BERNER FINDS ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS FOLLOWING FIRST ROUND LOSS IN MARTIN
MARTIN, MI. – Normally when a drag racer fouls in the first round, he has a lot of questions and few answers. Torco’s CompetitionPlus Pro Stock World Champion Pete Berner had a few of those questions on Sunday but after careful scrutiny, he had the answers.
Berner turned on the red-light in the first round of Torco IHRA Northern Nationals at Knoll Gas Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan. He still retains a second place ranking in the points but the loss creates a 63-point deficit.
Berner left the line .007 of a second too soon handing eventual runner-up Larry O’Brien a monumental victory. In other words, Berner called it a weak red-light.
“It was a weak red-light and should have been a .020 green light according to the computer but that’s okay,” Berner said. “I knew Larry was going to drive hard and nail the tree. I’m glad we fixed the problem now and look forward to the next race.”
Berner was the No. 2 qualifier with a 6.386 elapsed time at 218.51 miles per hour. That’s a testament to his team who wounded the primary engine in testing and made a trip to Georgia days prior to the event, repaired the engine and returned and hour before the first qualifying session.
“I wouldn’t say this was a frustrating weekend, but I’ve certainly had weekends that ran a lot smoother,” Berner said. “I feel bad for my guys because they busted their butts to make this car run this weekend. We are chasing some things on the starting line and with the red-light we had, I think we have narrowed it down to a short list.
“We weren’t cutting good lights before but when we’re testing it gives us excellent lights. When we get in race conditions something happens to us. I am happy that I see what I saw because I haven’t red-lit in more than a year and a half. To do that now after the guys worked so hard, I feel really bad.”
Berner’s foul negated the second quickest lap of the day.
“I think we had a lot to showcase on Sunday,” Berner said. “We’re going to save it up and go to the next race and see what I can do.”
