Photo courtesy of David Smith
Michalek Brothers Racing opened their 2015 NHRA campaign this past weekend at the 8th Annual NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte, North Carolina. Driving the Dreher Motorsports A/fuel dragster, Corey Michalek came into the event with his sights set on defending his event title from the previous year.
After having all racing action cancelled on Friday due to persistent rain showers, the team faced unseasonably cool conditions on an action-packed Saturday that included two qualifying runs and the opening round of eliminations. MBR was in the first pair of Top Alcohol Dragsters on track and set the early pace with a 5.357 second lap at 266.11MPH; good enough to land them the #9 qualifying position after the first qualifying session.
The second round of qualifying started strong when the Champion Spark Plugs A/fueler launched hard with a .938 60′ time but dropped a cylinder soon after and covered the quarter-mile in 5.420 seconds at 258.86MPH to enter eliminations in the #10 position, setting up a matchup with Wayne Morris. Upon firing the car in the round of 16, the crew noticed a mechanical issue with the team’s 3,500 horsepower nitro-burning motor and ordered Corey to shut it down, causing the team’s weekend to come to an abrupt halt.
“The most sobering part about that outcome was getting out of the car knowing that after waiting 8 months to race again and then making just two runs, I was done for the weekend already,” said Corey. “It’s a tough pill to swallow knowing now there is another 3 month gap until I get back in the car again and that will already be my final race of the year. Running an extremely abbreviated schedule forces us to put an incredible amount of emphasis on every single opportunity that we get to strap into the car.”
Michalek then looked ahead as the team prepares for its two remaining events.
“At the end of the day, I’m very thankful for the opportunity that I have to be able to compete in this class. The car that I get to drive is a consistent winner, the team that we partner with is among the best in the business, and the facilities that we get to participate at are world class. I relentlessly prepared for Charlotte all off-season long, but we caught a bad break and it cost us our shot at defending our title. But as the saying goes, ‘Yesterday is gone, today is up for grabs,’ so it’s time to get back to work and zone in on Houston and Norwalk.”
MBR returns to action April 24-26 in Houston, Texas with Kyle Michalek behind the wheel for the 28th annual NHRA Spring Nationals. This event marks the first time that MBR will compete in Houston and is the first of two races that The Kenan Advantage Group will serves as the team’s primary sponsor in 2015.
For additional MBR information and updates, please “like” the Michalek Brothers Racing FACEBOOK page and follow @MichalekRacing on TWITTER and INSTAGRAM.
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