Looking like he was headed to his first three second pass, the engine got unhappy and banged the blower.
In a spectacular blow, the burst panel went flying. "We were on a great pass. Then after the finish line my foot bounced off the throttle pedal causing the backfire and consequently sending the burst panel in the air.”
While entertaining fans attending and viewing the 29th annual Toyota NHRA Sonoma Nationals with the explosion, Hale ran his career best ET of 4.011 and retained the #11 position going in to the third round of qualifying.
The team may have been ousted in the first round of eliminations on Sunday, but they depart Sonoma encouraged by solid passes and a new team record as they continue on to the last race of the Western Swing at Pacific Raceway near Seattle next weekend.
Sonoma Summary - Q1: 4.043/313.44 - Q2: 4.011/317.87 (Career best) - Q3: 4.041/316.82 - Q4: no run
Qualified #13 - E1: 4.456/199.35
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| The Jim Dunn Racing Circle K Funny Car appearing at the NHRA Toyota Sonoma Nationals (Photo Credit: NHRA) |
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| Q2 as the blower went “bang” and the burst panel flew into the air. |
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