Carpenter Aiming to Rebound in Martin
(6-10-2010) MARTIN, MI – After getting off to an incredible start to the 2010 American Drag Racing League season, Charles Carpenter's success came to a halt at the hands of Jim Halsey in the first round of eliminations at the ADRL Speedtech US Drags III three weeks ago.
Carpenter experienced mechanical and electrical gremlins while warming the car in the pits on Saturday morning and was unable to get them rectified before the first round of eliminations. The problem slowed Carpenter to an off-pace 4.07 after he's lived in the mid 3.90s all season.
Carpenter soon traced the problem to a bad ground wire once he got back to his Charlotte, NC shop. With the simple fix in place, Carpenter expects to get back on track at this weekend's ADRL Ford Drive One Summer Drags VI at US 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, MI.
"It's extremely frustrating when those small problems ruin your whole weekend," Carpenter said. "That stuff just happens from time to time, but we've been fortunate to completely avoid any problems like that since we brought the car back out after the wreck."
Despite the first round loss, Carpenter maintained his grip on second place in the Speedtech Battle for the Belts points standings.
"The main goal this weekend is to go back out there and get consistent again," said Carpenter. "Once we get that back and make sure the car is going to go from A to B every time, we can start tuning on it and see what we can do with this new powerplant. The competition is getting tougher and tougher each race, so we've got to step it up and find some elapsed time."
Charles Carpenter Racing would like to thank Paul Albino and Total Induction Tuning Solutions, MagnaFuel, Reed Robbins, Steve Smarr, and Chandler Robbins at East Coast Refinishing & Fiberglass, DMP Awnings, Doherty Motorsports, Custom Autosound, WFO Racing & Machine, Santhuff Suspension Specialties, Alan Pittman Race Cars, Terry Murphy Race Cars, Dennis Radford & Tom Hemphill, Fulton Competition, Hairy Glass, Pro Glass, TEK Headers, JAZ Products, Weld Racing, Stroud Safety, Safety Solutions, RJS Safety Equipment, Goodridge Hose & Fittings, Goodyear, Friction Unlimited, Racepak, Bell Helmets, Indocil Art, Justin Spencer & CompetitionDesigns.com, Scott Bathurst & Classic Graphix, RH2Way, and VP Racing Fuels for their continued support.
Carpenter is actively seeking primary sponsorship for 2010. For more information about Charles Carpenter Racing and the World's Fastest '55 Chevy, or for a copy of the team's Marketing Partnership Guide, visit www.fastest55.com.
Photo by Roger Richards / CompetitionPlus.com
