Brownsburg, Ind. -- Ringers’ supporting teams took home three of the four Wally’s in the professional classes in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series on Sunday at Gateway International Raceway just outside of St. Louis in Madison, Ill.
Ringers’ team racer Melanie Troxel had an interesting second round that almost ended her day after both she and opponent Bruce Litton had a peddling match down the majority of the track. Troxel was able to reach the win light which advanced her to the semifinals where she took on Larry Dixon and defeated him, which matched Troxel up with Cory McClenathan in the finals. Although Troxel launched off the line after Cory Mac, she was able to withstand the hot track conditions to collect a 4.741/274.33 mph win.
Troxel brought home her first win of the season and first professional Top Fuel win for car owners Charlotte, Forrest and Morgan Lucas at the O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals.
The Pro Stock class final round was a bright one…bright yellow one, that is. Cagnazzi Racing teammates Dave Connolly and Jeg Coughlin Jr. rolled their respective Chevrolet Cobalts into the staging lanes to see which one would be going home with the Wally and which one would be the bridesmaid this time.
Jeggy would be the one who would have to settle for his second runner-up finish of the year, while Connolly moved onto to pick up his 10th career win, but first win for team owner Victor Cagnazzi. Connolly, using his DriverX by Ringers racing gloves, shifted his way to the Winner’s Circle in his Torco/Slammers Cobalt with a 6.663/206.99 mph run. The win and runner-up finish for the Cagnazzi teammates moved them into second and third in points, respectively.
In Winner’s Circle on Sunday, Dave wasn’t the only Connolly picking up his Wally. Dave’s father, Ray, brought home a win in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Super Gas sportsman class.
The Pro Stock Motorcycle class finally saw a man in the Winner’s Circle for the first time this year. The previous three races had been dominated by the ladies of the class, with Karen Stoffer picking up wins at Gainesville and Atlanta, while Angelle Sampey took home the Wally in Houston. Matt Smith rode his Torco Buell machine to a NHRA record setting E.T. of 6.901 seconds at 191.78 mph.
After an up-and-down 2006 season for Penske Racing, the prominent NASCAR Nextel Cup team has started to produce results the past couple races. After producing dual top-10 finishes at Talladega last weekend, both Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman did it again and produced respective fifth and sixth place finishes. Both Ringers’ supporting team drivers led during the race; Busch with 27 laps collected during three times at the front and Newman for just one lap.
Each driver gained positions in the Chase, Busch jumped up one spot to ninth, only five points behind eighth and Newman rocketed up seven positions to 19th.
The NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series has one weekend off before heading to Bristol Dragway for the O’Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, while the NASCAR Nextel Cup and NASCAR Busch Series head to Darlington Raceway this weekend.
About Ringers Gloves
Ringers Gloves, Official Gloves of NHRA and title sponsor for the Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle, is a full-line manufacturer of high-end, task specific gloves, SFI 3.3/1, 3.3/10, 3.3/20 racing gloves, UnderX protective undergarments and rdigs pit boots.
Keep up with your favorite Ringers racers in ‘07 by logging onto www.ringersgloves.com for photos and highlights!
