Massey just misses first national win in Seattle

KENT, Wash. - NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster rookie Spencer Massey just missed picking up his first national event win of his career with a runner-up finish during this past weekend's Schuck's Auto Supply Nationals at Pacific Raceways just outside of Seattle. The strong showing puts Massey and car owner/tuner Gene Snow fourth in national standings, and gives them a legitimate shot at winning the national championship.

Massey, 23, of Fort Worth, Texas, qualified Snow's A/Fuel Dragster sixth in the field with a 5.553 second elapsed time at 256.21 mph. In round one, he defeated Gregg Lawrence with a 5.540 at 260.11 mph, then took out title contender Steve Federlin in round two with a 5.448 at 264.80 mph, which stood as top speed of the event. Staying consistent, Massey ran a 5.488 at 264.75 mph to defeat Winternationals winner Duane Shields in the semifinals. On his way to the final, Massey once again asserted himself as one of the quickest leavers in the class, posting superb reaction times of .023, .024 and .031 (.000 is perfect).

Massey's final round opponent would be points leader Sean O'Bannon. O'Bannon drives for his father Jack, who won five national championships with Rick Santos at the wheel. Massey took the jump off the line with a .022 to .054 starting line advantage, but slowed to a 5.512 at 261.37 mph which was not enough to hold off O'Bannon's 5.451 at 263.15 mph.

"Going into the final, we didn't want to smoke the tires," said Massey. "It was borderline the round before, so we just wanted to go out there and run the same number. We were hoping we would both run about the same, and I could put a light on him and get the win. But he stepped up and we slowed down."

"I'm really happy about being able to go to the final," Massey continued. "If you had asked me before the race if I would have been happy with a runner-up, I would have told you yes. It would have been nice to win, but we're still happy with it. We wanted to come in and keep up with O'Bannon and Federlin. We stopped Federlin, but not O'Bannon. At least we're not letting O'Bannon run away with it."

From Seattle, Massey will head south to the California wine country for this weekend's Fram-Autolite Nationals at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., the final stop of the 'Western Swing.' Once again Massey and Snow will be trying to gain valuable national points.

"We just have to keep going rounds," stated Massey. "Hopefully we'll be able to improve on this event and get us a win."

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