ROWE RACES TO QUARTERFINALS IN ATLANTA

COMMERCE, GA – Danny Rowe raced the Gainsborough Capital Chevy Corvette into the AMS Pro Mod Challenge quarterfinals at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway.

The Laguna Hills, CA native came into the ‘Southerns in fine fashion laying down a solid 6.05-second pass at 235.35mph on Saturday afternoon to lock up the number six position in the AMS Pro Mod Challenge qualifying order. As the No. 6 qualifier, Rowe would go into the elimination day with lane choice over Rick Stivers.

“We’re getting there,” said Rowe. “You come into these races knowing that it’s going to be a bitter, tough battle. We’ve got the best racers in the world out here competing and to come in number six amongst these guys and gals should satisfy anyone. Going into Sunday, we’ve got lane choice in the first round which is going to play a big part in a team’s potential success. We’ll just wait and see what happens.”

When Sunday morning rolled around; it was all business in the Danny Rowe Racing pits. As habitual front runners in the AMS Pro Mod Challenge, Rowe and crew are working harder than ever for that ever elusive AMS Eagle trophy. Favorable weather conditions put the cars and track in fantastic order; possibly allowing for sub 5-second runs in eliminations.

The fans were treated with a battle between legendary Chevrolet muscle cars in the first round with Danny Rowe’s Unfinished Business 1963 Chevy Corvette split window and Rick Stivers’ ’67 Chevy Camaro. Stivers had a slight starting line advantage, but couldn’t hold off the Jimmy Rector tuned ‘Vette. Rowe’s 6.183/222.91mph lap bested Stivers’ shut-off 11.62/71.48mph offering.

“Hey, we made it past the first round and that alone is exciting,” admitted Rowe. “We’ve still got some figuring out to do, obviously, as we slowed down from our qualifying efforts. Once we get back in the pits, Jimmy and the team will make some adjustments to get us ready for the 2nd round. The track is a little tricky right now and we’re just not quite there – yet. We won’t have lane choice over Raymond, so it’s going to be tough.”

There’s no doubt that taking on Raymond Commisso in the quarter finals would be a tough task, but few things are seen as too daunting of a task for Danny Rowe and team. However, they had two hurdles in the 2nd round; Commisso’s 1967 Chevy Camaro and the left lane.

This wouldn’t be the weekend for Danny Rowe and team, though, as their 6.109-second pass at 234.82mph wasn’t what they needed to whip Commisso’s 6.089/240.25mph combination.

“We had some tire shake issues in the first round,” explained Rowe. “We knew we had to make some changes to the car, but we basically wanted to run 6.05 like we did in qualifying. Ultimately, there was a fine line on the tune up here today and we got on the wrong side of it. The car made a pretty descent run, but we all knew it’d take more to go the distance. Although, for our first time out on this race track; it’s okay. We weren’t in the choice lane and we ended up falling just short. Every car that won in eliminations on Sunday was in the right lane. It was the nail in the coffin for us.”

“We missed on the call and we’ll go to St. Louis and try to get a little better. Don’t count us out. We’ve got all the tools we need to get the job done.”

Currently, Rowe is 5th in the AMS Pro Mod Challenge Championship Points standings with 597.

Next on the list is the O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Raceway Park, May 4-6 in Madison, Illinois; just outside of St. Louis.

Information regarding Danny Rowe Racing can be found at www.dannyrowe.com

Visit Danny Rowe Racing Sponsors: Gainsborough Capital, LLC , Weld Racing Wheels – Forged Truck, SUV, Car, Motorcycle and Racing Wheels, Impact Racing, Hoosier Racing Tire -- Tires Designed For Champions, Red Line Oil, NGK Spark plug, NGK Spark Plug wire, NGK Platinum Spark plug for High Performance and Racing.