Massey stays hot with Atlanta TAD win

Now leads IHRA Top Fuel and NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster points standings

COMMERCE, Ga. - With three national event wins in the month of April, it's safe to say rising drag racing star Spencer Massey is 'certifiably hot.' After winning his first two races as a Top Fuel driver on the IHRA circuit, Massey returned behind the wheel of his A/Fuel Dragster to score another win at this past weekend's NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway. With the win, Massey now leads points in NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster and IHRA Top Fuel.

Massey, 25, of Ft. Worth, Texas, qualified No. 2 with a 5.341 second elapsed time at 273.77 mph. In round one, he defeated Bill Evans with a 5.416 at 271.52 mph, then took out veteran racer Mike Kosky in round two with what would stand as low elapsed time and top speed of the meet with a 5.242 at 277.89 mph. Massey then took out Diana Harker in the semifinals with a 5.372 at 268.22 mph.

Massey's final round opponent would be two-time defending World Champion Bill Reichert. Massey, known for his quick starting line reactions, gained the jump at the line and never looked back, running a 5.356 at 268.92 mph to defeat Reichert's tire smoking 13 second pass.

"When you get lucky, you're lucky," said Massey. "When it's your race, it's your race. We ran pretty decent. We had some motor problems that we weren't able to fix properly within the 30 minutes or so we get back at the pit, so to be able to win is awesome."

"That 5.24 definitely surprised us," Massey continued. "We set it up to run about the same as we did in the first round, with a few minor changes to step it up. We had a dead cylinder idling at the line, but luckily one of my crew members, Johnny Callaway was sharp enough to take a rag and keep the raw fuel off the tire. Kosky rolled through the beam, then the car launched with the wheels up and moved out of the groove pretty good. When it finally set back down I had to get it back in the groove, so to run a .24 with all of that going on was pretty special. I'm glad we could get the win for our guys and our sponsors Rucker Performance and Lucas Oil."

Massey recently made the move to the Top Fuel class behind the wheel of Mitch King's Bexar Waste sponsored entry. He then went on to win the first Top Fuel event he ever competed in at the IHRA season-opener in San Antonio four weeks ago, then backed it up with another win in Rockingham two weeks ago. This past weekend marked his second straight Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals win as he scored his first national event win at this event last year.

"Who would have thought we would win three races in the past four weeks," stated Massey. "To be leading points in IHRA Top Fuel and NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster is beyond my wildest dreams right now. I keep on telling people that, then something else good happens and it just gets better. Leading the points right now is one thing. Now if we can be leading the points in both classes in November, that would be something."

Massey's next event will be back on the NHRA divisional trail as the Division 4 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series heads to Houston Raceway Park, May 16-18. From there he will jump back behind the wheel of King's Top Fueler for the IHRA Suzuki Motor City Nationals in Milan, Mich., May 23-26.

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