---

IHRA: Romine Earns Semi-final Finish at IHRA Holley Spring Nationals

16 April 1999

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- Event top qualifier and two-time IHRA Top Fuel World Champion Paul Romine lost in round two today at the rain-delayed IHRA Holley Spring Nationals at Rockingham (N.C) Dragway.

Romine and the CARQUEST dragster, which qualified #1 for the event and won in round one against Jack Ostrander, gained a hole-shot start against Bruce Litton in round two, but lost traction immediately. Litton suffered mechanical difficulty at half-track, but coasted across the finish line first to take the win.

"That was ugly and I hate to lose that way, especially against Bruce because he's the points leader," Romine said. "As soon as I hit the throttle it was up in smoke. I tried to pedal it once, but (Bruce) was already at 800-feet. I would have never caught him no matter how many times I pedaled because I had no momentum. "

The next IHRA event for the CARQUEST team will be May 8 when final eliminations are completed of the Prolong Winter Nationals in Darlington, S.C. The next NHRA event for the CARQUEST team will be the Pennzoil Nationals, April 29 - May 2 in Richmond, Va.

ESPN2 will televise one hour of tape delayed coverage of the IHRA Holley Spring Nationals, Tuesday, June 9 at 2 p.m. The program will replay Tuesday, June 15 at 4 a.m.

FINAL ELIMINATIONS
Round one
(W)Paul Romine    .516 4.970/285.62
   Jack Ostrander .565 5.056/284.62

Round two
(W)Bruce Litton   .518 7.352/104.77
   Paul Romine    .472 12.922/65.52

For more information about Paul Romine and CARQUEST Racing, please visit the CARQUEST Racing homepage (WWW.CARQUEST.COM/MOTORSPORTS.HTM) CARQUEST Corporation began almost 25 years ago with 100 auto parts stores. Today there are over 3,800 CARQUEST Auto Parts stores across North America.

CARQUEST supplies the professional automotive service repair industry as well as do-it-yourselfers with replacement parts, tools and equipment. CARQUEST is committed to providing auto parts and services of the highest quality and greatest value to help people repair their cars. CARQUEST is a Gold Sponsor of the Special Olympics World Games to be held in North Carolina June 26 through July 4, 1999. For the location of the CARQUEST Auto Parts store nearest you call 1-800-492-PART or visit WWW.CARQUEST.COM

CARQUEST is the Official Auto Parts of IHRA Motorsports.

Editors Note: For hundreds of hot racing photos and racing art, be sure to visit The Racing ImageGalleries and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.