McIntire looking for breakout weekend
NEW ALEXANDRIA, Pa. (May 17, 2011) – Whether going toe-to-toe at events nearer to their homes in Pennsylvania and Ohio, or traveling thousands of miles across the country to compete against the best in the nation, you can always count on finding Peter Gallen and Mike McIntire in the final round.
Already in 2011 it has happened four times and you can add another pair of meetings to the count from last year’s tour of duty.
Coincidence? Perhaps not.
“Many times we are simply the two best cars on the track,” McIntire said from his home in Chesterland, Ohio, already hard at work preparing for this weekend’s Pittsburgh Nitro Jam at Pittsburgh Raceway Park. “I have been racing for like 20 years and while Pete is a bit older than me, we have developed quite a friendly little rivalry out there. Our families have gotten close, but on the track it is all business and we are always measuring ourselves against those guys.”
McIntire, driver of the “McAttack” 1969 Camaro Prostalgia Nitro Funny Car, considers Pittsburgh Raceway Park one of his home tracks and looks forward to once against matching wits with the man at the top of the points this weekend. But hidden in all the final rounds and friendly banter between the pair of Funny Car pilots is the fact that McIntire is actually winless against the man in the purple and gold “Poverty Stricken” Vega – sitting a disappointing 0-6 in final rounds against Gallen.
And while a winless streak against a driver doesn’t typically constitute much of a rivalry, McIntire hopes to shed that perception and turn things around this weekend at a race he feels will finally be his breakthrough event.
“He has such a fast car, but many times we are actually ahead at 1,000 feet. It is that last 320 feet of racetrack that always seems to get us against those guys,” McIntire said. “But we are about to catch him. Not only are we getting closer, but Pittsburgh will be an eighth-mile race and hopefully that will play to our advantage.
“If we can get off the line consistently this weekend I really think we can turn around our luck and take home a win.”
While it is true that this weekend’s Nitro Jam at Pittsburgh Raceway Park will be run under an eighth-mile format, don’t expect to see anything less than the best from some of the top Prostalgia Nitro Funny Car teams in the country this Friday and Saturday at PRP.
With eighth-mile records up for grabs among the quartet of drivers, anything can happen as McIntire looks to right the ship and pick up his first win against Gallen in Nitro Jam competition.
“Of the four cars coming this weekend, two of them are at the top of the points so it should be a battle,” McIntire said. “Pete and I are both new to eighth-mile racing, but with records available you can be sure we will be shooting for the fences. We are going to have some fun, kick some butt and see where that leaves us when the dust settles.”
In two years of Nitro Jam competition, McIntire has developed a bit of a reputation as a great driver who can’t win the big one, but hopefully that changes this weekend. In two seasons McIntire has one win and six runner-up finishes, four of which have come this year – all against Gallen. On the reverse side Gallen has piled up a record 11 wins in 15 finals in only two seasons of work including four wins this season.
While the pair has met dozens of times in their careers, their rivalry reached new heights earlier this year beginning in Baton Rouge as the duo, separated by only a few hundred miles at home, traveled to Louisiana, Arizona and Texas and still managed dominate the headlines.
“The trip west was amazing. We traveled to places like Arizona and Texas looking to take on the best Funny Cars in the country and, as it turns out, it was the two of us meeting in the final,” McIntire said. “Now we get to come back home for a change and put on a show in front of our hometown fans. It should be great.”
And one other advantage McIntire has over his competition this Friday and Saturday is that he has experience racing at Pittsburgh Raceway Park.
“We have raced there under the old ownership and the place is awesome,” McIntire said. “The fans are great and the racing is awesome. I look forward to meeting the people and putting on one heck of a show this weekend.”
In addition to championship Prostalgia Nitro Funny Car competition, numerous rivalries also exist in Nitro Jam’s other two pro classes coming to Pittsburgh including a savage battle between Bill Evans and Mike Manners in Pro Fuel and a four-way showdown in Nitro Harley.
Don’t miss the debut of Nitro Jam at Pittsburgh Raceway Park this Friday and Saturday. For more information visit www.nitrojam.com or call (724) 668-7600 to get your tickets to the biggest nitro showdown of the year.
