Legendary IHRA racer Paul Romine looks to unseat three-time Rocky Mountain champion Tim Boychuk in Edmonton
EDMONTON, Alberta (June 21, 2013) – Over the past three years no one has been able to unseat the impalpable Tim Boychuk as the Funny Car King of Canada.
Since
2010 the Edmonton, Alberta native has been remarkably consistent and
blazingly fast in IHRA's AMSOIL Prostalgia Nitro Funny Car class leading
to three consecutive victories at his hometown MOPAR Rocky Mountain
Nitro Jam Nationals at Castrol Raceway, most of them in dominating
fashion. Many have tried, but none have been able to unseat the fastest
Funny Car pilot north of the border.
Paul Romine will return to IHRA competition for only the second time in over a decade
But one man hopes to change all of that.
Three-time
IHRA Top Fuel World Champion and recent Funny Car convert Paul Romine
will come out of semi-retirement and return to action for the first
time in more than a year when he takes over driving duties in the "Power
Steel" Camaro owned by Jim Broome at the MOPAR Rocky Mountain Nitro Jam
Nationals presented by Good Vibrations Motorsports at Castrol Raceway.
Teaming
with the southern Arizona Funny Car team, which also fields the
world-famous "Candies & Hughes" nostalgia flopper that will also be
in Edmonton, Romine hopes to return to his winning ways the weekend of
July 5-7 as he tries to unseat the reigning Funny Car champion at his
home track.
"Boy
am I excited. It is always fun to come back and run IHRA and we are
looking forward to teaming with Jim (Broome) and those guys and give it
our all up in Edmonton," Romine said. "It is hard to believe, but in
all the years that I raced I never raced that far west in Canada, but
let me tell you the fans in Canada are tremendous. They are always on
the gas and they should be in for a great show this year."
The three-time IHRA Top Fuel World Champion will pilot the "Power Steel" Camaro in Edmonton
Adding
to the excitement, Romine will be reuniting with his old crew as he
teams with longtime tuner Mike Cavalieri and crewman John Bullard – both
of whom have played pivotal roles with Romine over the years – as the
team tries to get the "Power Steel" Camaro up to snuff against a very
tough field in IHRA's only qualified Funny Car competition of the
season.
"We
are getting the band back together," Romine said. "It has been a little
while since the last time I was behind the wheel, but with these guys
I am sure we can get the car and myself up to speed pretty quickly.
Mike used to help me with the Funny Car and John has been with me
forever and having those guys with me up in Edmonton will make for a
pretty awesome weekend."
Romine
is hoping things go as smoothly as they did the last time he competed
at an IHRA event. In 2011 at the West Palm Beach Nitro Jam in southern
Florida Romine competed in his first IHRA race in nearly a decade and
came away with the win. In his first IHRA action since that win, Romine
hopes his luck will continue against a tough field on a very fast track.
"I
don't know many of those guys up there, but I have raced Boychuk a
number of times and I look forward to going up against him again,"
Romine said. "The other thing is that the times are going to be
really, really good. That place is a mineshaft for sure and the track is
always really good and has produced some unbelievable numbers in the
past. That track certainly has a reputation for being awfully good."
Edmonton's own Tim Boychuk will be looking for his fourth consecutive Rocky Mountain title
Romine,
his "Candies & Hughes" teammate and Boychuk will be among the many
drivers trying to tame the Edmonton quarter-mile when the fastest Funny
Cars in the country take to the track at Canada's biggest drag racing
event. Featuring some of the wildest and most unique classes and
competitors in all of motorsports, over a dozen different classes will
be in competition including Top Fuel Dragsters, Fuel Altereds, Nitro
Harley and much more.
Can
Romine take over where drivers like Andy Beauchemin, Michael Grekul and
Jim Obalek – all runner-up finishers to Boychuk over the past three
years – left off? We will soon find out.
