Photo courtesy of David Smith/PSA
POMONA, Calif. (February 4) – The annual return to sunny California for the Circle K NHRA Winternationals is always a special time for Top Alcohol Funny Car driver Greg Hunter. Not just because it's the first race of the season, but also because of the history of Auto Club Raceway at Pomona and the part it played in Hunter's racing career.
“Pomona to me is the birthplace of drag racing. It just has the great California drag racing vibe. When you go there you can feel it in the air. I just love it. If I could live near the race track I think I would, that's how much I love it there. Or maybe in between the race track and the beach,” Hunter jokes.
“The first national event I attended was the World Finals at Pomona 20 years ago. I came home and immediately decided I wanted to go racing so I started the following year. This is actually my 20th year racing.”
Hunter, now in his second year driving for Canadian drag racing legend Geoff Goodwin, scored his first regional event victory and reached a national event semifinal last year before suffering a couple tough breaks to finish the year. One of those tough losses was a wild first round pedalfest at the Finals at Pomona, so Hunter and the Synoil Energy Services/Exact Air team are looking for some redemption this weekend.
“We're feeling pretty confident. There have been some minor changes to the motor but outside of that we feel great. We felt we had a bad stretch near the end of the year where we missed it in qualifying but at the end I think we put it back together. A little unfortunate in the first round. We feel we could've had a good showing at the Finals. We want to continue on at the Winternationals, hopefully deep into eliminations on Sunday,” Hunter claimed.
The Synoil Racing team will be racing this weekend without Goodwin, who is at home recovering after breaking his leg over the winter.
“This is probably one of the first races that he has missed,” Hunter said. “Everybody will be thinking of him and wishing he was there. We're going to try to go out there and win it so we can bring home a Wally to help make our 'Chief' feel a little better.”
Top Alcohol Funny Car qualifying at the Circle K NHRA Winternationals, Feb. 5-8, kicks off on Thursday at 3:30 PM. Additional sessions follow on Friday at 2:45 PM and Saturday at 10:45 AM. Eliminations begin at 2 PM on Saturday and continue Sunday afternoon.
Greg Hunter and Geoff Goodwin's Synoil Racing Top Alcohol Funny Car team are returning for their second season together in 2015. With primary support from Synoil Energy Services and Exact Air Compliance Systems, Hunter will run a full schedule of NHRA Mello Yello Series national events and LODRS regional events. Synoil Racing receives additional support from Northgate Industries Ltd., Ron Hodgson Chevrolet-GMC-Buick, Twister Piling Inc., Proform Concrete Services Inc., Prowler Contracting, Pumps & Pressure Inc., Hampton's Oilfield Services, Landale Signs, MD Truck Repair, and Mobil1.
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