BRISTOL, Tenn. (June 19) -- After a trip to the semifinals in Englishtown a week ago, Raymond Commisso of R2B2 Racing is off to another strong start this weekend in the Get Screened America Pro Mod Series race at the 10th annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals.
Commisso qualified eighth in the field after a pass of 6.074 seconds at 240.98 mph, which set-up an interesting first round race against Troy Coughlin on Saturday afternoon.
Coughlin got off the line first with a .025 second advantage in reaction time, but Commisso's horsepower kicked in and he was even with Coughlin before half track and then pulled away for the victory with a 6.076 at 240.81 mph. Coughlin crossed the finish line with a 6.363 at 214.66 mph.
"The car shook really hard at the top of first gear," Commisso said. "I stuck it (into second gear) early, it cleared up, and I sailed on down for the win.
"I have to perform properly because the car never lets me down. The team is doing its job and my crew chief, Al Billes, is doing a great job tuning this racecar."
Team owner Roger Burgess wasn't as fortunate. Although he had the best qualified R2B2 car after a seventh-best 6.053 at 239.61 mph, he threw it away in the opening round against Ed Hoover. Burgess got a little too anxious at the starting line and went red -.071 second foul start.
"It's just frustrating when you do that," Burgess said. "It's hard to get over making a mistake that costly. Thankfully we have a chance to redeem ourselves next week in Norwalk."
Get Screened America Pro Mod eliminations at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals continue Sunday afternoon from Bristol Dragway. The race will be shown on June 27th on ESPN2.
