Infineon Raceway feels like home to Pro Stock rookie Carlson
DON SCHUMACHER RACING 2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES Round 15 of 23 Fram-Autolite NHRA Nationals Infineon Raceway Sonoma, Calif. Race Date: July 28-30, 2006 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Judy Stropus, 203-438-0501; cell 203-243-2438; jstropus@earthlink.net INFINEON RACEWAY FEELS LIKE HOME TO PRO STOCK ROOKIE CARLSON SONOMA, Calif. (July 27, 2006) - Pro Stock rookie Shaun Carlson feels a sense of security come over him when he enters the gates of Infineon Raceway, a track where he has a lot of experience in his days as a Pro FWD driver in the Xplod Sport Compact Racing Series. He'll be racing at Infineon this weekend in the Fram Auto-lite NHRA Nationals, driving the Team Mopar/SRT Dodge Stratus R/T Pro Stocker for Don Schumacher Racing in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. Carlson has raced here many times. "This track feels like home more so than even Pomona, because we are able to race here more often. We aren't able to race in Pomona much because of the noise restrictions," says the Alta Loma, Calif., native. "We've raced the FWD car here, the drift car here, and even my girlfriend Apple has done some stuff in shifter karting here. They have all types of racing here, it's a very neat track to race at." Carlson looks to qualify for his second event of the 2006 season. "I'm sure it's going to be hot this weekend, and that's going to put even more importance on the Friday night qualifying run. We really have to get in there on that session, because we've seen how hard, if not impossible, it is to get in on Saturday afternoon when the sun has been beating down on the track. "We're getting some things figured out on this brand-new car, and it's going to be important for us to show that on Friday." 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 The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway * 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. WEEKEND SCHEDULE: FRIDAY, July 28 ‹ PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING SESSIONS at 3:15 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. SATURDAY, July 29 ‹ PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING SESSIONS at 10 a.m. and 2:45 p.m. SUNDAY, July 30 ‹ Pre-race ceremonies, 11 a.m. FINAL ELIMINATIONS begin at noon. TELEVISION: Saturday, July 29, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise two hours of qualifying coverage at 8 p.m. (ET). Sunday, July 30, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will telecast NHRA 2Day, a 30-minute news magazine show, at 11:30 a.m. (ET). Sunday, July 30, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise three hours of final round eliminations at 8 p.m. (ET). SATELLITE: Friday, July 28, 11:30 p.m.-midnight (ET) SBS 10 R, Transponder 23 K (12160 MHz, vertical) Saturday, July 29, 10:30-11 p.m. (ET) SBS 10 R, Transponder 23 K (12160 MHz, vertical) Sunday, July 30, 11:30 p.m.-midnight (ET) SBS 10 R, Transponder 23 K (12160 MHz, vertical) ***