DALLAS (October 12) – Sunny skies predicted, with an average daily
temperature of 87, welcome the 31st annual AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals
to the Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas. We’re going to shake off those
dark clouds of Reading and draw on that “One Bad Texan” mindset at John
Hale’s home track. You know you don’t mess with Texas!
If you follow John Hale on social media, you know the importance
music plays in his life. He starts each day by posting a song that
inspires and motivates his day. Drawing on his love of music, and
quoting the words of Steven Van Zant (guitar and mandolin with Bruce
Springsteen’s E-Street Band), “Band members have a special bond. A great
band is more than just some people working together. It's like a highly
specialized army unit, or a winning sports team. A unique combination
of elements that becomes stronger together than apart.” Sums up our Jim
Dunn Racing team! We know we have the right combination to win; it’s
just a matter of the stars aligning, and debugging the quirks, to turn
on those win lights. No better time to do this than under the stars of
Texas.
As for Reading, dismal is the word that comes to mind.
Soggy and cold, we were only able to squeeze in one round of qualifying
before the skies opened up, again, and again. The NHRA Safety Safari did
an amazing job of attempting to dry the track (many times) in the hope
we could get in more qualifying rounds. We did end up in the 10th
position going in to round one of eliminations. How we got there wasn’t
pretty; we made it was all that mattered at that point. An 8.614 at
75.88 is not the kind of run you get excited over but getting in on
Sunday, any way we could, trumped the disappointment over that one
qualifying run.
Unfortunately, Sunday did not go much better for
us and closely resembled our qualifying run. We were up against Mike
Smith for the first time in eliminations. Both of our cars shook the
rear tires coming off the starting line. He managed to get his car
hooked up again and finished the run. Just couldn’t get our car back up
to speed and we coasted to the finish. Disappointed with the performance
at Reading would be an understatement. After the elation of our team
breaking in to the 3’s, and following those runs by additional 3’s, our
hopes were high that a Wally was forthcoming. It just wasn’t meant to
be, at least not in Reading.
Meanwhile, deep in the heart of
Texas, John Hale prepares for this competition at his home track.
Knowing that stars do align in Texas, the dream of bringing home a Wally
seems to be closer than ever. For a team with a tight budget, saving on
shipping fees for that Wally is an added bonus!
The City of
Ennis and Texas Motorplex have partnered for a PreStage Fan Fest in
Downtown Ennis on Wednesday, October 14, between 5:00-9:00 p.m. We will
be there signing autographs at the Brookshire’s Autograph Session and
hope you will be able to come out and enjoy roaming through pro and
sportsman cars, food trucks, music and more.
Dallas is one of
three remaining races in the 2016 NHRA season. After Dallas, our next
race moves to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Nitro
qualifying sessions are scheduled for 5:00 and 8:00pm, Friday, and 1:30
and 4:30pm, Saturday. Eliminations start at 12:00am, Sunday. Fox SPORTS -
Finals October 16, 2:00pm-5:00pm (FS1) LIVE and October 16,
7:00pm-10:00pm (FS2) REPLAY. Qualifying October 14, 7:30pm-8:30pm (FS1)
LIVE - October 15, 6:00am-7:00am (FS1) REPLAY, October 16, 1:00am-2:00am
(FS1), October 16, 1:00pm-2:00pm (FS1) REPLAY. All times ET. Schedule
subject to change; check local listings.
RECAP from READING
Q1: 8.614ET 75.88mph
Qualified # 10
E1: 8.538ET 74.48mph
