IHRA: Stu Evans/Ford Credit One-Car Team Makes First Official Appearance This Weekend
9 April 1999
GARDEN CITY, Mich. -- This weekend's Holley Spring Nationals at Rockingham Dragway marks the beginning of a new chapter for the Stu Evans/Ford Credit Racing Team.With the announcement of his retirement from driving, Stewart Evans has changed the focus of his Pro Stock team. Maybe 'fine-tuned' would be a better phrase.
"With only one car racing each weekend, we can put all of what we know into it," said Evans, who also has taken over the ownership of the Pro Stock team.
"We've always felt that with the two cars, we might have been stretching our resources when it came to preparation on race day. Now we know for sure that won't happen. If our success so far this season is any indication, [No. 1 qualifying efforts at the first two events], cutting back to one car is a very, very positive move."
Current IHRA Pro Stock ET world record holder and now the team's sole driver, Chris Holbrook agrees.
"I work closely with Butch [crew chief Peterson] in tuning the car between rounds, so when you only have one car to think about, you can almost..relax a bit. But, don't get me wrong, when I say relax I mean, it allows me to focus more of my energies on my driving.
"We had a decent outing at Bradenton. Unfortunately it took an electrical malfunction to spoil the weekend for us. I expect we'll have another good qualifying effort and with a little luck on race day, go home with the win."
The team tested last weekend at Norwalk Raceway Park with a new motor and the results were extremely positive.
"This new motor has a lot of potential," said crew chief Peterson. "We're expecting that it will give us a strong performance this weekend."
The new single-car version of the Stu Evans/Ford Credit Racing Team will be competing this Friday through Sunday, April 9 -11, at the Holley Spring Nationals presented by Castrol GTX at Rockingham Dragway, in Rockingham, NC.
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