance guru, Carlson has worked on projects such as the world record-holding import drag car driven by Stephan Papadakis. * First FWD builder to run in the 9s and 8s. * Built the first Sport Compact drag car with a tube chassis * Has been drag racing professionally since 1999 * President and founder of NuFormz, an 11-year-old company that builds aftermarket components in Ontario, Calif. SCHEDULE: FRIDAY, June 23, PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING SESSIONS at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. SATURDAY, June 24, PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING SESSIONS at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. SUNDAY, June 25, Pre-race ceremonies, 2 p.m. FINAL ELIMINATIONS begin at 3 p.m. TELEVISION: Saturday, June 24, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise two hours of qualifying coverage at 10 p.m. (ET). Sunday, June 25, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will telecast NHRA 2Day, a 30-minute news magazine show, at 11:30 a.m. (ET). Sunday, June 25, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise three hours of final round eliminations at 10 p.m. (ET). SATELLITE: Friday, June 23, 11-11:30 p.m. (ET) SBS 6, Transponder 17 K (12117 MHz, horizontal) Saturday, June 24, No feed scheduled, please roll on ESPN2 show, 10 p.m. (ET) Sunday, June 25, 10:30-11 p.m. (ET) SBS 6, Transponder 17 K (12117 MHz, horizontal) ***