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2013 NHRA: Spencer Massey NHRA Arizona Nationals Event Report: Semifinals
Sunday was a whole new start for Spencer Massey and the Battery Extender powered by Schumacher Top Fuel dragster, and it couldn't have been more different than their qualifying runs.
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The team struggled to a No. 16 qualifying spot, barely making the field for the 29th annual NHRA Arizona Nationals at Firebird International Raceway outside Phoenix.
"We struggled in qualifying to make it down the track," Massey said. "We just couldn't get a good lap together and it put us 16th."
Then on Sunday morning in cool and incredibly breezy conditions, Massey's dragster came to life, posting a winning 3.774-second run at 326 mph in the first round of eliminations against No. 1 qualifier Doug Kalitta.
But it wasn't only the tune-up that got them the opening-round win. It was the driver. Massey produced a .054-of-a-second reaction time giving him the advantage and earning the hole-shot win over Kalitta's quicker elapsed time (3.756).
"Any driver hates to lose on a hole shot," Massey said, recalling his first-round Winternationals loss the week before. "Leaving on time is one of the most important jobs we have as a driver. When you lose that way it's never good.
"I only had one week to think about it, but I've been thinking about it a lot and I've been practicing and I was ready for eliminations today. It's nice to get a hole-shot win whenever you come off a loss like that."
In the second round, crew chief Phil Shuler tuned Massey to an even better 3.750-second pass at 324 mph.
"Phil (Shuler) got together with Todd (Okuhara) and everything went just perfect, how it was supposed to be," he said. "We ran very good in the first round and very good in the second round and we just barely missed it in the semifinals."
In the semifinal round against Morgan Lucas, Massey's dragster launched hard before losing traction.
"We were just on the edge, we could probably tow it back up there right now and it would go down the racetrack. I'm excited we got our racecar back."
The following are Massey's results and other notes from the NHRA Arizona Nationals:
TOP FUEL
Event winner: Tony Schumacher (DSR)
Spencer Massey, Battery Extender Powered by Schumacher dragster
Qualified: No. 16
SUNDAY CHAMPIONSHIP ELIMINATIONS
First round: MASSEY (3.774 sec., 326.00 mph) def. Doug Kalitta (3.756, 329.37) Second round: MASSEY (3.750, 324.05) def. Larry Dixon (5.151, 149.03)
Semifinals: Morgan Lucas (3.860, 316.08) def. MASSEY (5.137, 141.82)
NHRA MELLO YELLO DRAG RACING SERIES
(Unofficial standings after 2 of 24 events; DSR drivers in CAPS)
TOP FUEL
1. TONY SCHUMACHER, 228
2. Shawn Langdon, 149
3. ANTRON BROWN, 148
4. Khalid alBalooshi, 131
5. Morgan Lucas, 124
6. David Grubnic, 112
7. Doug Kalitta, 103
8. SPENCER MASSEY, 100
9. Brandon Bernstein, 93
10. Larry Dixon, 86
NEXT EVENT: March 14-17, Gainesville, Fla.
PaddockTalk Perspective
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