Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Booher's Record Weekend Ends Early

Courtesy of NVW Motorsports Promotion
Photo courtesy of Steve Fuhrman/Cyclops Photography



CLERMONT, IN (May 8, 2013) – Top Alcohol Dragster competitor Brandon Booher showed the potential of his torque converter-equipped blown dragster at the NHRA North Central region opener in Indy over the course of the last two weekends. The event started with a record-resetting pass in the first qualifying session. However, a simple mechanical failure prevented the second generation driver from turning a solid qualifying effort into success on race day. 

Booher drove his AB Construction/Torque Management dragster to a career-best 5.34 at 271 mph pass in the opening qualifying session at Lucas Oil Raceway. That run, which also reset Brandon’s record for quickest and fastest converter car, ranked the Illinois driver second on the qualifying sheet after the first session. Booher ended up fourth once qualifying was over, missing third by just one thousandth of a second. 

Persistent rain storms delayed the start of eliminations to the following weekend. Teams were given the chance to make a test run on Saturday, with eliminations scheduled for Sunday morning. Booher took advantage of the test run, clicking off another five-thirty pass just shy of 270 miles per hour.

“The 5.39 should’ve been quicker. We were trying some things to pick up the sixty-foot time and it didn’t work. The speed was still impressive but all of the other numbers were weak,” Booher claimed.

Once eliminations finally started Monday afternoon, Booher’s all-volunteer crew was short a few members who had to return to work. This led to a mix-up in the pre-race routine that hurt the car’s first round performance. Brandon and opponent Jared Dreher left the starting line with almost identical reaction times, but the AB Construction/Torque MGMT. car went up in smoke shortly after. Dreher went on to win the round.

“Everything went smooth all weekend, even the test pass,” Booher said. “Then we had a timing malfunction first round, which caused the car to go up in smoke. It was a simple mistake that we learned from, but you hate to learn stuff first round. We have a car that was 110% capable of winning the race, but you need to win the round before you can win the race. Sort of a sour way to end a great weekend, but nothing is hurt, we know what the solution is, and we’ll take that knowledge going forward into Norwalk.”

Despite the early exit, the opening qualifying effort was reassuring for Booher and the family-owned team. 

“All of the hard work, taking the weight off, and the new converter technology – it’s finally putting us where we need to be. We can unload the car and be competitive. The 5.34 is impressive I suppose, but the 271+ MPH speed was most impressive to me. To have top speed of the event when guys like Perry, Thacker, and Reichert show up, over two separate weekends, shows the capabilities that we have to make horsepower. The next race is in Norwalk, and I know there will be plenty of racetrack there. I’m hoping for five-twenties at Norwalk. I know it’ll run twenties. It ran .930 to the sixty foot on the 5.34 run – we should be .890. When we get the sixty-foot picked up, everything else will pick up down the line,” Booher said with confidence.

Brandon thanked the crew - Aaron, Pete, Drew, Cam, John, Ed, and wife Shannon – as well as Ken Juszczyk’s Motorsports Unlimited, Spitzer Race Cars, and Goodson Tools.

Booher Racing is a Champaign, Illinois-based Top Alcohol Dragster team, competing in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. Former Junior Dragster driver Brandon Booher pilots the family-owned AB Construction blown alcohol dragster. The team owns the world record for quickest and fastest converter-equipped TAD. Booher Racing receives support from Motorsports Unlimited, Goodson Tools, Spitzer Race Cars, and Torque Management. To learn more about Booher Racing, please visit www.nitronate.com/booher.

For news and results throughout the 2013 season, follow Booher Racing on Facebook (www.facebook.com/booherracing) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/booherracing).

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